Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, November 12, 1949 Kaput New York's oldest newsreel theatre — the Embassy — will drop its news policy Nov. 18 and switch to feature pictures with the Enghsh "Quartet" going into the house following conclusion of its eight-month run at the Sutton. This leaves New York with only three newsreel houses — two belonging to Embassy and one to Trans-Lux. Foreign Market Vital to U. S. Industry, Johnston Declares Rank's Net Loss Tops $2 Million { Continued from Pacn' 11 ) to achieve satisfactory results. Unfortunately many of the films we produce were not of the quality to ensure even reasonable returns. It can now be seen that our plans to meet an unexpected and critical situation were too ambitious ; that we made demands on the creative talent in the industry that were beyond its resources. . ." In attacking the efifect of the British boxoffice tax Rank claimed this levy in the past year had taken in from his pictures approximately $9,380,000 cr some $2,800,000 more than his production loss of $9,380,000. (In attacking the box-office tax, Rank has the support of Tom O'Brien, secretary of the National Association of Theatrical and Kinema Employes and a member of Parliament, who has been demanding that the Government put back half of the 40,000,000 pounds collected annually from amusement taxes into assisting British production.) Rank expressed the hope that the Government would do something to alleviate this tax burden, warning that if it were not done, his organization might have to stop producing. If help were granted, he saw a future for production in England but warned that "we shall not again embark on a large program but will ensure that we make only as many films as the creative talent available to us can reasonably produce." Reports to the effect that Rank would seek more partnership production with the aid of .American money via American producers and that his circuits might even welcome American investment were not confirmed. RKO Drop 2 Sales Districts; Realigns Towns RKO this week realigned its sales stafif, dropping the Northeastern and Prairie Districts and realigning their cities into other districts. Under the revision, the Eastern district, comprising Philadelphia, Washington, and Pittsburgh, will add the Northeastern district cities of New Haven and Boston to its territory. The Eastern Central District which consists of Cleveland. Cincinnati, Detroit, and Indianapolis, has acquired the Northeastern District's cities of Buffalo and Albany. The Mid Western District, comprising Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Sioux Falls, has added St. Louis, former seat of the Prairie District, and the other Prairie District town of Kansas City has been put into the Rocky Mountain District which now has Denver, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, Omaha and Des Moines. Gus Schaefer, former Northeastern district manager has quit to look after his theatre interests, Sales A'ice-President Bob Mochrie announced. Importance of the foreign market to the United States film industry was again emphasized in New York last Friday by Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture .Association of America, in his first press conference since his return from abroad. Johnston at first said the foreign market represented 38 per cent of the American distributors' grosses, but later amended the statement somewhat when a check showed that different bookkeeping practices of different distributors, made an accurate figure almost impossible. He pointed out, however, that other manufacturers who sell as much as five per cent of their product abroad consider themselves in the export business. Johnston also revealed the extent of the cooperation which the MPAA had given the British in their efforts to establish a market for their pictures in the United States when he said that the MPAA had spent $125,000 of its own money in a campaign to induce teachers and other educators to encourage their students to see "Henry V" and "Great Expectations." This campaign was put on in the spring of 1947, Johnston said, presumably by the MPAA's Community Ser\nce department. Dissonance A somewhat sour note on American expectations from European markets came as John McCarthy, managing director of the MPAA's international department, told the same press conference that due to world devaluation, the American industry would have to increase its foreign gross from 50 to 55 per cent to hold present revenues. McCarthy also revealed that the ;\IPAA had appointed its first representative for Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland in the person of Carl York, former Paramount representative, who will headquarter in Stockholm. The MPAA foreign chief also told the press conference that his organization had been successful in persuading Denmark to drop its 10 per cent ad valorem tax, which had been based on the anticipated earnings of a film and was collected in advance, and to substitute a tax based on the weight of the film at the straight rate of 30 kroner per kilogram. Speaking of taxes abroad, he and Johnston claimed the tax on theatres in Greece was unjustly high and yielded the Greek Government five per cent of its national revenue. In discussing the "request" of the Bank of England that it be given the power to approve or reject whether American frozen sterling should be used for certain types of purchases in England, Johnston declared that the controversy was "a tempest in a teapot," and an "intra-governmental problem" similar to those in the United States. No Difference He and McCarthy explained that actually under the law the Bank should have charge of all deals involving exchange but that the .Anglo-American agreement, which set up a joint committee to study to what uses the frozen sterling could be put, had failed to note this. Later in the conference he declared that he had no objection to the Bank's taking over this function and under questioning said he felt the MPA.A directors agreed with him. (The MPA.A directors however, have apparently not acted on the Bank's request ; neither has the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers, which is also a party to this agreement.) In answer to a question as to whether he had discussed the matter of whether the British would permit the American industry in future Anglo-.American agreements to take out as much as the present $17,000,000 from the country in dollars, Johnston said that he had deliberately avoided such a subject. Asked if he had heard rumors to that effect, he replied : "I heard all kinds of rumors from smaller remittances to nothing." Approve Plan Directors of the Motion Picture Association met in New York last Friday, went through the technicality of approving participation in the all-industry public relations plan which it has fostered, thanked those who had participated in the Chicago initial meeting, and passed a resolution bemoaning the death of E. B. Hatrick, former director. Public Relations Group Meets Dec. 72-73 The Conference Committee of the Motion Picture Industry (the all-industry public relations organizing group) will meet in Washington, D. C, Dec. 12-13, Chairman Ned E. Depinet announced Wednesday. Studio Cooperation Abroad Is Good — Rod Geiger Production conditions in England were found to be very good by Rod E. Geiger, producer of "Give Us This Day," upon his temporary return to the United States this week. He particularly commended studio cooperation. Geiger, who is residing at 34 West 73rd Street, New York, said he intended to return to Europe to produce at least two more, with at least one, for which he has the story, to be made in England and Germany. "Give Us This Day" is a picturization of Pietro Di Donato's novel "Christ in Concrete."