Harrison's Reports

Before 1948 and the antitrust United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. decision, most movie theaters in the United States were owned and operated by film studios as part of a vertically integrated system, exclusively playing their own releases. Since the management of those theaters had little choice as to what movies they played, they had little or no use for Harrison’s Reports. Independently owned-theaters were consequently the principal subscription base of Harrison’s Reports and the publication's editorials addressed the interests of independent theaters. In 1937 there were approximately 3,000 subscribers at $15 per year. ==Opposition to product placement==

From its review of The Garage (1920) to its last year of publication, Harrison’s Reports unyieldingly opposed product placement in movies. Other films criticized for brand name products appearing on screen include • The Lost World (1925) • Palmy Days (1931) • Impact (1949) • Love Happy (1949) ==Management and ownership changes==

• The 10 March 1956 issue printed the first appearance of a name other than P.S. Harrison on the masthead, Al Picoult, managing editor, who bought control of the paper from Harrison. • In June 1959, Picoult sold the paper to individuals associated with exhibitor, Allied States, which the paper had been close to and supported for many years. Harrison still retained an interest. • The issue of 18 July 1959 showed Harrison's name on the masthead as “founder” (the previous week he had been “editor”), and David Martin was the new editor. The following week's issue (25 July 1959) mentioned Harrison's retirement. • The first article of 5 August 1961 was titled “Editorial Transition”, stating there would be a new editor; nobody's name appeared on the masthead of that issue. On 12 August 1961, Martin Starr became editor. ==Final issues==

The last issue was a two-page sheet dated 1 September 1962. It was headlined "MAYBE, IT'S NOT YET "30"." It lamented the financial woes of exhibitors in general. It also expressed hope that funding could be found to continue Harrison’s Reports. ==Reprints==

The entire run of ''Harrison's Reports has been reprinted in a 15-volume set of library-bound hardcover books, including an index of titles. The series is titled '''Harrison's Reports and Film Reviews''''' (1919-1962). The Media History Digital Library has scans of the archive from 1927–1962 available online. Two other significant English-language periodicals with 10,000 or more film reviews have appeared reprinted in book form: • Variety, as Variety Film Reviews (1907–1996) in 24 volumes. • The New York Times, as The New York Times Film Reviews (1913–2000) in 22 volumes. For Variety and The New York Times, film reviews continued after the dates of the last reprints. ==References==