‘Many astounding surprises:’ November 1926

One hundred years ago this month, Grace Kingsley reported on a survey of theater managers that gave some idea of what audiences wanted to see in the movies: Hollywood is buzzing today over the publication in the Exhibitors’ Herald of a list of the sixty best box-office names in pictures, rated in order according to reports by 2471 exhibitors throughout the country. A list of 240 names was submitted to the exhibitors who were asked which names drew in the most patrons when displayed at the theaters. Many astounding surprises resulted from the replies. Moore became a star when she played one of the first flappers in Flaming Youth (1923), then she alternated between romantic comedies and dramas. Later this month Kingsley said she has “a delicate flair for the quaint, the whimsical, combined with the deeply appealing, the genuinely human.” She stayed near the top of the Herald’s list until 1930. According to the reports received, Colleen Moore was rated as the best box-office bet in…