Exhibitors Herald (Jun-Dec 1917)

Exhibitors Violate Sherman Law Distributors Charge in U. S. Court Nine Motion Picture Distributors File Bill With District Attorney Claiming Cancellation Agreement Violates Anti-Trust Law That the plans of many exhibitors' organizations throughout the country to combat the imposition of the 15 cents per reel per day charge of exchanges by use of the boycott will not go unchallenged is evidenced in the action of nine motion picture distributors who have filed complaint in New York with U. S. District Attorney France against the Motion Picture Exhibitors of Brooklyn. At a recent meeting of this local association the members voted to put in effect at once a boycott of the Fox Film Company and the Vitagraph Company of America and to take similar action against other companies if necessary to obtain a withdrawal of the charge. According to the companies who filed the complaint, the courts have held that the film industry is an interstate business and comes within the scope of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and in their appeal to the Federal official they claim that conditions of this law have been violated by the exhibitors. Tax Precipitates Action The action of the motion picture theatre owners' association was precipitated when, after the passage of the war revenue act by Congress, the exchanges assessed a charge of 15 cents a reel to the exhibitor in addition to the regular rental charge. In their document, the distributors call attention to the fact that the collection of the 15-cent charge has no relation to prices for the reason that the daily rental charge on reels ranges from one dollar to one hundred dollars and upwards per day, and is based, among other things, upon the character of the subject, the quality of the picture and the popularity of the star. The rental charges of the distributors, they set forth, are all different. There is no uniformity between them in this respect, and there is no agreement of any kind as to prices or rental charges, for they are all in the keenest competition. Describe Brooklyn Meeting The distributors recite that on November 18 there was a meeting in Brooklyn at which over one hundred exhibitors were present. At that meeting, they allege, it was decided that two of the distributors should be singled out and that all exhibitors should cancel their contracts with those two distributors and thereafter restrict their business to the other distributors until the two named distributors had been brought to terms. "This was done regardless of whether or not the other distributors charged the 15 cents to meet the tax," a part of the complaint reads. "In this manner, the exhibitors sought to force the two distributors to terms and then to proceed to apply the boycott to the other distributors until all had been brought to terms." Brandt 'Phones Vitagraph The bill further relates an alleged telephone conversation between William Brandt, president of the Motion Picture Exhibitors' League of Brooklyn, and one of the principal officers of the Vitagraph Company. It is charged that Brandt informed the Vitagraph official that cancellations from all over Brooklyn had been placed in the hands of a committee of fifteen to be served on his company. "Similarly, the officers of the said Brooklyn exhibitors' association and the committee of fifteen waited upon the officers of the Fox Film Corporation," the complaint avers, "and stated to them that they had obtained signatures from practically all, if not all, of the customers in Brooklyn of the Fox Film Corporation, consenting to and authorizing cancellations to be made by the committee of fifteen of their contracts with the company, which cancellations, if effected, would destroy the business of the Fox Film Corporation in Brooklyn." Exhibitors Make Threats In conclusion, the distributors set forth that the actions of the exhibitors have been in the form of threats and with the avowed purpose of destroying the business of the companies named if their demands were not complied with. The companies signing the complaint are Fox Film Corporation, Goldwyn Dis Answering the plea of the national officers of the American Exhibitors' Association that a strong representation of that body be present in Washington this week when the tax on the motion picture industry again comes before Congress with a request for its modification, the Chicago Motion Picture Theatre Owners' Association, at a recent meeting delegated four men to go to the capitol. E. Thomas Beatty, Jacob Cooper. August Zilligen, Jr., and Louis H. Frank are the men who will make the trip. It is expected that the matter will be taken up by Congress on the 12th, 13th and 14th of this month. The wish has been expressed by General Manager C. C. Pettijohn that the American Exhibitors' Association have a large delegation present and reports from various parts of the country indicate that his wish will be gratified. Members Instruct Delegates The local branch of the body devoted all its time at the meeting to a discussion of the appointment of a delegation and to instructing the committee as to the methods to pursue. Many plans were discussed for bettering existing conditions for the exhibit tributing Corporation. International Film Service, Inc.. Pathe Exchange, Inc.. Select Pictures Corporation, Universal Film anufacturing Company, Vitagraph Company of America, World Film Corporation and the Metro Pictures Corporation. They are represented by the law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. GOVERNMENT GRABS ROBERT GOLDSTEIN AND "SPIRIT OF '76" Officials Seize Film in Los Angeles — Declare It Is German Propaganda Robert Goldstein and his ill-fated picture "The Spirit of '76" have been picked up by federal agents in Los Angeles and Goldstein will have to answer to espionage charges in the Federal court. Government officials declare that the film is German propaganda masked by a pretense of emphasizing national tradition. The arrest took place at a theatre in Los Angeles, where the film was being shown. The federal agents closed the performance, confiscated the film and Goldstein was held under $50,000 bail. The film was shown in Chicago after court procedings and after it had been cut to some extent. Major Funkhouser and the Chicago "censor board refused to consent to the showing of the production because it was maintained it pictured British cruelties to American colonists. ors, among which were obtaining a removal of the tax from 5-cent tickets, exempting tickets which sold for less than 25 cents, and an increase in the seating tax to supplant the present levy. Treasurer Louis Frank struck a popular chord when he announced that he would rather give the government 30 per cent or even 50 per cent of his profits than to continue to collect the tax. Mr. Frank also cautioned the exhibitors that Congress might not hear them at all. Tax Here to Stay "Any talk about having the tax done away with entirely is idle," said Mr. Frank. "The government needs the tax. has to have the money, and it is our patriotic duty to bear our share of it. "Personally, I would rather pay the government 30, even 50 per cent of my profits. Congress might listen to this kind of a proposal, if they hear us at all. and it would show the willingness of the exhibitors to do their part in raising the needed revenue." Expenses of the delegates to Washington will be borne by popular subscription among the members of the association. The committee expects to return to Chicago. December 15. Chicago Branch A. E. A. Picks Men for Capitol War Tax Conference Beatty, Frank, Cooper and Zilligen, Leave for Washington to Join Body Seeking Modification of Present Law 23