Exhibitors Herald (Sep-Dec 1918)

Volui VII NOVEMBER 16. 1918 21 Editorial Comment o f the Week IS THE INDUSTRY WORKING FOR STARS OR STARS FOR THE INDUSTRY?^ "SAVING MILLIONS '— A PLAYER S 'COME-BACK" By Martin J. Quigley THE "First National," in the process of its efforts to garner under its banner players of great reputation, seems to have the field pretty much to itself in bidding some fabulous salary for the services of Miss Mary Pickford. In this connection it is to be noted that the producers as a whole, having been convinced by the influenza epidemic of the possibility of sustaining an agreement among themselves, have turned their attention to the subject of fabulous stars' salaries, principally the tidy fortune which Miss Pickford is seeking for productions in which she intends to appear. The initial action in this connection was a meeting last week in New Yrork of a majority of the leading producers who, according to report, lodged a protest with the "First National" concerning the payment to Miss Pickford of some quarter of a million dollars per negative. The impression which Mr. Lewis J. Selznick is said to have carried away from the meeting is that "A lot of damn fools got together and talked about nothing." The shrewd Mr. Selznick usually has a faculty of getting very quickly at the root of a situation, but in this case we feel that, regardless of the proceedings of this particular session, he was just about as wrong as he is usually right. Those present at the meeting might not have impressed Mr. Selznick as having a very sane or logical plan, and they might not have indulged in any discussion of a constructive nature. Hut, passing over the superficial characteristics of the meeting, it actually represented a reaching out for what the industry must one day attain : That is, some sane and rational limitations to the amount of the hard-earned money of the industry that will be paid to any player regardless of popularity, reputation, influence or any other consideration. This situation must one day be attained, and until it is attained the industry must go on assuming the ridiculous role of claiming on one hand that it is a business of only moderate profit, and that only obtainable with great effort and intelligence, and on the other hand paying to individuals for individual effort vast sums that never have been duplicated or even approached in the history of the world. THE vast remuneration that is paid to certain players is not due to the grip of these players upon the industry. If every one of the very popular players would drop dead today the industry would go on just as well. Other players would rapidly come in to take their places in the public's favor and the theatres on the whole would be just as well attended. Those who are responsible for the continued success of this business are the men of intelligence and executive ability who have invested their money and who have made "jobs" for the players. In every other business capital and the man of intelligence are the big winners and their profits are not depleted to pay salaries that could be struck off at a moment's notice. The only reason this does not obtain in the film business is the inability of producers up to the present time to reach a working agreement on the subject of players' salaries. As the recent meeting in New York was aimed to take a step in that direction, it was a session fraught with excellent possibilities. The attitude of the "First National'* in the Pickford deal is undoubtedly that, if they can see a profit in the transaction, that is all they are interested in. Put the question uocs farther: It resolves itself into 17