Exhibitors Herald World (Jan-Mar 1929)

58 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD January 19, 1929 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. Non-Theatrical Competition DELPHI, IND.— To the Editor: I was very much interested in J. C. Jenkins' letter in the January 5 issue. I am interested in all his letters, but this one in particular appealed to me so much that I am writing regarding the situation in Delphi, Ind. To begin with we have 10 churches in a town of little more than 2,000 population, so many organizations they cannot be counted, the public schools, and all in the show business. It's a competition we cannot meet. They make a canvass of the towns selling tickets through the medium of children. The entertainments are held in tax free buildings for which we are assessed a tax to help keep them up. The law requires us to have seats fastened to the floor, guard exit holders, all modern fire fighting appliances. All state inspectors say we are up-to-date in every respect, fulfilling all law requirements. Yet the churches, schools and organizations can put on shows playing copyrighted music for which we must pay a tax to play and don't have to meet the requirements we do. I believe if Mr. Jenkins would enquire of the exhibitors he called on he would find that they have the same conditions to meet that we do. Every time we have a big feature, it is killed by competition like described above. What is the remedy? The small town exhibitor needs help if he is to continue in business. — Mrs. Bella B. Gardner, Arc theatre, Delphi, Ind. Calls Industry "Sick" CAMPBELL, CAL.— To the Editor: It is useless to deny the fact that the moving picture business is sick, and has reached its zenith and is rapidly on its way to zero. It is interesting to read the many articles written by the so-called big men in the game — the producers. It is pathetic the way they think in circles. They are in the woods and in their endeavor to blaze a trail they are getting deeper in the maze. The fault is all their own and due to their high-handed methods of block selling their productions to the exhibitor. No other manufacturer, with the possible exception of bootleggers, would risk his business and reputation by turning out a bunch of rotten stuff and force the retailers to market it for him. The tire and hosiery manufacturers and all other reputable business organizations that value the respect and confidence of the public, sell all seconds and culls at a reduced price with their brand or name erased. The producers have turned out a bunch of rotten stuff and sold it, all or none bearing their name, to the exhibitor at full price and forced him to sell them to the public or assume the loss. And in too many instances, the exhibitor could not afford to assume the loss and took a chance selling them to his patrons, with the result that they lost respect and confidence in him and when he did have something worth showing he could not sell it to them. Both producers and exhibitors have awakened to the fact that they can fool the people part of the time but there is a limit, and it has been reached. The producers in their anxiety to settle the stomach of a nauseated public are spending millions to repeat the same tactics with "squawkies," forcing the ex1hibitor to mortgage his right eye, labor and profits for the next 10 years, to install various sound devices to show the stuff in another form, or pay a ruinous price for something worth showing. There is a law in nature requiring a period of rest for everything. We have a low and high tide, all vegetation, the earth and everything on it, has a period of rest, including all kinds of business. As an illustration the barbers reached their peak about the time safety razors were invented and rapidly declined and reached zero. Then women started to bob their hair and a period of activity set in. This is only one of numerous cases that could be cited that should be sufficient to convince any thinking person that this law exists in nature, and cannot be avoided. It has been recognized by all successful business men for ages. In my opinion the motion picture business has reached its zenith and is due for a period of rest and this has been accelerated by the above mentioned abuses. If the producers pursue their course with the stampede to sound pictures it will not only serve to wreck the business but it will serve to educate the younger generation to something. The vast majority know nothing about stage plays, and after the novelty wears off they will tire of the canned stuff and demand stage plays. The old actors and actresses have had a long period of rest dating back to the beginning of the movies and the sound pictures will prove a blessing to them and serve as a stepping stone to their period of activity. The only hope, from my point of view, for the motion picture business, is to cut out the sound picture, re-organize the industry on a strictly business basis and give the public nothing but high class silent pictures, something it has never had. If the producers continue their stampede to sound pictures and destruction, my advice to the small exhibitor is to get your investment out of the business as soon as possible — the sooner the better. — S. W. Dodds, Campbell theatre, Campbell, Cal. Couldn't Do Without H-W LUDLOW, SALOP, ENGLAND.