The Bioscope (Jul-Sep 1931)

34 THE /BIOSCOPE July 15, 1931 At the C.E.A. Meetings Move Against Illegal General Council’s Advance Bookings New Resolution General Release Six Months After First Showing At the monthly meeting of the General fCouncil held in London on July 8th, the London and Home Counties Branch again brought to the notice of the General Council the question of installation of talking picture apparatus, and the consequent booking of films in hotels. They urged that the reply from the K.lt.S., dated May 8th (which stated that proyided the business was of such a nat ure as could not he deemed to be in competition with regular cinemas, there could be no objection to renters entering into contracts for supplying films to hotels) was unsatisfactory, as the practice was one which might spread. LL Hargreaves said this had been discussed in the " est Lancashire Branch, as the situation was prevalent around Blackpool and seaside towns and was much deprecated. rt was recognised however that renting firms were sure to avail themselves of the few opportunities arising in this connection where they did not interfere with their regular customers. “ Schlenter ” Dates The notice of motion in the name of H. Victor Davis ''That the question of ‘schlenter ’dates be considered.” next came up for discussion. John Harrison, previous to the debate, suggested that in view of the prevalent uncertainty as to the meaning of the word “ schlenter,” the wording of the notice of motion be altered to “ That the question oi illegal advance bookings be considered,” to which course Mr. Davis agreed. H. Victor Davis, in opening the subject, said : — I want us to discuss this question and see where we really are. There is not the slightest doubt that advance booking beyond tile legal period is very common , is getting more common, and likely to become universal, and I want us to ask ourselves if this is good for the trade. Is it good for the administration of the r llms Act ? Is it not likely to stand in t he way of one of the objects that we had in view when that Bill was passed into law '? ' I do not want to stand upon a pedestal of virtue and say I have never done this, but I understand from men whom we all esteem, and whose names I cannot divulge, that this practice has entered into the very temple of virtue of this Association. Of course, it is due to our absurd competition with one another, the very thing which is the source of so many of our troubles is really the cause of this advance booking. “ I know men in South Wales who are booked up a year ahead, or have dates that are booked up. I need not enter into methods by which this is done ; I do not want to apportion blame. It is a system which has grown up through the keen competition in various parts of the country, but it is a system likely to do the trade a great deal of injury unless we can find some way of checking it. I only want the General Council to consider it. I am not hurt by it, nor do I benefit by it, but it should be considered as seriously as possible to see if there is some way out.” Difficult to Get Proof Alderman E. Trol'NSON, J.P., said this particular matter had been discussed time after time, and the difficulty was to get specific instances to bring to the notice of the Board of Trade. !'■ H. Cooper supplemented what Alderman Trounsou had said. The difficulty was to get actual proof. If the Board of Trade could obtain that, they had promised they would take drastic action. Major A. J. Gale : “ I should like to submit to the meeting a resolution, more in the nature of a recommendation to the Joint Standing Committee — '' That no film shall be shown in the West End of London, or in the provinces, or shall be trade shown unless it is available for general release within six months of the date of the West End run, the provincial run or the trade show. ' That is in ordi r to try and get down to it with the renters, anil failing any agreement between the C.E.A. and K.lt.S.. I think we should communicate with the Board of Trade with a view to amending the films Act. I do not know what Mr. Ormiston’s view is, but my own is that when this Bill was being framed it was the intention that when a film was once seen either at a trade show or in the West End, it should be available to all exhibitors for booking within a period of not more than six months. I thought that was the object of the Bill. "We know at the moment because of this overlapping the West End houses are wanting films very badly. One of the circuits has to find no less than eight films every week which are pre-release films, and all the time they are calling upon the product to such an alarming extent that the release dates are getting further ahead of time, and that may continue until something drastic happens. • ‘ Everybody's Doing It ” ‘ ‘ We know that if our members on the Advisory Committee press the matter sufficiently the Board will have to sit up and take notice. I heard of a case yesterday where a renting firm are releasing a film on January 27, 1932, and one house has definitely booked this particular film outside the legal period. “ We know this is going on every day ; it is for our members to report the methods that are adopted by the renters. This sort of thing is going on to such an extent that I cannot understand why the excuse is always made there is no evidence. There must be evidence in this room where the same sort of thing is happening. Nearly everybody is doing it. It is having its effect upon the trade, and I think the least we can do is to pass a resolution in those terms trying to get something forcible done with the renters, and, failing that, officially to approach the Board of Trade in order to seek their assistance in carrying out the terms of the Films Act.” Captain Alfred Davis, in seconding Major Gale’s resolution, said, as an example, there was a film showing i t the West End at the moment which was not available for release until the middle of February. The main trouble was that that film would be eight months old, and cinemas were suffering because they were showing out-of-date pictures. Major Gale’s suggestion that they should be able to show films in provincial and suburban theatres within six months of their being trade shot™ or to the public was good. It would fall a little hard on the West End cinemas, because they were now showing films for release in January and December, and if they do go on showing during the next couple of months it would mean duplication of films on release dates. If this could be overcome, Major Gale’s suggestion would go a long way to cure the trouble of offering films for booking before their legal period. J. Langham Brown said he realised the difficulty of the Advisory Committee