Variety (Sep 1940)

20 PICTURES Plenty Wrong With Fix .Continued from page 3. the government. To make the indict- ment specific: , There isn't a single United States Senator or member of the Hquse of Representatives who makes the wel- fare of the amusement business his particular problein, or extends to it the full weight of his personal in- fluence. This is a sorry situation, but it is, unfortunately, the truth. The Federal Theatre Project of WPA went, down withoiat the slight- est real effort to. save it The ad- mirable work of the motion picture division was distorted and assailed at the Capital, ' and was denied a penny of ' further appropriation, largely because no responsible legis- .lative voice pointed out its ad- vantages. The Neely bill has be6n iS; recurring nuisance for more than 10 years and, at the last Hoxise hear- ings in April; only Representative Costiello—frohi the .Hollywood dis- trictr-appeaired as a member of Con- gress, to saiy a' good word in behalf of producers and distributors. D. C. Antipathy Old Stnfl Now ihis is^ not a new situation. The antipathy" on Capitol Hill to the amusement business has. been existr ent for a long.time, and the infor;med are well aware that .the reasons be^ hind much of this unfriendliness is. both insidious and un-American. It cropped out in the • long delay : be- jEore George M. Cohan was aiwarded his medal for 'Over There'; it is partly to blame for the futile at- tempts to wipe the ridiculous child labor-law from-the statute-books in Washington; time and again restric tive legislation directed towards theatre operation in Washington has been defeated only because -iocal managers used their powers ol per- suasioft. Congressman Lamberton's cam- paign to purge the Actors Equity is .but another manifestation of this feeling. The tiruth is that the amusement Industry lacks; one real champion in either the Senate or the House.. No other bvisiness, of similar magnitude and importance, is left so completely to its own resources in the halls of Government. In the broader field of national economy, and tax legislation, which directly affects the heart of the in- dustry—its box office—therei exists the same Indifference, indecision and timidity. The theatre is taxed close to death, arid, unless it makes a last gasp, will continue to carry a dis- proportionate, share of the burden, because no influential Congressional voice is heard shouting: 'Here, stop right now. You will diefeat the very purpose for which taxation was d^ vised, to raise revenues, "There is a ceiling, and a limit whicli theatre goers and movie patrons will pay without grumbling, and you are close to that extreme. Don't "kill off theatre attendance and hit U.S Treasury receipts by fixing an amusement tax that evolves into a boycott.' " ' Fix Biz Needs a Lobby "Those who contend that this \m' plies the absence of an effective lobby at Washington would be well within the truth. The word 'lobby- ist' has come to have an ominous meaning, but every organized , busi- ness with interstate affiliations has some representative here to look after its interests. That doesn't im- ply either corruption, or an tinholy influencie, but an informed agency to assist Congress in wtiting intelligent and fair tax legislation. , You may argue until you are black in'the,face that it ' is undesirable f pi* afty busi- ness to be the ally of politics. Yet, the truth remains, most government Is politics, ^and will alwaiys be un- der ' out system of party rule. These are political times, arid those who are against this', existing order,; are generally challenged to point out how they would improve things, , and to chart refofm. Tlieire- fore I beg leave to submit the fol- lowlhg" platform,' aimed riot so rriuch at correcting evils, as to. Inject a stiinulatihg influence that Will arouse > the business from its. Ifethargy.: parity with Sporti . . in the gene;:al allocation of news- paper spjace and department cover- age,, tfadition and custom have made It a national journalistic! practice to rate sports linage above amuse- ments. The theory of this balance is *that this potential newspaper! audi^ ence for sports news is far In excess of those interested in inotion pic- tures, the stage or personalities In this entertainment world. There has been—so far as the rec- ords go—no organized effort to show that the collective audience for mp-^ tion pictures, "and news of stars and dominant personalities of the indus- try, equals at least, if it does not sur- pass, that for sports, professional and amateur. Certainly on the numeri- cal chart which shows 54,000,000 weekly atteridance at pictures (fig- ures of the Gallup poll prepared for producer Samuel Goldwyn on double features) it is doubtful whether at- tendance on all sports, professional and amateur, participating and non- par ticipa ting,' attains such imposing representation. " Or, breaking it down, to any. given comrriunity or area, the collective film audience for first . run ; and neighborhood theatres,, will - be - far greater than that foi: both commerr cial and participating spoi-t. On this iiypothesis the motion pic- ture industry has a right to ask for newspaper consideration that will bring the comparative allocation of space for amusements closer to the daily level of sports coverage. But entirely apart from the standpoint of reader interest there is the. added argument that sports, national and local, is not a profitable classification in. any newspaper. Furthermore, the practice has grown up whereby