Word: box
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Russians, they seemed to be in a box, for once. If they joined Britain, France, and the rest of Europe in really working for a continental recovery plan, they would be conforming to U.S. initiative; if they stalled and sabotaged, the responsibility for a divided and impoverished Europe would fall clearly on the Kremlin...
...that isn't all the Harvard Square opera house has to offer the kiddies. There's one more sweet, this time wrapped in technicolor celluloid. It involves a music box, a lot of people dancing in masquerade, and a freckled little girl in pigtails and pajamas, among other inedible. But it's only a short--just enough time for a cigaret in the large, well-lighted lobby...
Canned Gold? Paramount alone had 20 pictures in the can, filmed mostly at 1946 costs. These canned goods were the best kind of an investment if costs went higher and box office stayed up. But if box office skidded much more, it might be hard to make a profit on expensive pictures from the can. 20th Century-Fox's Production Chief Darryl F. Zanuck, with $12 million already sunk in Forever Amber and Captain from Castile, was worried enough to postpone a third costume spectacle...
There were too many horrible examples of money-losing pictures. Despite Ginger Rogers, Universal -International's The Magnificent Doll was having trouble getting into some first-run theaters. Only blitz tactics by razor-sharp David O. Selznick saved his Duel in the Sun from losing the box-office battle. To combat the panning of Duel by critics, Selznick shrewdly ran Duel simultaneously in several theaters in selected cities. Thus he cashed in before adverse comment could get around. Hollywood guessed that Duel's box-office gross is over $7,000,000, half of what Selznick needs to break...
Nobody thought that the box-office slump was going to shake the industry. Most studios were in the best financial position they had ever known. Last year they showed a total net profit of $125 million. This year, if box office held only "sensational," they might do $100 million. And by turning choosy again, U.S. moviegoers stood to gain. They would frighten Hollywood into making better pictures...