The Bioscope (Oct-Dec 1931)

28 THE BIOSCOPE October 28, 1931 committing himself. There was a way of getting out by juggling seats, and the policy not carried out in its entirety. Syd. Parsons thought it advisable to call a special meeting a few days before the tax became operative and agree on common action. The public were going for cheap seats night after night. It was possible to make it difficult for people to attend which would militate against their returns. G. G Baum : There never ought to be threepenny seats at any cinema for the class of entertainment they were giving to-day. No independent exliibitor could stand the tax without increasing prices. It was decided to call a special meeting for October 30th. a result of which the Executive emphatically recommended exhibitors to raise their prices on the suggested, scale. A circular from headquarters making a similar recommendation had been issued and he (Mr. Houston), had also been instructed to send out a circular tomembers of the Scottish Branch endorsing the recommendation from headquarters. Electricity in Ayrshire There had also been under the consideration of the Executive (proceeded Mr. Houston) the position with, regard to the valuation of cinemas, and Mr. Ormiston had made a general statement on this subject. The Executive had also considered a letter from a Prestwick exhibitor complaining of the high rate for electricity current being charged him by the Ayrshire Electricity Board, and it had been remitted to Mr. Green and Mr. Singleton to deal with this matter. He (Mr. Houston) had been instructed to write to the Ayrshire exhibitors to ascertain their charges for electricity, and as a result it was found that while the Prestwick exhibitor in question was being charged a high rate, the same charge was payable by exhibitors who were not taking the whole of their supply from the Ayrshire Electricity Board. If they took the whole of their supply from this Board it appeared that their rate would only be 2.4d. per unit. It was intimated that the last meeting of the Genera Council had been attended on behalf of the Scottish Branch by A. B. King and G. Singleton — both of whom, were called upon to report upon the proceedings. F.B.I.’s Complaint Mr. King said the first item on the General Council agenda was something that concerned the Scottish Branch. This w'as a letter from the Secretary of the Film Group of the F. B.I., complaining of certain things he had said with regard to British films at a General Council meeting, and deprecating that the C.E.A. had taken any action in this matter whatever. He had taken the opportunity at the last meeting of the General Council to substantiate every word he had uttered on the previous occasion, and he still, strongly maintained that as they as exhibitors were the people who had to show the films on the screen, it was surely not an unreasonable thing if the quota of British films was being increased that they should be consulted on the matter. Mr. King next referred to the discussion winch had taken place concerning the number of trade shows in London starting at eleven o’clock at night and finishing in the small hours of the morning. They in Scotland did not participate in those good things, and the general feeling was that it was desirable to have ordinary trade shows instead of gala nights. The question had also been raised of bad language in certain British films. This concerned the language in the films themselves, and not the language of those booking them. It was agreed to remit this matter to the General. Secretary in order that he should write the various British studios to have this state of matters remedied — if it was shown that such a position actually existed. Futile Another question considered at the C.E.A. General Council meeting was the Sunday Opening question, but Ills (Mr. King’s) view was that it was futile to ask. their Parliamentary members to support this B 11 as far as Scotland was concerned. With regard tot he Entertainments Tax question, Mr. King added that there was little to report, except for the prophecy made at the last meeting of theScottish Branch that a concession would be forthcoming with regard to the sixpenny seats, which had duly been fulfilled, and it was also pleasing to note that in this case (as in other previous matters connected with the Entertainments Tax question) some people in Scotland had been able to do good work. Mr. King said that a great deal of discussion badtaken place at this C.E.A. General Council meeting on the question of the position of the independent exhibitor. Both he and Mr. Singleton had taken part in this debate and — although Mr. Singleton’s remarks on this subject had not been fully reported in the Trade Press — they would agree, from what was published of his speech, that Mr. Singleton had hit the nail on the head. “ A Great Pity ” They had all a great admiration for Major Gale as a fighter, but it appeared to him that his speech ha<L been one continuous harangue against the Paramount Company. His feeling was that they must be very careful in Scotland that they were not dragged into fights which did not affect the industry generally. Where they had any trouble which was getting at the root of tlie industry, Scotland was quite prepared to play its part, but at the General Council, after listening very carefully to Major Gale’s speech, he had been forced on its conclusion to ask Major Gale exactly what was his complaint. He felt it was a great pity that this matter should be raised at this particular juncture when they were getting on fairly well as far as the small exhibitor was concerned. They had not had any great trouble with the renters for twelve months, and he did not think that, they should go out for a fight when it was not necessary. He felt instead, it would be much better to foster the spirit of co-operation between exhibitors and renters. " Fights Which Were Useless ” Mr. Singleton said that, like Mr. King, he felt very strongly on this question of the Paramount Company and he also felt that Major Gale had allowed his antiAmerican bias to sap his sounder judgment. He also agreed with Mr. King that this was not an appropriate juncture for such a question being raised and that Down With The Deadheads ! Sheffield Asks Renters To Take Action The October meeting of the Sheffield and District C.E.A. held at the Grand Hotel, Sheffield, under the chairmanship of A. R. Favell, produced several interesting discussions, among these being the attendance of the general public at trade shows and the increases in fire insurance premiums. The Chairman raised the trade show matter and commented on the fact that, whereas at one time private shows were poorly attended, now the attendance was something as much as six or seven hundred. The presence of the deadheads, he said, was a positive nuisance, and the renters should be asked to be more careful in the distribution of tickets. At the present time it seemed as if any person could get invitations. People went to trade shows and did not attend the ordinary performances, thereby