Exhibitors Herald (Apr-Jun 1922)

* ISSUE OF * April 29. 1922 A Good Start By MARTIN J. QUIGLEY T'HE prospect brightens. At the instance of the New York Theatre Owners' Chamber of Comnerce Mr. Will H. Hays has established a contact -vith the organized exhibitors of America. The :olossal folly of branding Mr. Hays as an enemy if exhibitors — without test or reason — has been i voided. A new order of affairs in this industry s promised. Regardless of what the immediate accomplishments may or may not be the meeting in New York last week at which Mr. Hays was permitted to declare his attitude of cooperation with exhibitors is strikingly significant. As far as Mr. Hays' position is concerned it revealed nothing unexpected and nothing that any reasonable person coidd not have easily assumed. It should have required no personal declaration from Mr. Hays to have had it generally understood that his plans contemplate thorough and minute consideration of the exhibitor, his aspirations and his welfare. Any other attitude would have blocked hopelessly the course of Mr. Hays toward the accomplishment of anything broadly constructive with respect to the motion picture industry. * * * JUTOWEYER. Mr. Hays has spoken and the reception accorded him leaves no doubt that his sincerity was fully credited. So much for the incident which appears to mark the beginning of an era of constructive cooperation in the affairs of the motion picture industry. Despite the carpings >f short-visioned persons, such an era is not only possible but it is a certainty unless the vital and [constructive factors of the business permit the program to be sidetracked deliberately by those who have sought, and shall continue to seek, to keep the industry engulfed in argument and dissension to suit their own purposes. We do not believe and we trust that the exhibitors of America will not expect that the many and varied problems which have been growing up in this industry from the beginning will suddenly disappear as if through some magical influence simply because steps toward cooperation have been taken. However, this does not mean that there is not within immediate reach many rewards that will not in themselves justify every effort that has been made to bring this cooperation about. A thing of great importance that can and should be immediately effected is the matter of united, consistent and carefully prepared representation of this industry before the general pubhe. This representation should speak for every factor of the business and its voice should be the voice of the industry. No longer should the guerrilla warfare of radical reformers upon the industry be permitted to go on. * * * THE tide of censorship has turned and this fact should make the efforts of a united industry carry far and with telling effect. Although the censorship spirit is still growing in the more obscure communities, it is subsiding rapidly in the larger centers throughout the country. If the question is properly attacked within the next few months, by the first of next year the censorship map should show a far different appearance. But of greater importance still than the solution of these problems is the matter of bringing graphically and forcibly into the public mind an appreciation of the motion picture for what it really is and what it really represents. As far as the industry itself is concerned it needs little defense but much explanation. But, internally, it does need a great increase in mutual confidence, understanding and cooperation in order that the things that need doing can be done.