Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

October II. I 930 Zoning Battle Is Launched by Sen. Brookhart M o t i o it I' i < i it r c A e w s 34; {Continued from /'<;</<■ 22) aid of the public, saying that such a course will lead to outlawry of "the unconscionable practices saddled on the industry by the Hays crowd.'' His bill, the senator said, was introduced upon complaint of Iowa independents that block booking and compulsory arbitration was driving them out of business. He declared he has no desire to retard the steadily increasing growth of the industry or to cramp the development of motion picture art. Stating that he accepts the comparison that spokesmen for the industry have made between films and schools in the dissemination of learning, he declared that he has "no desire to retard the steadilyincreasing growth of the business or to cramp the development of the motion picture art." Defends His Stand "But 1 would remind my friends in the industry," he continued, "that there is no government worthy of the name that has committed so vital a subject as education solely to private enterprise without retaining some measure of control which would insure that so tremendous a power was not put to unworthy or subversive uses. "It is not as if this powerful agency for molding the culture, habits and character of the people — more especially the young — had been placed in the hands of specially chosen men of proven competence. With all due respect fur their material achievements, the men who head the industry have risen to the top, or have been called in, not for their qualifications as educators or publicists, but for other and wholly different reasons. "If it be said that the known effects and potentialities of the movies as an educational medium are not sufficient to justify a public interest in what is regarded by some as a purely private business, then there arc other grounds. The whole business is founded on a form of property that is not a natural or inherent right, but is in effect a government bounty. It is a fair assumption that the framers hi the Constitution and the authors of the copyright law never intended that a copyright should serve as a means for oppressing am part of the people or of depriving the people of the right to regulate in all needful particulars any agency that is so intimately linked with their happiness and welfare as the movies. "Finally, it may be said that monopoly has always been regarded by the courts as a sufficient justification for the exertion of the police power, and this conception underlies and sustains the extreme degree of regulation to which the public utilities are (or may constitutionally be) subjected. That the motion picture industry, both by reason of the copyright law and the extent to which it has been manipulated with the indulgence of the prosecuting authorities, is a monopoly scarcely admits of doubt. "The bill that I have introduced into the Senate is not designed to exert that measure of control over the industry that might be justified by the foregoing considerations, because I have felt that if certain monopolistic practices were eliminated, and the public were given a full opportunity to choose the kind of pictures it preferred to see, the desired results could be achieved by normal processes. "I am aware thai in all investigations and proceedings counsel fur the Bays office have Chicago Goes West Hollywood — Those who are left on the Warner lot are toting guns around, the lot is that deserted. Reported, but unconfirmed. submitted innumerable statements and charts to prove that the producers frequently break their blocks, but I have yet to see such a statement in such detail as to show whether the privilege of buying in broken blocks is afforded to the independent theatres in the same degree that it is afforded to the theatres operated by the producers themselves. And all protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, it is apparent from information coming to my attention that the producers are not only standing on their blocks at this time, but are tying their short subjects and newsreels to their blocks, thus depriving the theatre owners of virtually all right of selection as to the subsidiary features as well as to the feature pictures. "Since the theatre is the point of contact between the industry and the public, and the theatre owner is best qualified to judge what the public wants, and bearing in mind that tastes vary in different communities, 1 believe that block booking a_s practiced in the industry today denies to the public the right freely to choose the kind of pictures it wants to see and is a public wrong of the first magnitude. Doubts Commission Power "The Federal Trade Commission as long ago as 1927 issued a cease and desist order against the practice, but the suit to enforce this order has been allowed to languish in the Circuit Court of Appeals ever since, the record has not even been prepared, and no effort is being made to prosecute the case to a conclusion. Even if the commission should shake off its lethargy and press the case to a hearing, there is no assurance that the Federal Trade Commission Act. really justifies the order, and it is apparent that if a remedy is to be provided, For this and for other glaring abuses in the industry, it must be by legislation. "From information coming to my attention I gather that another practice has recently been carried to a point where it even overshadows those mentioned in the bill. I refer to the practice known as clearance or protection whereby the pictures, after being shown in an affiliated or chain theatre, are withheld from subsequent run houses until they have lost their drawing power. It may well be that it would be unfair for two houses charging different admission prices to play the same picture at the same time in a competitive district. But it is obvious that the practice provides a powerful weapon for the producers in building up their own or favored houses and in weakening their independent rivals. Undoubtedly it has been used to compel the residents of small towns to forsake their neighborhood theatres and drive to the producer-owner theatres in nearby cities in order to see pictures while they retain that interest which is born of novelty. Assails Zoning Plans "So great were the abuses in this connection that the government, through the Department of Justice, displayed an interest — albeit a timid one — and the Hays Organization, I am informed, is now engaged in an effort to silence complaint by inducing the exhibitors to agree to protection schedules, thus estopping the exhibitors from further agitating the question and paving the way for the I )epartment of Justice to withdraw its hand. I assume that if this perplexing problem could be settled by open negotiation between the several branches of the industry it would be in the interest of all parties, since the competitive element would serve to protect the public. Rut the representatives of the Hays office, it appears, consider that lliey have a job to do and they are now advising independent exhibitors and indepen Hays Office INow Seeks to Silence Exhibs, Charged dent exhibitor organizations that they must take these hand-made schedules, prepared by the sales managers of these supposedly competing producers in New York, whether they like them or not. "This position, I am informed, has been taken by representatives of the Hays office in Baltimore, Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Des Moines. This constitutes one of the boldest attempts at coercion ever witnessed in this country, and is a challenge to the government itself. "It has been suggested to me, and I pass it on to you, gentlemen, that the best method of reaching this situation would be to amend the anti-discrimination provision of the Clayton Act so that it would apply to leases as well as sales in interstate commerce. Discrimination lies at the bottom of most of the monopolistic practices of the industry — discrimination by the producers in favor of their owned and controlled theatres and against the independent houses. Of course, we can not compel exact equality of treatment, and that would be undesirable, but if by legislation we could outlaw excessive protection that has no proper relation to the competitive factors in the situation, and unjust discrimination that can have no other purpose than to injure or destroy the independent theatres by diverting all patronage into the controlled houses, I believe that we would come close to having a solution of this problem." Paramount Opens Portland Branch Portland, Ore.— The new $100,000 exchange building of Paramount has opened. In charge of Frank Clark, the exchange will serve 256 theatres in a territory, including southwestern Washington and extending as far east as Boise, Ida., and south to the California line. Clark recently came here from Los Angeles to succeed William Winship, who has been promoted to take charge of foreign distribution for Paramount. The new building cost $100,000 and includes a small theatre. The theatre, with Western Electric equipment, cost $20,000. Reopening of Rochester First Run Slated Oct. 18 Rochester, N. Y. — Final plans to open the Capitol, remodeled from the old Fay's theatre, almost destroyed in a fire last January, were completed by the Comerford interests last week with the appointment of Al Kaufman, manager of the Loew's Great Lakes, Buffalo, as manager, and setting the opening date for Oct. 18. Arch McCallum, former manager, and Robert Barrett, former assistant, operated the house for Edward Fay of Providence. Carpenters and decorators last week were putting the finishing touches on the place. The gallery has been removed. The house seats 1,200. Warner films will he used chiefly. Dinner for Lichtman Members of the Motion Picture Club. New York, will Under Presidenl Al Lichtman a beefsteak dinner on Oct. 16. Purpose: merely a fun tot.