— To the Editor: — Enclosed please find cheque, value one pound, being my third year's subscription to the Herald-World, I say quite honestly that I could not do without the paper now. It gives me an invaluable and thoroughly proved assistance in selecting American films and the selling hints in "The Theatre" department help me considerably. J. C. Jenkins, through his "Colyum" is as good as a personal friend, telling me all about the places he sees and the people he meets. One of these days I'm going to write to Phil Rand and send him a few photos of my town and ask him to exchange, for J. C. has told me so much about the Salmon River and the grand view that I want to see it. I can think of several others who live in places I'd like to know, but I'll take them one at a time. With best wishes for the new year. — R. R. Temple, The Picture House, Ludlow, Salop, England. Stettmund's Views CHANDLER, OKLA.— To the Editor:— I have just read the remarks of Hon. J. C. Jenkins regarding the poor business in the theatre line. I am surprised that Mr. Jenkins or anyone else of his standing in the business does not know what is wrong, what has ruined the theatre business. Look back over the years and see when business started to go to the bad. It was about a year after that wonderful man amongst men, Mr. Hays, was acclaimed the bull goose of the movies. Mr. Hays tied the exhibitors hand and foot so that they could not have a voice in the selection of their entertainment. If you bought a contract there was no way on God's Green Earth to keep from playing or paying for the pictures. If they were as rotten as hell you had to take them anyway. Cancelling a contract and losing your deposit was a thing of the past. When people complained about pictures the exhibitor could only say that he had no control over them as he had to show them regardless of their merits. Product was sold on misrepresentation and in some instances outright fraud, anything to get the signature on the dotted line was resorted to by the distributors ; To hell with the exhibitor, make him pay and pay and pay. The selling season has been advanced until the producer is selling his output before he makes it. He knows the amount of his revenue, so he figures so much for profits, so much for expenses and makes pictures cheap enough so that he shows a big nice fat profit. Pictures are no longer sold on their merits. An exhibitor can not take his pick of the product of a producer. He has already been forced to buy all or nothing. Is it any wonder that the exhibitor end of the business is falling down day by day, theatres closing every day for lack of patronage? How long will any business survive where the man who sells the public has no choice in what he sells them? The exhibitors had the means of their salvation offered to them last year and like fools turned it down. I do not know if this salvation will be offered them again; if it is, I hope every exhibitor who does not support it goes broke. I think some of them who were against it last year are now out of the business, when if they would have supported this measure they would undoubtedly now be seeing a nice increase in business, instead of smaller gross every month. No business can survive very long under the conditions that now exist in the movie business. Within three years every small town theatre will be a thing of the past. The cities will be overseated to such an extent that they will be money losing propositions, some of the distributors will go broke and the movie business will be one of the minor instead of major industries. If you think this letter is worthy of some space in your valuable magazine you are welcome to reprint it; it might open up some discussion on the subject amongst the exhibitors.— H. G. Stettmund, Jr., Odeon theatre, Chandler, Okla. Has Own Music Device SARGENT, NEB.— To the Editor : — I would hate to miss even one issue of the HeraldWorld. I consider it our paper as it carries our name and is not called the Producer's Herald. We all have ideas and think if more of us would write personal letters to the columns given us we could all pick out some things which would be of benefit to us. This is a small town and what would help me woald be of no use to a city. In regard to music, I have made an outfit which I am well pleased with. This can be made for about $250 or $300 and think it will compare with any of the musical combinations, both in tone and volume which I have listened to. If any of the other exhibitors want to make something like this I will send them the names of the parts I used and where they can be obtained. Unless too many write, or if the HeraldWorld wishes it, I will send a list with a diagram of the whole machine. A traveling salesman asked me the other night if we had Movietone. Some of the patrons asked where the pipe organ was and who played it. This solves our music problems until we can get the squeakies, talkies or whatever will be the new name. If this will be of help to any of the boys I will be pleased. Write your ideas. Perhaps someone would like to know — what you do — why you do it — and what you'd do it for. — John Cosner, Sun theatre, Sargent, Neb. A Section on Vaudeville? BUSHNELL, ILL— To the Editor:— Just a suggestion. You are writing articles on every other line for the theatre, why not give us the low down on vaudeville. Name a section on "What the vaudeville did for me." Theatres play vaudeville too, you know. Not even in the "Billboard" can you find anything of what the exhibitor thinks of a roadshow or a vaudeville act. Why? — C. M. Albrecht, Rialto theatre, Bushnell, 111.