Gallup Goes to the Movies

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup poll looks at Americans' views on movies, including which film they would like to see win this year's Academy Award for Best Picture. Among the five nominees, "The Green Mile" comes out on top as America's favorite, with 29% of the public saying they would like to see it win on Sunday. "The Sixth Sense" finishes second, with 18%. "American Beauty," "The Cider House Rules," and "The Insider" trail with 12%, 6% and 3%, respectively. About one-quarter of the public tells Gallup they have attended no movies in a theater for the past year, and roughly one-third of the public (32%) offers no opinion on the Academy contest.

The public's preference for the "The Green Mile" is notable because more people report having seen "The Sixth Sense." Twenty-seven percent of adult Americans indicate they have seen "The Sixth Sense," compared with 21% who have seen "The Green Mile." Fourteen percent say they have seen "American Beauty," compared to just 8% who have seen "The Cider House Rules" and 6% who have seen "The Insider."

Billy Crystal the Favorite Host; Musical Performances Also Favored
The poll, conducted March 17-19, also queried the public about its awards ceremony preferences. When asked which of five past Academy Award hosts was its favorite host, the public named Billy Crystal as the runaway winner. Crystal, who will be hosting the show again this year, was chosen by 38% of respondents as being their favorite of the five, while another recent host, Whoopi Goldberg, earned 24% of the public's vote. Bob Hope followed with 14%. Former hosts Johnny Carson and David Letterman were each preferred by just 8% of the public.

When asked about the musical format, a majority of Americans, 68%, say the awards show should continue to include live musical performances of the songs nominated in the Best Song category, while just 21% say they should not be included.

Which Stars Have the Biggest Marquee Value?
The popularity of "The Green Mile" may be linked to its leading man, Tom Hanks. Fifty-two percent of Americans say they make special attempts to see movies featuring specific actors or actresses. Of these, Tom Hanks ranks among the top thespians named, with 19% saying they make a special attempt to see his movies. Only Julia Roberts tops Hanks in this category, with 22%. Eleven percent say they make an effort to see Harrison Ford's movies, while 9% seek out Bruce Willis, one of the stars of "The Sixth Sense." Seven percent of these star-oriented moviegoers mention Denzel Washington, who is nominated in the Best Actor category this year for his role in "The Hurricane." Other stars mentioned include Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Meg Ryan, Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg.

Gallup's marquee value measure of movie actors dates back more than a half century. In 1981, Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds won Americans' vote as the actors they would make a special effort to see, while Barbra Streisand and Jane Fonda were the top actresses. Four decades earlier, Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, Bette Davis and Ginger Rogers were the actors and actresses Americans most wanted to see, in a 1941 Gallup Poll.

Increase in Movie Attendance
Seventy-four percent of the American public says it has attended at least one movie in a theater in the last 12 months. This number is up significantly from the last time Gallup asked about movie attendance, in 1995, and represents a continuation of an upward trend in movie attendance. In 1995, 66% of the public said they had seen at least one movie in the previous 12 months. This was up from 61% in 1993 and 55% in 1988. There is also an increase in the number of movies Americans are attending. The percentage saying they have seen five or more movies in the theater during the previous 12 months has increased steadily from 29% in 1988 to 44% in this most recent survey.

Movie attendance is an especially common activity among younger adults. Only 12% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 havenotattended a movie in the last 12 months. Non-attendance increases steadily with age, as 17% of 30- to 49-year-olds and 32% of 50- to 64-year-olds have not attended a movie in 12 months. This percentage swells to 57% among Americans 65 years of age and older.

Younger Americans also attend movies more frequently than older Americans do. In the last 12 months, 69% of 18-to 29-year-olds have attended five or more movies, and 45% of that age group has attended 10 or more movies. These numbers shrink dramatically among those aged 65 and older, as just 20% of that age group has been to five or more movies and 11% have been to 10 or more movies in the last 12 months.

Survey Methods
The results below are based on telephone interviews with randomly selected national sample of 1,024 adults, 18 years and older, conducted March 17-19, 2000. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

At the Academy Awards ceremony this year, which one of the following movies would you like to see win the Oscar award for Best Picture of the year [RANDOM ORDER: "American Beauty," "The Cider House Rules," "The Green Mile," "The Insider," "The Sixth Sense"]?

	Mar 17-19, 2000
"The Green Mile"	29%
"The Sixth Sense"	18
"American Beauty"	12
"The Cider House Rules"	6
"The Insider"	3
No opinion	32
	100%

Please tell me for each movie, whether you have already seen it, if you haven't seen it but you expect to see it sometime, or if you do not expect to see it at all [RANDOM ORDER: "American Beauty," "The Cider House Rules," "The Green Mile," "The Insider," "The Sixth Sense"]?

	Already seen it	Expect to	Don't expect to	NOT SEEN (vol.)/ Don't Know
"The Sixth Sense"	27%	35	32	6
"The Green Mile"	21%	44	28	7
"American Beauty"	14%	35	43	8
"The Cider House Rules"	8%	38	44	10
"The Insider"	6%	32	49	13

Thinking back to past Academy Award ceremonies, please tell me which of the following hosts of the Academy Award ceremonies you liked the most. [ROTATED: Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Hope, or David Letterman]:

	Mar 17-19, 2000
Billy Crystal	38%
Whoopi Goldberg	24
Bob Hope	14
Johnny Carson	8
David Letterman	8
MIXED (vol.)	1
No opinion	7

Just your preference, do you think the televised Academy Awards show should -- or should not -- include live performances of each of the five songs nominated for the Best Song of the year in a movie?

	Should	Should not	DOESN'T MATTER (vol.)	No opinion
2000 Mar 17-19	68%	21	9	2

How many movies, if any, have you attended in a movie theater in the past 12 months?

	Mar 17-19, 2000	Apr 10-17, 1995	Mar 11-13, 1994**	Mar 12-14, 1993**	Dec 4-7, 1988**
None	26%	34%	34%	37%	45%
1-4	30	35	38	35	26
5 or more	44	31	28	26	29
No opin.	--  100%	--  100%	--  100%	2  100%	--  100%
** QUESTION WORDING:About how many times did you, yourself, go out to a movie theater to see a movie within the past twelve months?

Are there any actors or actresses whose movies you always make a special effort to see?

	Yes	No	No opinion
2000 Mar 17-19	52%	47	1

What are their names? (multiple responses)

BASED ON -- 538 -- WHO MAKE A SPECIAL EFFORT TO SEE AN ACTOR/ACTRESS; +/- 5 PCT PTS

	2000 Mar 17-19
Julia Roberts	22%
Tom Hanks	19
Harrison Ford	11
Bruce Willis	9
Denzel Washington	7
Mel Gibson	6
Arnold Schwarzenegger	5
Meg Ryan	5
Robin Williams	5
Whoopi Goldberg	5
Clint Eastwood	4
Sean Connery	4
Al Pacino	3
John Travolta	3
Meryl Streep	3
Nicholas Cage	3
Robert De Niro	3
Tom Cruise	3
Tommy Lee Jones	3
Jack Nicholson	2
Jean-Claude Van Damme	2
Kevin Costner	2
Kevin Spacey	2
Richard Gere	2
Sandra Bullock	2
Steven Seagal	2
Other	42
No opinion	4

(vol.) Volunteered response