The Mysterious Box Office

If moviemakers knew for sure why people flock to one movie and stay away from another, making millions in Hollywood would be much easier than it is. The clues are hard to find in Variety's box-office reports for last month. The Big Four:

1) A Date with Judy (MGM)

2) Good Sam (RKO Radio)

3) The Babe Ruth Story (Allied Artists)

4) Rachel and the Stranger (RKO Radio)

A Date with Judy, starring Jane Powell and Wallace Beery, is an innocent little lollipop of a cinemusical. Rachel, which opened late in the month and netted top grosses for the last two weeks, is a pretty good historical drama whose star, Robert Mitchum, was recently arrested in a marijuana scandal. The critics were lukewarm to Good Sam, but it flourished, regardless. The Babe Ruth Story was thoroughly panned, but it profited from the wide public interest in Ruth's death. Sorry, Wrong Number and Rope, greeted with critics' cheers, rated ninth and eleventh.

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