Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1940)

Page 6 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW October 5, 1940 AT ALLIED CONVENTION Abram F. Myers, board chairman and general counsel for National Allied, and William F. Rodgers, MGM general sales manager at a testimonial dinner given in Myers' honor last Friday night in Atlantic City at the New Jersey unit's convention. White Gives 11 Ideas for Decree PCCITO Offers Alternatives To Consent Decree Plan In a letter to Assistant Attorney General Thurman Arnold this week, Bob White, Oregon trustee of the Pacific Coast Conference of Independent Theatre Owners presented 11 points adopted by that organization which that group feels are essential for a workable consent decree. White first opposes the five-picture plan as inimical to the exhibitor's rights and attacks the arbitration clause as "unfair and unworkable." He then launches into his list of 11 points, as follows : Point No. 1 — Identification of pictures. Contracts would identify the pictures leased and no substitutions would be permitted. The distributor shall deliver all pictures contracted for, if completed within two seasons subsequent to the contract. Interchanging of price allocations is forbidden. If the distributor fails to deliver any pictures, the exhibitor shall be entitled to a readjustment of his contract based on the average price. The exhibitor would have a 20 per cent cancellation to be credited on the basis of the average. Point No. 2 — Percentage Rentals. There shall be no designation of play-dates. Checking must be done by a regular bonded employe of the distributor and he shall give out no information so obtained. Point No. 3 — Forcing. The distributor may not force the exhibitor to buy Westerns, reissues, serials, foreign pictures, short subjects, newsreels or trailers. Point No. 4 — Clearance. Clearances shall be computed from the opening date of a picture to avoid the confusion created by extended runs. Unfair clearance shall be eliminated and the availability of a picture shall not be delayed by the failure of the distributor to sell a prior run. Point No. 5 — Selective Contracts. When an exhibitor has a selective Selling Policies of Majors Are Revealed in AID Report Allied Information Department Shows Variations In Contracts; 37% of Exhibs Have Bought No Film Selling policies of the major companies have been analyzed by the Allied Information Department (AID) in a report released this week. Each company's announced selling policy is compared with its actual deals made.'t The results are as follows : Columbia: Most deals were at flat rentals. Either selective contracts were made or 20% cancellation was allowed. Shorts were not forced but where desired from 15 to 72 were bought. There were some percentage deals with one picture at 40% and one or two at 35%. MGM: Most deals were for four at 40%, 10 at a high flat rental, 10 at a medium flat rental and the balance at low flat rental. No all flat deals were reported. Some selective contracts were made and a 20% cancellation was generally allowed. "Metro forced shorts in practically every instance," says the report. Paramount: Considerable variation was shown. Some exhibitors made all flat rental deals and others bought one picture at 40% and five at 35% with other deals falling between. In some cases 10% and others 20% cancellation was allowed. Some contracts carried a guarantee and preferred playing time ; others did not. News and shorts were forced "in the majority of cases." RKO: Most deals were for all flat rentals with many selective Contracts. Shorts or news was seldom forced. Cancellations were 10% or 20%. In cases where percentage deals were made preferred playing time was asked for but no guarantees were asked. 20th Century-Fox: The vast majority made all flat rental deals. The company granted 10% to 20% cancellation or gave an outright number cancellable either 5 pictures or 10 pictures. Many selective contracts were made. Where percentage was asked neither guarantees nor preferred playing time was asked. Shorts and news were forced most of the time. United Artists: This company has no set sales policy. Says the report, "They are offering 22 or more pictures, with a very wide variation in the kind of deals sold. Usually, they were sold flat. Examples of percentage follow: 25 sold — 22 flat — 3 at 35% — no guarantee or pre contract, he must announce acceptance or rejection within one week of receipt of notice of availability in order to establish availability for subsequent runs. Point No. 6 — New Standard Contract. A new brief standard contract shall be prepared and approved by the Department of Justice. Point No. 7 — Previews. Commercialized previews shall be considered first runs if presented to a paying audience or announced to the public. Point No. 8 — On Cancellation. The exhibitor shall have the right to cancel any picture, except a reissue or a western which does not have a first run in an exchange center, in