pro- fessional sport- secures its rpromotion without regard to the : newspaper business office; Without any inten- tion to upset newspaper admihistra- tion and management, it appears that the organized motion picture indus- try is within Its rights in calling to the attention of the American News- paper—Pubiishers—Assdciationr arid- other affiliated organizations of the Fourth Estate, the unfairness of;this discrimination. The amusement industry, nation- ally and locally, pays a sustaining rate in all papers which it employs for the exploitation and. sale of its product. Generally It pays the high- est linage rate of any classification in the average newspaper. Professional Sports In the realm of professional sport —paitiQularly baseball, football and racing—newspaper practice has been and is, to regard and treat these out- door amusements as non-profitable departments. If publishers feel that public iriterest compels them to pro- mote and sustain these professional sports which attract seasonal audi ences running into the hundreds of thousands, . generally attracted through free newspaper space, it Is hot the province of the motion; pic- ture industry to pioneer for reform These professional outdoor attrac tions, however, do constitute a riva for the motion picture boxoffice, anc the industry seems to be well within .the realm of reasonable objection In asking for something approaching parity in both space and considera tion. Professional football, for In stance. Is a 100% commercial insti tution. 'Unlike the college competi tion, it has neither local pride npr non-profit argument as a factor In claiming, preferential treatment by newspapers. Like professional box- ing. It seems to assume that this purely manufactured Interest entitles It to a free ride, and it gets It. In asking for newspaper coopera- tion and theatre tieups, the organ- ized theatre and the amuisement in- dustry has Invariably operated upon the thepry that such publicity and reading space carries an obligation to support and sustain the. advertis- ing cblumhs. There can be, and is no complaint on this accepted Cus- tom. But, in the competition for its share of the amusement dollar, the industry should feel that it is both right and fair' in asking that others, In the business of providing public entertainmentj be compelled to meet the same standard of newspaper sup- port flixed for motion pictures and theatre operation. Motion Picture National Polls The ofiganized Industry, has been singuliarly liax in keeping a finger upon the pulse of Its collective audi- ence: - It-contacts through its thou-; santis of bokofflces in operating thea tres an. audience of many millions weekly. . . ■With a properly organized depart ment of research and public rela tions, it seems to one that it ought to be possible to canvas at regular In tervals the theatres of the country, large ; and sriiall.. on popularity trends'and star vailue. The trade papers, and especially the annual poll of exhibitprs on box- of fice favorites, arouse national In- terest that must be reflected in a stimulated boxof fice. Commendable as these sampling of exhibitors are, coupled with the 'Ten Best' polls conducted by trade magazines and by motion picture critics, reader In- terest could be further captured by an annual national poll in which all film-goers could participate. The 'Motion Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment* campaign of 1938 was a . step in this direction. The fact that it was less successful than its sponsors probably expected should not discourage further move- ments in the direction of general audience participation. VAniEXy, by its frank and friendly sampling of exhibitor and patron opinion on •Why I Do Not Go to the Movies, or 'Why I Have Given irjp the Movies As a Habit,' fulfills a very -useful purpose, and a^ds significantly to the sum total of vital statistics on a subject that toiiches the very heart of the industry—the boxofflce. This brings Us then to neglect, or lack of foresighV in the field of . na- tional promotion, lb.is my conten- tion that the millions who attend motion pictures daily :and weekly should be enlisted annually, to voluntarily participate in a refer- endum or poU to determine the 10 Most Popular Stars and the 10 Most Popular Motion Pictures.. In tills informal election, every theatre, from the most imposing first rUns to the smallest of honky-tonks should have the privilege. of active participation. "The machinery for such a national poll, and its ad- ministration should be under the supervision of industry headquarters, and if it Is compi"ehensively con- ducted the results from week to week polling Wpiild stiniulate nation-wide interest mounting until ;he final results are announced. Fans Should Vote on Best Fix Wednesday, Seplcmbcr 25, 1910 In other words the determining of the consideration of this measure, the 10 Best pictures of 1940 should Now I assume It is possible that the, nbt-be-excluisiv^y ,the. fun ctioni_and_LinoraL issue,—br—the question . of_a_ the duty of professional critics... This clean screen, might have been a sore, is not said to reflect on the Intel- [ spot when the Neely bill was initi- from th« Will Hays headquarters on matters pertaining to the industry. From time to time I received copies of Mr. Hays' speeches, and at the regular periods copies of the annual report, but never was my aid or- ad- vice solicited lor any cause in behalf of the industry other than requests from alert local exhibitors. I say this without attempting to condemn