How theater owners decided which Hollywood stars were worth their weight in gold
In short: For nearly a century, the Quigley Publishing Company shaped Hollywood’s perception of success. By surveying theater owners annually, they identified the actors who actually filled seats. This data-driven barometer of box-office power became the industry standard, separating genuine audience favorites from the stars who were merely considered expensive, overpriced, or box-office poison.
The Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll originated from a long history of film industry contests, dating back to early publications like the New York Morning Telegraph in 1911. However, the Quigley Publishing Company established the definitive standard. Between 1915 and 2013, they sent annual questionnaires to movie exhibitors, asking them to identify the stars who most effectively drove ticket sales. This methodology was rooted in the singular economic priority of theater owners: attracting patrons. Because exhibitors were the ones managing the daily flow of audiences, their collective opinion was long regarded as the most reliable metric for measuring a star's true commercial viability.
The data collection process evolved significantly over time. From 1915 to 1924, the rankings were compiled from 200,000 exhibitor reports published in the Exhibitors Herald. By 1925, the process shifted to a dedicated questionnaire that tracked both box-office films and individual stars. By 1933, the company implemented a standardized questionnaire specifically designed to isolate the biggest box-office draws. These lists were published annually in the Motion Picture Herald and The Motion Picture Almanac, providing a transparent look at the industry's financial pulse.
Beyond the top ten, these polls often revealed the broader landscape of Hollywood stardom, listing dozens of additional actors who held significant, if secondary, appeal. The influence of these surveys extended to specialized categories, including polls for Western stars and regional lists for the United Kingdom. Occasionally, the industry inverted this logic to highlight failure; in 1938, the Independent Theater Owners Association identified stars deemed box-office poison. Later, in 1968, Variety magazine published a list of ten overpriced stars, specifically targeting those who commanded at least $250,000 per film while suffering through at least four consecutive flops. These lists served as a stark reminder that in the film business, popularity was always measured by the bottom line.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll
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