Exhibitors Herald (Jun-Dec 1917)

f 14 EXHIBITORS HERALD CHICAGO CITY COLLECTOR SEEKS NEW TAX SCALE SUITABLE TO FILM THEATER MEN G. F. Lohman Working on New Table of Fees Equitable to Owners; Present Rate Called Too High for Small Houses With a view of arranging a schedule of licenses for motion picture and stage theaters in the city of Chicago, which will meet with the approval of all theatermen, George F. Lohman, deputy city collector, is working on another table of fees, which will be submitted to the license committee of the Chicago city council. The sub-committee of the license committee of the council has held several meetings in the city hall and listened to various propositions from the managers interested, but no feasible plan was offered upon which to make a recommendation to the council. Seeks $30,000 in Licenses It is the councilmen's desire to increase the city's revenue $30,000 by an adjustment of the license fees. Alderman James B. Bowler, chairman of the sub-body of the license committee, asked everybody interested to draw up schedules and have them in the hands of Mr. Lohman by Saturday, June 16. Only one had been received, however, by Mr. Lohman up to Saturday night. It is the sub-committeemen's desire to get a schedule that will not prove burdensome to motion picture theater owners and they have endeavored to hit upon a plan to reduce the license tax on theaters by placing part of it on the manufacturers, but so far have not found a way by which they can reach the big producers, Alderman Bowler states. An appeal to the owners and managers of motion picture theaters, urging the immediate adoption of greater safety precautions in the handling of film in projection booths and rooms, has been issued to exhibitors by the committee on fire prevention of the National Association of the Motion Picture Industry, New York. Two Fires in Week During the past week there have been two motion picture fires in the projection booths of motion picture theaters in New York. In one of the well known theaters a slight fire in the booth, through the prompt attention of the operator and the theater attendants, was extinguished before the firemen arrived and the audience was marshaled out of the theater without panic. In a motion picture theater in Westchester county, however, a small blaze spread to the films in the booth and caused a bad panic in the audience The present Chicago city license is $200 for all theaters, regardless of size or location. The chairman of the subcommittee is of the opinion that this is too high for the small houses and the sub-body is endeavoring to effect a graduated scale whereby theaters of 300 seats or less will only have to pay $150. Several plans to tax motion picture theaters have been suggested, and among these some ask a tax per seat, but Mr. Lohman pointed out that even this plan would not be fair in many cases, as an eighteen hundred seat house very often plays to but ten or twelve hundred persons daily, while the small house is usually packed full at every performance. The recommendations of the license committee will be submitted to the city council before July 1. although the fire did not spread beyond the booth. Women and children were trampled upon and badly injured, but fortunately no one was killed. Emphasize Panic Hazard These two fires serve to emphasize the fact that it is the panic hazard which must be guarded against and that every precaution must be taken to prevent the occurrence and spread of a film fire within the booth itself. The following recommendations are offered theater owners and managers for fire prevention by the National Association's committee: 1. Comply strictly with local regulations and see that the employes do the same. 2. Enforce the "no smoking" rule in the booth. The great majority of film fires are really caused by lighted cigars or cigarettes, although defective wiring, electrical sparks and spontaneous ignition are offered in most cases as excuses. 3. Keep all film when not actually in use in tin cans or other containers. The burning of one reel of film will fill a theater with its fumes. 4. Don't keep in the booth or a con necting room any film except one day's supply. Unfortunately the booths in many theaters serve as store houses for old junk and unless this practice stops there is going to be more film fires. 5. Keep the booth neat and clean and free from rubbish. Throw all film scraps and clippings into a self-closing metal can. 6. Have the wiring, globes and electrical equipment frequently and regularly examined. 7. Have two pails of water in the booth, also have a pail of sand. If the sand is thrown on a small film fire it will quickly smother it and not injure the film. A soda acid and extinguisher is also a good thing. The best precaution of all, if you can arrange it, is to have two automatic sprinkler heads put in the booth. Most film fires have started through arelessness and could easily have leen put out at the start with a bucket of water. TRIANGLE LOSES CASE IN USE OF A PLAY TITLE J. H. Manners Wins Fight to Halt Violation of His Trade Mark In a decision handed down by Judge Martin T. Manton, in the Federal District Court, in New York, J. Hartley Manners, the playwright, secured an injunction restraining the Triangle Film Corporation from further exhibiting the photoplay called "Happiness." The picture was presented at the Rialto theater, New York, during the week of April 29, and Mr. Manners brought suit at once, claiming that the film was an infringement on his play of the same name. The play was produced at the Cort theater in New York in 1914, and the author avers that the title is a trade mark and as such is entitled to protection. ' Judge Manton in granting the injunction said: "I think the use of the title of a picture-play as used by the defendants is an infringement of the plaintiff's sole right to the title of the play in drama on the stage and that the injunction should be granted." The Triangle Film Corporation contended that the photoplay "Happiness" was a different work than the spoken drama of the same name, and was written by a staff writer employed by the New York Motion Picture Corporation. The film was presented, they state, without knowledge or reference to Mr. Manners' play. Attend the Chicago Convention — make the voice of square-dealing heard upon the floor of that assembly. FIRE PREVENTION AIDS FOR FILM BOOTHS GIVEN EXHIBITOR BY ASSOCIATION BODY Makes Appeal to Theater Owners and Managers Urging Greater Safety Precautions to Lessen Blaze Dangers and Panic Hazards