addition to his 20 per cent cancellation. Point No. 9 — Exclusion for Cause. This would give the exhibitor the right to exclude any picture which might be locally offensive on moral, religious or racial grounds. Point No. 10— Right to Buy. Distributors shall not refuse to lease their pictures on some run. Point No. 11 — No Discrimination. This provides that no favoritism shall be shown to any theatre belonging to any circuit or booking combination to the detriment of any independent. ferred playing time; 20 sold— 15 flat— 1 at 40%— 4 at 35% with guarantee and preferred time. Universal: Many selective contracts were sold and cancellations were granted varying from 10% to 20%. Guarantees and preferred playing time were included on a majority of contracts. Warner Bros.: The following are typical deals sold: 48 bought — all flat with 10% cancellation; 32 bought— 32 flat (selective contract) ; 48 bought— 44 flat— 4 at 35% —20% cancellation; 48 bought^!6 flat— 2 at 40% — no cancellation; 40 bought— 32 flat —2 at 40%— 6 at 35% (a selective contract). The company sold shorts in the majority of instances — it forced this sale in about half of the contracts. Monogram and Republic — were bought just about the way the exhibitor chose, with the exception of those in competitive spots. Some were allowed to spot book. The percentage of each company^s sales to the total number of contracts sold are as follows : Columbia 15% Metro 11% Monogram 2.5% Paramount 8% Republic 5% RKO 17% Fox 15% United Artists 7.7% Universal 11.3% Vitagraph 7.5% An analysis of prices paid for flat rentals and guarantees for the 1940-41 season compared with last year revealed the following : Paid Same Paid or Less More Columbia 41% 20% Metro 33% 24% Monogram 58% 18% Paramount 48% 20% Republic 39% 39% RKO 55% 8% 20th Century -Fox 46% 17% United Artists . . 30% 6% Universal 29% 28% Vitagraph 52% 24% Not Answered 39% 43% 24% 32% 22% 37% 37% 64% 43% 24% Astor Acquires Rights To Sherlock Holmes Film All rights to the national distribution of the production, "Silver Blaze," by Arthur Conan Doyle, have been purchased by Astor Pictures, it was announced this week. The latest in the Sherlock Holmes series will be released under the title of "Murder at the Baskervilles." Release has been set for on or about Oct. 15. Last Rites Held for Betty Hildebrandt Funeral services for Miss Betty Hildebrandt, who died Sunday at the Midtown Hospital following a major operation, were held Tuesday evening at the Universal Chapel, 52nd and Lexington Ave. Out of respect to Miss Hildebrandt, who was executive secretary to Hal Home of the Walt Disney organization, the Disney offices were closed Wednesday morning. Pettijohn on Mend Charles C. Pettijohn, MPPDA general counsel, is recovering from an operation undergone in St. Agnes Hospital, White Plains. SeesNewTaxes On the Industry Kuykendall Urges Need of Developing Wider Audience With Congress still in session, and due to stay until the new Congress meets in January, Ed Kuykendall, president of the MPTOA, warned the industry this week of new taxes, imposing an even greater burden on the industry. "This is true not only in Congress," he said, "but in every state legislature, and certainly calls for strong and alert exhibitor organization throughout the country." "Not only are the theatres and the movies still the choice target for special taxation," he pointed out, "but heavy taxes on the general public are going to reduce purchasing power and cut down the amount of money the average family has to spend on the movies. This will make it tougher to get business, more difficult to raise admission prices, already forced upward by the new Federal defense tax. And the increased taxes soon to be levied will be with us for many years to come. "In view of this, it may be well for exhibitors to consider seriously ways and means of developing a wider audience for motion pictures. The recent Gallup poll merely confirmed industry information of long standing that about 25 per cent of the people in this country (excluding infants, the infirm and the destitute), seldom if ever see a movie. "These people in every community obviously are not sold on motion picture entertainment. The usual advertising of pictures, excellent though it may be, completely fails to arouse any interest in seeing any of the shows we have to offer, regardless of the fact that we have an almost endless variety of entertainment on exhibition. The 32,000,000 adults able to go to the theatre if they want to are spread over every community and present a definite challenge to every exhibitor. This big home market for our wares right under our nose may be the only means of filling the gap between expenses and receipts." WANGER HONORED John Wright of the Rivoli Theatre, Joan Bennett (Mrs. Walter Wanger) and Walter Wanger at the Rivoli Theatre cocktail party and buffet tendered in honor of Wanger, producer of the theatre's current "Foreign Correspondent" and the forthcoming "The Long Voyage Home."