Exhibitors Herald (Mar-Apr 1924)

March 29, 1924 EXHIBITORS HERALD 33 The Survey In conducting its exhaustive survey on the subject, "Do you favor or oppose roadshowing?" the HERALD presented the following questions to exhibitors as suggestive of the many phases of this important subject: 1. Do you favor roadshow ing of pictures? 2. If not, what is your objection? 3. If you do favor it, state your reasons. 4. Is the playing of big attractions in legitimate theatres prior to general release detrimental or beneficial to your business? 5. Do you believe that theatres should be classified, some playing big attractions on the two-a-day policy, others playing Westerns, others comedydramas, etc.? 6. Do you believe that there is a possibility of the roadshowing of pictures entirely replacing the present plan of exhibition? 7. If you are opposed to the roadshowing of pictures, what plan of exhibition would you suggest for the costly attractions ? 8. In general, what are your opinions on roadshowing of pictures? solutely sure fire. For instance, if Famous Players had sold a block of pictures in 1923 (you know the block I mean), at the price they did sell at, and had added to this block "The Covered Wagon," with a fair price for it, then the ■exhibitor who bought the block would have secured some benefit from it. But by roadshowing this picture the exhibitor was cut off from all chance of profit, and this is one exhibitor that will not play a picture that was once roadshowed, especially as the terms on which they will play your house as a roadshow are not fair by any means. It, therefore, means that this company will allow you to buy and pay a good high price for pictures that they themselves are not sure of. Mr. Exhibitor takes all the risk. But on the picture they are sure of, Mr. Exhibitor, who buys their entire output, is not allowed "in on it." There is no picture made, in the humble opinion of the writer, that costs so much that the producer cannot make a fair profit on it, dealing with the exhibitor who actually buys all of his other product. 4. The playing of big attractions in legitimate theatres prior to general release is detrimental to my business for the reason that the movie-going public is not a crowd of dubs, but intelligent people who ask, "Why don't you get that picture?" And they are intelligent people who will be content with only the truth, and my answer, "that so much money was spent on the picture that the producers must roadshow it to get a profit," does not satisfy them. They believe that if they patronize your theatre when it shows all of the other pictures produced by a company, they are entitled to see at that theatre the real big hits that that company produces. And they know, nowadays, every picture that is produced, and they are right in their opinion on this point, the writer believes. A heavy line will have to be drawn between legitimate and picture houses. The moving going public take it as an affront to themselves that a company will take certain pictures away from the house where they are patrons. In my humble opinion, no producer who is putting out a program of pictures should make a production so costly that he must roadshow it exclusively in legtimate houses. If this is necessary to the success of the production game, then it should be done by a separate company and not one who supplies a regular program of pictures. In other words, neither the exhibitor nor the movie going public can be fooled any more. 5. I do not believe that a moving picture theatre in a small or medium-sized town especially, should be classified as you indicate. My own experience in Beardstown, 111., where we own the only two theatres, the Princess and Gem, is that this will not work out very well. And here in Springfield a diversified program, a good western, a comedy, a melodrama, then a high class society drama is what appeals to the people, for they soon tire of a continuation of any one especial line or type of pictures. 6. I do not believe that there is a possibility that the roadshowing of pictures will ever entirely replace the present plan of exhibition, and I further believe that the producers themselves will soon realize that the roadshowing of a certain picture will hurt the sale of the balance of their product. The exhibitors, I believe, already realize that roadshowing one out of the twenty-four or twenty-five pictures a company produces in a year is bad business for him and creates a feeling of disatisfaction in his patrons. 7. I admit that I have a plan to take care of the producer getting a fair re turn on his investment in the case of a real costly production. First, the producer must realize that the exhibitor has a few brains floating around in his head. Now, of course, my plan may be as impossible of realization as it seems the plan of the late Woodrow Wilson for a League of Nations to stop wars has proven to be, but you have asked for it, so here goes. If, for an instance, Mr. Producer, who is contemplating making, we'll say, "Ben Hur," would sit down and write or have his exchange men call on theatre owners in their territory. Tell Mr. Theatre Owner what he is going to do — make "Ben Hur," with so and so directing, such and such actors playing the various parts, the story prepared for the screen by so and so, to be made in certain locations, and, on the basis of his estimate, figure out a rental necessary to give him a fair return on his picture, and ask Mr. Theatre Owner to sign a contract with him to take this picture when completed, this contract to be absolutely a binding one, and a deposit to accompany it. Now, Mr. Theatre Owner knows, for instance, that if a story is to be directed by James Cruze, prepared for the screen, we'll say, Billy Sullivan, of the handsome profile, is being starred in "Fast Stepper" for Universal under Edward Laemmle. by Jeanie Macpherson, and acted by Mary Pickford, Richard Dix, Ernest Torrence, and others, more or less what he can expect of that picture at the box office, and at least, is willing to gamble with the producer to insure getting a chance at the picture. Then the company knows pretty well what they can get for the foreign rights to the picture, so all real element of great risk is removed for the producer and the exhibitor is, I believe, willing to take such a risk, especially when, before he answers Mr. Producer, he asks his patrons if they would like to see a picture as described above, and gauges their sentiments on the matter. In other words, if the producer will get closer to the people who actually pay at the box office before producing a picture, he will remove a great part of the risk he now incurs in pouring money into a production before he knows even whether or not the public wants to see such a production. The fact that a novel was a best seller and is made into a moving picture, no matter how skilfully nor how well acted it is, does not insure success at the box office. And the psychological angle is that by the producer taking the public into his confidence on the matter it creates a spirit of friendship between the producer and the public that cannot but help the business as a whole. 9. My opinion on the matter of roadshowing in general is that in only a few cases has it ever been profitable for the producer; that in every instance it has, even when profitable for the producer on that particular production, caused a feeling of discontent among exhibitors, and what is worse, the moving going public, and this reacts against the entire product of that particular company; that as long as the producer, the exchanges, and the exhibitors try to tell the picture going public only part of the truth about this "business," it will continue to be a "game"; that with the proper -sort of effort on the part of producers to get real close to the man who pays for the tickets or the woman who pays for the tickets at the box office, there would be a great element of risk in producing big costly pictures eliminated, and there would not be the necessity for roadshowing one certain production. Forgot to mention that here is one exhibitor that knows of an instance where a company made a big costly production, ignored the real exhibitor, and tried to roadshow the picture and failed, then came to the exhibitor and tried to make him help him to bear a loss.