Harrison's Reports (1944)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March 3, 1879. Harrison's Reports Yearly Subscription Rates: 1270 SIXTH AVENUE Published Weekly by United States $15.00 R^run 1 ftl 9 Harrison's Reports, Inc., U. S. Insular Possessions. 16.50 iwwra ioi« Publisher Canada 16.50 New York, N. Y. P. S. HARRISON, Editor Mexico, Cuba, Spain 16.50 . ,, ., _, , _ . . _ . r. . Rritn;n is 7R A Motion Picture Reviewing Service Australia New ' Zealand! Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitors Established July 1, 1919 India, Europe, Asia .... 17.50 Ug EdUoHal Policy. No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial Circle 7-4622 a copy Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXVI SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 1944 No. 2 THE VALUE OF ORGANIZATION Mr. Maxwell A. Alderman, executive secretary of Allied Theatres of Connecticut, said the following in the organization's "Service Bulletin" of December 24 : "If I were an independent exhibitor with all the years of experience that goes with the business, I would sit down and ponder as to how I could better my lot in the future. In making my New Year Resolu' tion, I would wonder whether I was helping myself as well as other independent exhibitors. Petty, fancied, personal grievances or jealousies should be set aside for the larger overall part I should play in my business in the future. I would, after thinking for awhile, make up my mind that every independent exhibitor owes it to himself to join a truly independent trade associa' tion. There may be individuals who believe that they are self-sufficient and can go it alone, but they are only kidding themselves. The time is coming and soon, when they will find out for themselves that they are a part, however small, in this business. The outside forces will continue to pound, so that the shell into which you have withdrawn, will eventually crack and you will find yourself alone to battle for your very existence. I would ask myself how far I could get if I set out to adjust tax or other legislative matters both in Congress and in our own state? And these problems are multiplied many times over during the course of the year (just remember two men in a booth and other legislative proposals in our own legislature the past several years.)" I wanted to write something to support Mr. Alderman's appeal as to the value of organization and then I remembered that I had written something on the subject in the first issue of 1932. I read it and felt that nothing more appropriate could be written on the subject. So I have decided to reprint as much of it as applies to the present conditions : "Business to thrive needs protection. "One of the greatest protecting factors is organization. When the members of a particular business are organized, they are able to put up an effective defense against all hostile forces. "And yet, in the exhibiting branch of the moving picture business, there is no other factor in greater disrepute than is organization. Though it is an insurance, most exhibitors consider it a nuisance. And they commit the gravest of abuses toward it. I have heard of a case in which an organization spent five hundred dollars to protect the interests of an exhibitor. It saved him seventy-five dollars a week, the total amount he saved in the seven years he kept his theatre being more than twenty-five thousand dollars. And yet this exhibitor refused, not only to reimburse the organization for whatever money it had spent, but even to pay his dues. "This is only one case of ingratitude; I could go on filling page after page, in some of them the exhibitor betraying ingratitude just as unbelievable. "What makes many exhibitors so blind to the need of organization? Let us study nature itself for a lesson : Animals, birds, insects, fish; in fact all living organisms, travel in groups, for they know by instinct that protection lies in grouping. Cattle, when attacked by wolves, post themselves back to back to fight off the attackers. The outcome would be obvious were they to attempt to fight them singly. It was several centuries before Christ that one of the Greek philosophers pointed out to mankind the need of organization most convincingly: Aesop, in one of his fables, showed to the Greeks how easy it was to break a bundle of sticks a stick at a time, and how difficult to break them as a bundle." The best illustration of the value of organization is the present increase in the theatre ticket tax: The Allied leaders did everything there was in their power to convince Congress that the motion picture is, not a luxury, but a necessity. Unfortunately they did not have the full support of every exhibitor in the country, if we are the judge by their inability to prevent the increase of the tax. Had they been backed up by the exhibitors one hundred per cent, the story might have been different. The proof that these leaders have not had the support of the majority of the exhibitors, Allied members and not, may be gathered by an incident in another issue where full exhibitor support was needed. I am referring to the fact that, out of thousands of questionnaires that were sent by Allied States Association to exhibitors at large, members and non-members, on their experiences under the Consent Decree, only a small percentage replied. Many exhibitors, members of an exhibitor unit, pay their dues promptly, but there is a large number of them who either don't pay them, or do so reluctantly; they feel as if they are asked to contribute to charity. They forget that the exhibitors who head the organization, with the exception of the secretaries, work for nothing. In most instances all they get is abuse. If you are not a member of a regional unit, you should become one at once; if you are already a member and you are behind in your dues, sit down at once and make out a check. It is the best encouragement you can give to those who are trying to protect the interests of all exhibitors unselfishly. Harrison's Reports prefers that you join an Allied unit, but if for some reason you are unwilling to do so, join any unit, but do join!