affecting exhibitors’ patronage. N. BLASKEY suggested that the difficulty could be overcome if the renters were requested to confine invitations to representative viewers, whose names could be supplied by the Braucli. He was informed by the Chairman that this would be of little use, because, even though tile names were written on the cards, there was no guarantee that they were being used by the proper persons when the cards were presented to the attendants. Many people simplv ignored the attendants and walked straight into the halls. The idea of the renters seemed to be to get as many people present as possible. They did not want Sheffield to get like London, where the attendances of deadheads was often so numerous that the legitimate viewer was lucky if lie could find a scat. W. Bryan instanced a case where the representative of the renters asked for a few extra tickets. He received 115, and when the company was told that all the exhibitors had been asked and that all the tickets could not be used among the trade, they replied that the hall must be packed and their representative could give the tickets to any person he pleased. “ The Worst Advertisers ” A. R. Walker said that the deadheads were the worst advertisers. They were quick to tell their friends about the bad pictures, but they never lavished any praise. Arnold R. Favell (Secretary) said that the Brancli might issue badges which could be worn beneath the lapel of the coat by exhibitors. This would ensure that unauthorised exhibitors did not gain admittance. Isy Graham stated that, sometimes there were three trade shows in Sheffield in one day. The renters liked big attendances because it gave a different atmosphere to the pictures. Mr. Favell replied that he did not object to the presence of a reasonable number of people, but wtien they got GOO at one show it was time they made a protest. One firm was careful in the choice of invitations, but there were others who did not display the same discrimination. It was decided to write to the renters, registering a strong protest against the attendance of the general public at private shows, and asking that they should exercise the greatest care in the sending out of tickets. An Unfair Imposition Fire insurance premiums came in for criticism. Mr. Graham said he had chatted with the representative of a large company, who told him that the increased premiums were due to fires in two parts of England, which made it necessary for the company to protect themselves against further possible heavy losses. Mr. Graham thought it unfair that Sheffield, a city where cinema fires were of rare occurrence, should be made to pay more because there were some parts of the country where the fire risks were greater. There were many bye-laws in Sheffield governing cinemas, and the buildings were so safe that the insurance companies should he prepared to make a concession rather than impose additional burdens at periods when the cinema trade was not in a position to bear them. W. T. Gent complained that his assessment had gone up by 100 per cent., and Mr. Blaskey said that the premium for his hall had increased by 33i per cent. The Secretary pointed out that 75 per cent, of the fire insurance business was carried out by one company. There would not be another valuation for five years, hut, in view of the safety of Sheffield cinemas, this company might make some concessions rather than run tlie risk of letting the business go to non-tariff houses. Branch to Take Action The Chairman remarked that in some towns tlie risk of fire was accentuated by the fact that cinemas were in the same block of buildings as sale shops. Nothing of this kind prevailed in Sheffield. Restrictions on building cinemas in Sheffield were very stringent. -Mr. Graham put the point of view that if tlie exhibitors made no outcry against the increases, the Watch Committee would at once jump to the conclusion that the safety regulations were not numerous, and they would immediately set about framing some more. There were already enough regulations in Sheffield. The insurance companies are to be written to and asked to receive a deputation from the Branch with a view to granting special concessions. Sunday Opening From Headquarters came a letter submitting questions on Sunday opening, which tlie Brancli were asked to put before Parliamentary candidates. These asked if the candidates would support Sunday opening in areas where there is a demand and to do their best to put the Sunday Opening measure on a reasonable and permanent basis. The Branch decided to take no concerted action, it being left to individual members to take what steps they pleased. Mr. Graham said that Sheffield had never wanted Sunday opening, and if tlie time ever came when local halls wished to open on Sundays, lie would feel compelled as a matter of principle to offer opposition. Political Capital It was decided to defer any public announcement of tlie revision of prices consequent on the increased tax until after tile Parliamentary elections, because the Brancli feared that candidates might make propaganda out of it in their speeches. A suggestion was made by Mr. Graham that, in lieu of tlie usual cinema ball, the Brancli should try and arrange a trip to Elstree to see a talking picture made, and also arrange to inspect some of the flue new cinemas in London Tlie matter was deferred until the December meeting. y y “The Result is the Same Scottish Branch on “Squeezing Out” Tactics Strong criticism of Major Gale’s attack on Paramount characterised the October meeting of the Scottish Branch, at Glasgow, last Wednesday. A. B. King, who reported on the General Council meeting, thought it was a great pity that the matter should have been raised at a time when co-operation between renters and exhibitors was a primary essential. James McBride said it seemed it did not matter whether it was an American or a British combine that squeezed out the independent exhibitor — the result was just the same. He advised British exhibitors to “ keep their eyes on their own corner.” instead of watching for another American invasion. BAILIE TIMMONS, who presided, at the outset referred to the fact that the chairman (Mr. Ormiston) was unable to attend, owing to his engagements as a Parliamentary candidate. He (the speaker) felt sure that — despite any varying political opinions — they all tioped that Mr. Ormiston would be successful, and that the same good fortune would attend Bailie Welsh. It should also be noted that George Archibald — for many years a very active member of the Scottish Branch of file C.E.A. — was also a Parliamentary candidate and they likewise wished him every success. The Secretary (John A. Houston) gave a report concerning the latest activities of the Executive — opening by observing that nine new halls had been recommended for C.E.A. membership. The Executive had also received reports from different districts concerning their attitude to revised prices in view of t he heavier Entertainments Tax. A general statement on this subject had been made by Mr. Ormiston, as