[2] The list was based on a poll of movie theater owners, who were asked to name who they felt were the previous year's top 10 money-making stars.
The Top 10 Poll, which appeared annually in Quigley's Motion Picture Herald and The Motion Picture Almanac, was long regarded as one of the most reliable barometers of a movie star's box-office power, as film exhibitors base their decisions on one economic criterion: those stars who will bring patrons into their theaters.
A standardized questionnaire specifically for choosing the biggest box office stars was used after 1933.
The Motion Picture Herald published a similar list for the UK, listing the most popular stars at the British box office, including the most popular British stars.
In 1938 a list was published of stars who were considered "box office poison" by exhibitors.