The Latin American Audience Viewpoint on American Films

English language pictures accompanied by adequate Spanish titles still find favor in the chief markets of Latin America. Latin-American audiences want box-office personalities and through Spanish editions of our fan magazines nearly all our stars have built up a strong following. In consequence, pictures presenting them are more popular than Spanish versions in which the players are unknown. — This does not mean that no Spanish language pictures should be presented. Great care should be taken in their preparation, however, and original subjects should be used of a type which have special appeal. Castilian Spanish, the language of the stage, should be used, unless the setting is in a Latin-American country where the actors would use the pronunciation and idioms peculiar to that country. None of the foregoing applies to Brazil, where the language is Portuguese. Here Spanish speaking pictures are not acceptable. — The tastes of the Latin-Americans run to films containing much display in clothes and furnishings. High society pictures and musicals are both popular. — While Latin-American revenues from film showings are not nearly as high as those received from Europe, the market is nevertheless well worth consideration. Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico stand fourth, seventh, and eighth, respectively, in quantity of motion pictures imported from the United States. There are about 900 theaters wired and the number is rapidly increasing.

Print ISSN

0097-5834

Published

1931-07

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J08029