Exhibitor's Trade Review (May-Aug 1925)

May 30, 1925 Page 23 HAYS ORGANIZATION ASSAILED IN STORM OVER ARBITRATION PERSONALITIES THAT GLEAMED AT THEATRE OWNERS CONVENTION Independent Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association is at work on a plan for its own arbitration boards to settle disputes with independent exhibitors. This action was requested in a resolution passed by the M. P. T. O. A. following a stormy debate at the Milwaukee convention. This resolution was adopted following a lengthy report on Uniform Contracts, published on Page 29, presented by Joseph M. Seider, president of the M. P. T. 0. of New Jersey. Recommendations of Mr. Seider that a committee of five be appointed by the board of directors to take up consideration of a new uniform contract brought a storm of protest against the present board of arbitration methods from the floor. Upon completion of the report, A. B. Momand, president of the M. P. T. O. of Oklahoma, moved to accept and adopt the report as presented. Tom Goldberg, of Baltimore, suggested an amendment referring the entire matter to the board of directors. At this point, Sydney Samuelson, of Newton, N. J., entered a protest against the amendment, saying that after attending M. P. T. O. A. conventions for five years, it was his experience that nothing of consequence might be expected in the way of action on any subject brought before the convention and not made the subject of decisive action by the convention. Mr. Samuelson outlined various phases of the uniform contract which, he declared, provide the combine with power whereby it can trustify every theatre signing the uniform contract any time it chooses to do so, these being the fixing of admission prices, the regulation of advertising, the arranging of play dates and the supervision of the entire business of the theatre owner under the comprehensive provisions of the arbitration clause. At this point, Frank Rembusch, of Indianapolis, Ind., yelled : "That's right ! It cost me $60,000 to find out." Instantly the fire got hot, with many exhibitors clamoring for the floor. Those voicing vigorous protests against the arbitration system and the uniform contract in the subsequent debate included A. B. Momand, of Oklahoma, who displayed notable ability as a tactician ; Mr. Quinn, of Texas, who lauded Mr. Momand for his handling of arbitration difficulties, which, he said, had required a high degree of courage. Mr. Rappaport, of Philadelphia, inquired of Mr. Samuelson how it might be possible to prevent biased and unfair individuals from taking the aggressive position against exhibitors they have been taking. To this Mr. Samuelson replied : "Get a jury of twelve men; take it into court." Here Frank Rembusch entered the discussion again with a detailed story of his experiences. He asked Samuelson how the latter managed to get along in the face of the combine's tactics, to which Sanderson replied that he does not sign the uniform contract, but that it required a lawsuit, designed to protect his basic rights as an American citizen, to scrap the uniform contract as far as he was concerned. Frank Rembusch summed up his position by saying that he had written to Will Hays and told him he would not permit three irresponsible employees of the film companies and three of his competitors to take away hs property rights, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Heads Independents I. E. Chadwick. Re-elected Presidenl of I. M. P. P. D. A. Following Reorganization at Convention. It was then suggested and ordered that the new committee incorporate a condition in the revised board of arbitration conditions that that body shall not be able to consider any question of law, but only question of fact. This, it was pointed out, would give the exhibitor recourse to the courts for justice lagainst unfair rulings by controlled boards. Charles O'Reilly explained the workings of the Theatre Owners' Chamber of Commerce, which seeks to prevent the evils reported in other sections of the country in the so-called arbitration practice. He said his organization, by maintaining a competent staff of men, was able to gain a fair break for the exhibitors in its territory. He urged exhibitors to organize in their territory and to exercise their preemptory right to challenge any member of a board of arbitration believed to be prejudiced either through being a competitor or being connected with one of the film producing theatre owning groups. He said the chamber has been able to gain a 50 per cent control of the arbitration boards by forcing the film club to alternate the meetings in the chamber offices and the club. His organization, he added, had forced two important decisions : The right of the theatre owner to cancel his contract while it is being held in escrow awaiting approval of the distributor and the barring of the reopening of any arbitrated case except when proof of fraud or duress is shown. Frank Rembusch called upon the M. P. T. O. A. to end the arbitration clause in all contracts forever, so that the disputes might be thrown into the courts for settlement. The opinion of many of the delegates was crystallized by Sam Watts, of Cleveland, who declared : "Every exhibitor is a sovereign business man. There is no rightful place in the industry for the arbitration boards as they are now constituted or may be constituted. The exhibitor has the right to present his case before any court of the land, and not to any mythical court framed to get decisions for producers who control them." ^Fred Herrington, of Pittsburg, branded the present arbitration boards as "a collection agency for the Will Hays organization." He cited the case of the Lyric Theatre in The election of R. F. ("Pete") Woodhull to the presidency of the M. P. T. O. A. places at the helm an exhibitor who has made a distinct record as a leader and organization diplomat. He is one of the most effective public speakers in the field, has an army of friends throughout the industry and has earned the honor by long and arduous effort in behalf of the M. P. T. O. of New Jersey and the national organization. A forceful advocate of the strength of numbers in organization work, Mr. Woodhull is hopeful of being able to bring about a substantial increase in the membership of the national body and of being able to render substantial aid in the building of solid state organizations that provide the parent institution with the most substantial sort of backing. * * * Sydney S. Cohen, as chairman of the board of directors, is definitely committed, though somewhat against his personal inclinations, to another year of hard work in behalf of the organization. Having demonstrated rather extraordinary ability as an organizer, having been in large measure responsible for the harmonizing of interests that seemed sharply in conflict, there was but one course open to the association. Sydney Cohen couldn't be permitted to go into retirement. To have permitted him to do so would have given the organization a serious setback. So, being the sort of fellow who puts the welfare of his friends and associates above his own, he will carry on. Julian Brylawski has about as well developed as anybody could the art of telling facts in words that carry conviction. His appearances before the Milwaukee convention demonstrated again his marked ability as a speaker and his unusual ability to create confidence in a crowd. ♦ ♦ Many exhibitors who have been s'aunch M. P. T. O. men expressed freely' their pleasuse at seeing Al Steffers. H. H. Rickey and others of the Allied States group taking an active part in building a greater national organization with united purpose. They received a real welcome. Glenn Harper went away happy, of course, over the selection of Los Angeles tor next year's convention. In spite of the fact that he will have his hands full with several months of advance work to make sure that Los Angeles will break all records in the matter of exhibitor gatherings. California, Pa., the proprietor of which had differences with First National, when the exhibitor refused to accept the decision of the board of arbitration, which he regarded as unjust. Mr. Herrington said he was then notified no film would be delivered to him because of his refusal unless he deposited $250 as security with each company. The owner, he said, went out and rented film from Fox and the S. & S. Exchange. Then the First National and Famous Players began to ship in film, notifying him that they had decided to drop the cases. "They told him." he declared, "that he had no right to buy film after they had notified him that proceedings had been discontinued. They attempted to force him to book the film despite the fact he had already filled his play dates with other product."