the Hays office promotion policy, but more because I felt.many timies that instead of reading VAniETY and other papers, for story inspiration, how nice it would be if I could pick up a weekly trade let- ter from the Motion Picture PrPduc- ers & Distributors of America, Inc., arid ; find but officially What, was going on. ; Speaking entirely from the Wash- ington standpoint, which I happen tp Jtnow, the relation between the of- ficial agency of the organized indus- try and . critic desks could hardly have been rhore remote. While my feeling towards motion, pictures and exhibitors was aniniated by the. one desire to be helpful, cooperative, sympathetic and understand, I was never enlisted or even " invited to help solve Industry problems. What were these problems? Well, the Neely bill, for example.' This legislatiorii or something similar, de- signed to end blockbopking which has been a Cajpitol Hill nuisance for more than 10 years. This year it passed the Senate, iand in April was called up for further hearings be- fore the House interstate and For- eign Commerce comniittee.. Those hearings developed the fact that 'the moral issue' had completely blown up, or collapsed as a factor in be prepared to contribute its just share of this tax burden; and about that there will be no honest com- plaint. What I coritend Is that Congress has certain convenient ways of rais- ing money, apart firpin elevating the income tax base. Four of thc.se are more taxes on liquor, gasolinci to- bacco and the amusement industry. They always cpnie flirst, on the as^ sumption that they are luxury levies. Well, let us concede that liquor drinking, pleasure driving and habit smoking are luxury practices; Most of us would be reluctant to give them up, and are resigned to pay for our, indulgence. But aire movies luxuries? I con- tend that in the pattern of the aver- age life motion picture entertain- ment has come to be an essential, rather than a luxury. . I really mean it. And in .business of maintai irig national morale, and in furtheiring the defense program to which . the, Government and all of lis free people are committed, the screen has its. definite and useful purpose. I have been reading Variety since . its first issue, and I was for a short time its Washington representative. These extended remarks are ad- dressed to my favorite Bible of the industry because, I feel sure it is one organ that tries to keep up with 'the paradcl^ endeavors to sustain the clients iand the industry v/hich help to make its weekly visits possible. . In short,, I think the rnotion pic- ture Industry, arid the amusement business generally has been doing, a Rip Van Winkle, insofar as Washing- ton is concerned. The remedy does ■ not lie In consent decrees. The an- swer is being on the Job and keeping up with industry's progress. ectual capacity or fitness , of pro- fessional, revieweirs to appraise the Hollywood. product; It merely sug- t ate'd.. But the House committee in its exhaustive and painstaking hearings I lasting approximately a month. gests that every movie-goer m t^jQ^jgi^^. Qut definitely and convinc- America have, a voice and a vote The metropolitan critics, as a rule. ingly that the (Joseph I.) BrCen or ganization, within the Will Hays. are well equipped, for their jobs and setup, had done such .a complete job their standards of appraisal meet the ©f screen dieodorizlng, that Congress- requiremerit of their newspapers; men for the Neely bill conceded that but there is grave doubt as to the moral Issue, as such, too longer whether their collective findbigs re-I need occupy the attention of . the Hays Powwows ', Continued from page 5 fleets the composite verdict of Mr. Average' Movie-Goer. Variety and other trade papers have the statistics to show that, time and again, motion pictures rated 100% by trained re- coitamittee. Allied's Spot This Informal decision left Mr. (Abra.n F.) Myers and his Allied viewers have been less than 50% at states exhibitors confronted with the the boxoffice. On the otheir hand, task bf Justifying the bill by confln- fe^at'ures that have been sloughed off ing. their argiunCnts to trade! prac- by big city critics as inconsequential, tice. All of his estimable women wit- or' so-so, have proven substantial nesses demonstrated that they successes, far in advance of many couldn't put a vestige of logic behind big budget pictures. . * their plea for a cleaner screen, since It is a recognized fact that the it already existed almost beyond the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and. realm of criticism, other than from Sciences annual awards have proven selfish sources. fruitful sources of interest to movie- j^y point here Is that the motion goers and have attracted more com- pij.ture critics of America would bmed^ newspaper^ «Pace than any K^^^ ^^^^^ surprised, had they been promotion feature established by the g^^^. hearings, to discover industry. Whatsis, proposed is an ^^at tiie moral issue had evaporated, expansion of this idea that will' . ^ i multiply Interest many times be- cause it enters the broad and pro- ductive field of audience participa- since there never had been much more than an inkling that the Breen I supervision had reached such a high tion. It certainly will not be denied °^ efficiency, that if 20,000,000 or more have an As a matter of fact not one motion oppbrtimity to vote lor their picture editor—aside from trade rep- favorites, they will Talk Movies, and resentatives—appeared at the Neely will follow Closely the week-to-week