Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1924-Mar 1925)

56 EXHIBITORS HERALD March 14, 1925 LETTERS From Readers A forum at which the exhibitor is invited to express his opinion on matters of current interest. Brevity adds forcefulness to any statement. Unsigned letters will not be printed. A Worthwhile Suggestion ORANGE CITY, IOWA. — To the Editor : For the small town exhibitor the question of prints is quite a problem. We are at the mercy of the distributor more or less. When we receive a print we can do one of two things, show it as it is or have a dark house. The distributor does not seem to be ignorant on this question it seems, and we are therefore continually getting prints that may go through our machines all right but quite often do not. This occurs so often that the most of us, I take it for granted, do not raise a howl about this as often as we should. I do not mean that the distributor is to blame for the bad prints in that they bring about this condition. We all know that they do not use them. However, they send them to us so often in this condition that we do not wire or write them every time we get a bad print. This would require an Orange City, Ivwj. 192 fte Ka*«* received your pnut otj .... uud bod cuDditioD uf 6Im sa follows; Q.. Q... Other remark*: .. , No claims for ilamage considered unlesa above report abowa eicelleol or fair Y«uirs very truly. C.OTTAUK, THKATRF. Sample of post card used by Roy Adams in checking print conditions. This card is £IIed in by operator and mailed to exchange. extra stenographer, and here is where we are lame. About once a year we get a statement for some print that was shipped in perfect condition and which was returned by us, ruined beyond recognition. Then what are we to do? Since we did not report this print when we received it and tried to get by with it like we did the rest, we are to blame. Of course, yours truly has to cough up. To prevent this I have had postal cards printed, one of which I am enclosing, which the operator fills out before showing and puts in the mail. One card is filled out on each print. This not only protects us with the exchange but it gives the exchange a chance to check up on the prints that come back. It gives the exchange manager a chance to check up on his help, it helps the exhibitor to get better prints in the future and seems to help everyone concernd. If all the exhibitors would take to this notion, we would soon be rid of this menace of bad prints, bad machines, poor operators, poor inspectors and bad projection. In fact, wouldn’t the most of our print troubles be over? — J. d'. Grotenhuis, Cottage theatre. Orange City, Iowa. Dodging the Sex Angle MASON, MICH. — To the Editor : Following the suggestion of Fred Hinds in last week’s Herald, I beg leave to make a special report on a few of the current pictures which stress the matter of sex suggestion and appeal altogether too much for my little town, at least. First we have “The Wise Virgin,” with Patsy Ruth Miller; not so bad until we get to the last hundred feet of the last reel, then it’s terrible, and you can’t cut it out without leaving your story up in the air, without any ending. A salesman from another exchange tipped me off to this, and I had another feature here to use in place of this picture — and I was mighty glad I had it. I saw “A Cafe In Cairo” with Priscilla Dean, at Detroit last week. It’s a fair Dean vehicle, but it’s going to be cut in three places before my town sees it. “Look before you book” is a good tip on this one. “The Last Man On Earth” (see reports from Hickman and Estee in Herald of February 28) and “Dante’s Inferno” are dubious small town bets, in my estimation ; too many girlies, not enough costumes. Regarding the matter of the wear and tear on prints, which was discussed editorially in last week’s Herald, I have ordered a new policy in the projection room, following a recent expensive experience. For years, since the days when we only used one projector, we have doubled all our film on 2,000 foot reels. This winter when the prints began to get poor I suggested to the operator that he run single reels, but that didn’t suit him. One night a rotten old print broke and caught fire, fire got into the upper magazine and burned up a thousand feet, while we stood outside the projection room and wondered what was happening to the other 10,000 feet of film inside. (Luckily it was unharmed.) Net result; new belts and wiring, a day’s work for two men cleaning up the machine, and $63 for a new reel of film. After pointing out to the operator that the film had broken on his splice between two reels, I carried off the 2,000 foot reels, and now we run single reels, with less tension on both magazines, less strain on the film and less wear on the sprockets. —Roy W. Adams, Pastime theatre. Mason, Mich. Wants Clean Pictures Only CHETEK, WIS.— To the Editor : I want to write to you and tell you that you are a very brave man. I have just read some of the reports in the “What the Picture Did For Me” in the current issue of Exhibitors Herald. The particular report covers the Paramount feature “Garden of Weeds,” in which Betty Compson is supposed to be starred. The exhibitor, who sent in the report, must know what he is talking about, and you must give his report some credit or you would not publish it. You are certainly to be commended for the impartial way in which you handle this department of your magazine. It is an outstanding fact, in spite of Will H. Hays, grand marshal, that the moving picture business is not considered to be a respectable institution. The public has gained the impression, through the acts of the stars and the directors themselves, that a large majority of those engaged in the actual making of pictures are not of sound moral character, or of intelligent mental capacity. The directors and stars in the salacious, filthy, sex pictures are classed as degenerates and morons. The average American family does not want to see anything on the screen that would not be welcome in the home circle. Exhibitors, too, antagonize a large number of people by insisting on Sunday showings, and proclaiming their contempt for all forms of Sabbath observance, and_ any other law or custom that in any way interferes with profits in their business. We believe that everybody engaged in the moving picture industry, from the producers to the exhibitors, should respect the law in every particular, no matter whether it is federal, state or local. I am one, perhaps, among a very few exhibitors who favor censorship. This is because the producers are not making the kind of product that is acceptable to the better class of the American people. All suggestive sex scenes, cigarette smoking by women and rough drinking scenes in saloons that no longer exist, should absolutely be cut out of pictures. There is one other angle to the business that might be properly discussed here, and that is the making of the contract between exchange and exhibitor. The salesman from the exchange should know the kind of goods he is selling, and the exhibitor should buy on his representations. If the exhibitor wants to buy the filthy stuff, as described by your reporter, the salesman should select that class of pictures for him. If the exhibitor asks for clean, up-lifting, family stories he should get that class of pictures in his contract, and the foul ones should be eliminated as so many rotten eggs. And again, if the exhibitor asks for one class of pictures, and buys that class on the representation of the salesman, and, does not get that kind, the contract can be avoided, whether he is buying a group or a single picture. I wish in your magazine and your editorials, you would not urge exhibitors to disregard the law by opening their theatres on Sunday, when there is a statute forbidding it. Rather urge the repeal of the law first. To my mind there is nothing wrong in showing pictures on Sunday, if they are of the right kind, and do not interfere with the regular church services. Before you die you will come to the conclusion that it is better to urge people to attend religious services on Sunday than to urge them to go to the movies. — L. P. Charles, Grand Opera House Company, Chetek, Wis. Vitagraph Offers Tax Free Music Service (Special to Exhibitors Herald) NEW YORK, March 3.— John B. Rock, general manager of Vitagraph, stated this week that plans are complete for the offer of tax free music cue service to theatres. The first production with which this service may be used is “School for Wives,” set for release March 9. The service results from the burden imposed by the Authors and Composers Association upon exhibitors requiring a tax for the use of copyrighted music. Clara Kimball Young Returns NEW YORK. — Clara Kimball Young is supported by several stage favorites in “Lying Wives,” by Ivan Abramson, in which she returns to the screen after an absence of almost a year. Purely Personal (Concluded from page 51) sideration and expects to make a decision this week. . . . Hetiry Staab, executive secretary of the M. P. T. O. in Wisconsin, is winning a name for himself as one of the most active members of the state legislature. So far, in addition to introducing one bill affecting the theatrical industry, he has sponsored several other measures and has taken the lead on numerous occasions in the discussion of other proposed legislation. . . Sam Pylet, of the Hollywood, is getting valuable publicity for his house by permitting his orchestra to broadcast each week. Tune in on Station WSOE to hear his musicians. Pylet has just signed for Paramount’s second Forty. . . They’re still talking about the wonderful Valentine number presented by Eddie Weisfeldt, director of production at Saxe’s Wisconsin. . . . Eddie, despite his hundred and one duties around the Wisconsin, finds time to do a little scenic work.