Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

% 1 hi not |i hi H edald ;H0WMEN'S trade review. December 3, 1949 Fackson . . . (Continued from Page 23) ,|)urpose of some slight change or addition, they :ompliment us on our progressiveness and tell IS how much they appreciate the fact that we seem to be constantly striving to make our place licer and better. To me it seems foolish to ;ver let a patron think that anything about the heatre 'just happened.' I make it a definite aim :o make them understand that 'we did it espe:ially for you.' "Of course, pictures are important. But it's only a matter of days until I'll be playing the same pictures they play and, aside from that, the ifellows downtown played 'em first. There's Jreally not much difference between second and third run anymore and, while I'm sure that all Wy folks have been or will soon go to see the .jjnew glamor spot, I'm equally sure that, unless 'those fellows wake up and start selling their II theatre, all my friends, and I'm sure that most li of my customers are my friends, will be content to wait until the pictures are played 'at home.' rSie": You know I like to think of my theatre as being 'home' when it comes to entertainment for the folks I cater to!" Mind if I ask that vou read wdiat's been written again? And, if you can find anything !i wrong with my friend Jim's reasoning, 111 I gladly take your application for admission to jjthe asylum of your choice. To the reasoning liof this writer Jim's attitude toward competij tion, his policies for conduct of his theatre and, j above all, his faith in the success of such attitude and policies, is an all-time record for the comj mon-sense showmanship course. Coming, as it I does, at a time when just about everybody is clearance-crazy and availability-asinine, it deserves emulation by theatre owners and managers from the immense and immaculate Radio City :Music Hall of New York to the 68-seat Bunk House disgrace of Manitou Springs, Colo. Jim's formula is, at one and the same time, the soundest of public relations programs, the most certain preventative against expensive, senseless and useless litigation and, by all means the surest builder of consistent, satisfied patronage. Stop and check right now. How close to Jim's standard is the conduct of your operation? How does your personal attitude and endeavor compare ? Correct at Once Leaving Jim, I ambled on down the street and dropped in to visit the owner of a fairsized circuit. Let's call this fellow Pete, again because that's not his name and he wouldn't want to be quoted. Salutations over, we got to talking about business conditions generally and the industry's complaint of the business drop in particular. Things had not been so good with him and he was marking big red figures up, due to weather conditions and other setbacks. Pete was at one time a really big executive of distribution and I wanted his advice to clear up some doubts about what I considered to be extremely bad business practice on the part of certain companies. Before I knew it, the conversation had taken a turn into details of a condition , that I had long observed but never gave proper consideration. This is something for every distributor executive, particularly the big ones, to correct at once if their subordinates happen to come under the blanket of this complaint. The discussion had gotten around to diminishing distributor revenue due to foreign ukases, etc., when Pete said, "They're all complaining about the drop in revenue but just what are any of them doing about it?" He went on : ".\dmitted that I'm not a big buyer but my rentals do reach figures between $7,000 and $8,000 a week, and I believe I'm entitled to more consideration than the distributors give me, do you know that with the exception of the MGM and RKO companies there hasn't been a branch manager in this office for better than two years ? Do you know that in many instances the distributing companies don't even bother to send a salesman in to solicit our business? They just fill in details on a contract form and drop it in the mail box. And, do you know what I do with those mailed contracts? I just throw them in the waste basket because I figure that any company that is so damn busy they can't afford the time of an account as satisfactory in every detail as ours has always been, just don't need our business." He went on to tell me of one company that had changed managers several months and that the new incumbent — whose office is but a stone's throw from my friend's — had never even bothered to make his incumbency known. My friend related the dif¥erence between the days of his own occupancy of a distribution post and the current attitude of branch managers. In the old days it was a "must" for every branch manager to be personally acquainted with every account on the books and to visit with those accounts, even in distant towns and cities, as frequently as possible. In no instance would the operator of 15 or more large theatres be overlooked for more than a 60-day interval. When I pointed out that it had been my observation that few branch managers had authority other than to carry the messages of New York executives and that most of them that I had visited were so busy on long distance and answering letters that little time was left for visiting, he came back with : "I know how busy they are, but I've yet to hear of a gin 25 rummy game they couldn't find time to take on." Well, I do agree that time should be found for the established local representative of big distribution companies to call on the larger accounts and make personal friends of the fellows who sign the checks. The salesman must, of course, still carry the order blanks, but it is highly advisable that some authority closer to the top be familiar with the personalities of these larger buyers of films in order to better understand and present arguments that are always rampant in doing business with quantity purchasers. The salesman, competent though he may be, cannot be expected to get the thorough understanding of basic differences that is possible for the manager. As a result, many well-grounded and deserving complaints suffer in transmission from buyer to salesman to sales manager to branch manager to New York executive. Vital differences become trivial as each party tries to paint the kind of picture that makes his own role as blameless as possible. Another Family Washing The complaining exhibitor, smarting under the sting of being ignored, considers himself justified in taking his case to the lawyers and another family washing appears on the public clothesline. I believe my friend Pete's complaint warrants immediate action on the part of distributor sales executives. Instructions should be given at once for all branch managers to investigate details of exhibitor complaint as well as to "make time" for visits with the buyers of larger circuits and as many of the little chaps as possible. The practice should result in a lessening of the burdensome and expensive litigation. .\nd its a cinch it will result in improving relations, mayhap revenue and the selling of more pictures. ^^^r TOP ,n ^'^^^ & AMERICA'S GREATEST EHTERTAINER STIRRING MEMORIES OF YESTERYEARl SONGS WRITTEN ESPECIALLY for J O LS O N THE HEART ^ NEW YORK Formerly: HALLELUJAH! I'M A BUM WRITE OR WIRE FOR OUR DISTRIBUTOR IN YOUR TERRITORY ASTOR PICTURES CORP. 130 W. 46th St. N. Y. C. 19, N. Y.