bill hearings although it posed some- development of the poll thing that vitally affected the indus- I do not contend that the Gallup Ut. and indirectly the importance of poll on double features is other than tl^eir jobs. They Just didn't care, be- an honest attempt for national sam- cause nobody had made it his mis- pling on a particula^ question, and slon to acquaint them with what a I admire Mr. Goldwyh's enterprise valuable fountain of source material in trying to catch the public fancy was being overlooked. or pulse on particulariy controyer- The campaign against the Neely sial matter. But I also think that it bill at the House hearings was a is regrettable thatj upon a point glittering success as projected by Mr. which he deems so Important, he Charles C. PettijPhn, largely beicaiuSe finds it necessary to enlist an out- the Allied cause was sunk when the side agency with established : ma- moral Issue ceased to exist. 'What the chinery to discover 'what's what.' Neely bill hearings did bring oUt Goldwyn Started Something ?^<?^ly ^^^ J^- ^^§^}^^,^: ^ , ... , , , dustry and the mdependent Allied Goldwyn started sometbing which exhibitors were fighting oVer some- VAniETY with its adnurable sense of thing which never should have news value, deeips wise to follow uP Leacbed the hall; of Congress, , i.e., m the interest of good tra^e reading, trade .practices. I think critics would Nevertheless, the thought persists ^ave been impressed, as I waS, with that the mdustry should have the re- | futility of a divided business, and search organization to do such sam- pling, not only occasionally, but frer qUehtly, as inatters arise in which It ] Would be desirable to have the opin- ion of exhibitors and those vifally concerned .with the progress and success of the. amusement business. For 12 years 1 was a mptipri pic- ture critic and wrote; a daily news- paper column, but my entire life has been clos<^ to the industry and pub- the necessity of presenting a united front to the common' enemy. Tax problems and the Boxoffice These have something to do' with , the matter of attendance at the movies, Since every penny tacked On to the usual'scale Of admissions af- fects the ppcketbook .of customers. • I recognize, ias does every thinking American, that v we must pay the lie amusement. I had the usual I price for preparing to keep Mr. Hit- problem of those committed to a ler where he belongs—far away frbrii fixed typewriter output each 24 the'Westerri Hemisphere. Prepared- hours, about what to choose as 'the ness Is costing, and will continue to subject for a lead story, and espe- cost, a staggering sum of hioney. cially Sunday leads. In my entire Existing revenue measures do not Washington newspaper experience begin to. cover the task of raising the as, a motion picture editor I can't re- billions already ' appropriated, , I call more than half a dozen calls. I think the amusement industry must and ,, directbrs of advertising and pubUcity to niieet with the board of directors today so that there might be a general exchange of views on . the situation. . 'but of such discussions come a clearer recognition of thre industry's needs and requirements, and conse- quent abiUty . to make . certain the continued supply of topflight enter- tainment demanded by our patrons in" America, who have always so . generously supported motion pic- tures.' fllore Such Confabs Hays said that these round-table discussions would be continued in tlje future. Citing that America's Intensified patriotism and interest in the prob- lems of, democracy and citizenshipi are reflected in this season's product. Hays claimed that^world events have . influenced the trend toward pictures highlighting American Ideals, history arid biography. Among these he irir eluded ^'Howards of Virginia,* 'Chad Hanna,' 'The Westerner,' 'Arnazing Story of Sergeant York,' 'Brigham Young—^Frontiersman,' '[ 'Kit Carson,' 'The Californian,' 'Virginia,* .. 'Ari- zona,? 'Ramparts We Watchj* 'Meet John Doe,* 'Citizen Kane' and 'Land of Liberty.* Hays ^aid the screen has made its patrons ^ving participants in their country's history for the last 25 years and this trend is strengthened in productions this season. He cited as part bf this continuous stream of Arherlcana, 'Northwest Passage,' 'Drums Along the Mohawk,' 'Union Pacific,' 'Young Mr. Lincoln,' 'Abe Lincoln in Illinois,' 'Gone with the Wind,' 'Show Boat' 'Man of Con- quest,' 'Story of Alexander Grahain Bell' and 'Edison the Man.' Hays* survey shpws that prpduc- . tioh schedules reveal a great diversity of entertainment; He said there was keen interest in present- day themes. The foreign situation and the way . the: continued bombing pf the Brit- ish Isles by Nazis has cut into U- S. distribution and theatre business formed the principal topic of con- ; versatipn at the, third quarterly meeting of Hays office directors last "Wednesday (18).. In addition. Will. Hays, just . back" from ■Holly wood, gave* a resume of developments on the Coast to Motion Picture Pro- ducers & Distributors Assn. directors. The report of Major*L. E. Thonip- son, : general ciiairman of the Mo-, tion Picture Theatres Campaign cbminittee <pr the American . Red . Cross!,,, covering the fDrthcoming iri- , dustry campaign to aid the annual Red Cross call next November also was handed the diirectors. Hays leaves N. "V. the end pi! this week to go to French Lick Springs, Ind.,. where he will deliver an ad- dress Oct, 1 before the . Indiana chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution^