"Carmen Jones" (1954)

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“Carmen Jones” was the rare Hollywood movie in the mid-fifties headlined by black actors. Movie theaters were generally still racially segregated, especially in the South. Of interest, was the theater in Atlanta running “Carmen Jones” segregated the races by having the balconies set aside for ‘Negro’ ticket buyers (or 40.4 %) of all theater seats. This percentage was fairly similar to the black portion of the total Atlanta population in 1954 (about 43 %). Both races seemed to show up for opening day. The opening day box office of $3,400 divided by the average 1954 admission price of 69 cents meant about 4,928 people bought tickets. I had the wrong impression that theaters were ordered under the law to segregate movie patrons. However, according to AI, in Atlanta and the state of Georgia, there were no specific laws mandating segregation in movie theaters. De facto segregation was widely practiced, by popular demand of the people, as social norms ruled everyday behavior. Source: Variety, December 1, 1954