List of illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- What do audiences want? -- Guesswork eliminated -- The laws that determine interest -- America speaks -- Piggybacking on the past -- Singles and doubles -- Boy meets facts at RKO -- David O. Selznick presents: audience research and the independent producer -- Gallup meets Goofy: audience research at the Walt Disney Studio -- Like, dislike, like very much -- Abbreviations used and collections consulted -- Notes -- Index
Summary
Explores the use of George Gallup's opinion polling techniques by the film industry in the 1930's and '40's. Traces Gallup's intellectual and methodological developments, examining his comprehensive approach to market research from his early education in the advertising industry to his later work in Hollywood