in taking up cases that were not actua lly in writing or in the form of a contract. Everyone knew lots of things were going on but it was difficult to produce legal evidence. The situation was in some measure due to the circuits withholding dates. In his district one of the outstanding films of the month had been booked. After they had got their dates he had received a letter from the renters pointing out that they had not definitely secured the first and asking him to accept a date which was absolutely and actually two months beyond the legal period. That had happened to his halls, and to anot her exhibitor in the next town. Naturally he had not fallen for this arrangement, but that was evidence that fictitious dates were being mentioned to get over that difficulty. Beneficent Legislation Abused F. W. Morrison said there had always been in mind that, there would be an element of fair play in the administration of the pre-release clause in the Films Act, but this was not in evidence. Certain beneficent legislation in regard to a pre-release booking had been introduced into the Act for West End houses, but he thought attention might be focusrd on how grievously that little bit of legislation had hurt the bulk of the exhibitors throughout the country. The evil was greater in regard to British films than American films in view of the increased quota requirements. This he considered would solve itself when there was a multiplicity of films. There was abuse by those who got the beneficent legislation, and he thought if the members of the Advisory Committee would infoim the Board of Trade of the abuse, there might be a possibility of the pre-release being tied down to a given period. If Major Gale’s resolution was an effort to press home the reasons for revision of this particular thing he would have great pleasure in supporting it. J. Harrison said he ri numbered during the framing of the Bill the hours of discussion which had been given to this particular point. Colonel Wedgwood had then said that you cannot prevent a gentlemen’s agreement by Act of Parliament — when he mentioned gentlemen he was not thinking of renters. The question was asked of the Attorney-General: “ What is an agreement ? ” and he said : “ An agreement is where two minds think as one,” and that was as far as he could get. The best thing was to try to make an agreement with the K.R.S. H. Victor Davis, in rising to support Major Gale’s resolution, said he was glad he had introduced the subject. He had purposely not put a resolution because he wanted the question discussed from the point of view of the trade as a whole. It was a growing evil, and it was not only the unscrupulous exhibitor who was doing this, but through his action the man who wanted to honour the Act was bound to follow him. A gentleman of whose integrity there could be no doubt and of unimpeaeliabe honour had told him not long ago that unless he followed tliis same method he would not have a picture worth having in his town. He thought the question was one for consideration by the Advisory Board in its entirety and not for one particular section. The disease was growing, and had become so common that nobody thought there was any wrong in doing it, and it was because of that he had introduced the question. He thought probably some report should be published in the papers ; it might even be advisable to send out a letter from the General Council pointing out the evil of the system and the desire for movement in the future, but he did not press that point now. On being put to the meeting, Major Gale’s resolution, seconded by Captain Alfred Davis, was carried unanimously. ‘‘To Get Some Justice ” Major A. J. Gale, O.B.E. J.P., in introducing the subject of film rentals — following upon his suggestions made at the Summer Conference — under the headings of (a) formation of a co-operative booking scheme ; (b) appointment of an administrator ; (c) consideration of flat rate as the method of booking ; (d) definition of fair percentage terms — said he wished to preface his remarks by a few words. Owing to various happenings, such as President Hoover’s moratorium to save Germany from revolution and bankruptcy, the fact that the Americans had monopolised the cinemas in Canada and were carrying out a systematic boycott in relation to British films, and the criticism in their own trade paper in regard to the appointment of an administrator, he felt reluctant, knowing there was likely to be another meeting with the K.R.S. to deal with the problems or to resume the matter until every avenue had been explored to see if they could not get some justice. It must be realised that, owing to the inactivity of the Association in pursuing a policy in connection with trying to save the smaller exhibitors in Great Britain to-day, there were hundreds who had got beyond the position of having suffered, and they would soon know that the country was swarming with writs issued against smaller exhibitors who were likely to go to the wall, several before many moons passed. It was a pathetic situation. “ Very Little Has Been Gained ” “ I have felt for a long time that certain members of this Association who have approached the renters have had a very difficult task,” said Major Gale. ‘‘ They have to depend on coming to London once a month ; they meet, the renters and discuss certain problems, are put off by being told the points Mill be given attention, and meanwhile things proceed on the old lines, and very little, apart from the Blackpool resolution, has been gained for exhibitors. “ It is only because the renters have realised that they were extracting more from the exhibitors than they could afford to pay that they have agreed to modify their terms, but this does not apply to big films. “ The film booking situation in this country throws a good deal of discredit on the General Council for the little effort that has been thrown into it through not standing together and pursuing lines upon which we could act much more thoroughly than we do. “ 1 do not personally want to pursue any policy or give any publicity to my views on this matter if it is likely to have any adverse effect on the small exhibitors ; but as a Britisher. I consider the one idea of the Anglo-American relationship is spelt in the word ‘ dollars,’ and we have done nothing to see that those dollars are turned into English money in this country. Until we do more by joining hands and trying to do something upon a co-operative basis we shall not have the power to dictate terms, particularly to American houses. “ The Matter Is Urgent ” “ I am prepared to support any constructive ideas to ensure profitable trading conditions, even to the closing of our books for a definite period. We have