The Exhibitor (Nov 1938-May 1939)

EDITORIAL I H E Vol. 21, No. 24 April 26, 1939 A Jay Emanuel Publication. Covering the film territories in the Metropolitan East. Published weekly by Jay Emanuel Publications, Incorporated. Publishing office: 1225 Vine Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. New York City office, 1600 Broadway. West Coast office, 1119 Poinsettia Drive, Hollywood, California. Representatives in Washington, D. C.; Albany, Buffalo, Boston, New Haven. Jay Emanuel, publisher; Paul J. Greenhalgh, business manager; Herbert M. Miller, managing editor. Subscription rates: $2 for one year; $5 for three years. Address all communications to 1225 Vine Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. JUST IN PASSING THE FRIENDLY NEWSPAPERS When Warners’ Charles Einfeld stated at the recent convention that "the experience of our company over a long period of years has satisfied us that newspapers are the most valuable medium for motion picture advertising and that as a result of this knowledge, 98% of our 1939-1940 advertising budget, the largest in our history, will be invested in newspaper space,” he couldn’t have known that the Gannett chain of newspapers throughout the country would think so much of the idea it would devote third-page ads plugging the idea and, incidentally, Warner Brothers Pictures. This department has always contended that the newspapers are the best friends the industry has and that money invested in newspaper advertising is by far the most important. All this was recently brought to mind by two incidents. One saw ads on "Wuthering Heights” breaking in national magazines with a New York City Radio City Music Hall date (it played the Rivoli), while the other, a few months ago, saw full page ads for Metro’s "I Take This Woman,” which was never released. Many theatremen are of the opinion, we hear, some executives like to see their ads in the magazines because they appear so striking. Magazine advertising can look very pretty but it is not as flexible as newspaper advertising and can not appear in every first run when a picture breaks. And so far as friendliness with both newspapers and magazines are concerned, both are important but the first more so. THE PRICE OF FILM GOES UP While the companies, major and independent, seem to have varied views of what concessions are to be given to exhibitors, they are agreed on one point — the ability of the exhibitors to absorb a higher cost for film. A few of the distributors have already held their conventions, selling has begun and the exhibitors know that each company is asking more for 1939-1940 than in 1938-1939. Generally, of course, the distributor does not explain why he has to have more money for his pictures. He takes it for granted that it is just a question of finding out what the market will bear — and forcing that to the limit. He could, it might be said, point out that the American market must make up for the drop in foreign returns and that overhead has gone up, that costs are rising. But apparently he never has to use basic fundamentals. All he needs is an optimistic tone for the new season, an imposing lineup of forthcoming pictures and a strong selling organization. As a matter of fact, we think the last most important. They say a smart sales organization can overcome almost any hurdle, even some lean production years, and we are inclined to believe it. How some of the companies manage to keep exceeding their quotas with some of the pictures they have been delivering makes us think some salesmen are almost miracle men. Unfortunately for them, however, the salesmen rarely benefit from the higher prices they get and the question remains, "How much more can the exhibitor pay?” It is not our point to pin any posies on the selling organization. We are concerned with the cost of film for 1939-1940. What can be done about it? Frankly, we do not know, except in situations (and there are only a few of them) where the exhibitors are in the drivers’ seats. The exhibitor has only one weapon, organization. The price of film is going up, boys. You have only yourselves to blame for that. The distributors will always ask it if they think they can get it. Perhaps, if you were a distributor you would do the same thing. And in the final analysis, how "high” is really "high” in our business? QUAD