Exhibitors Herald World (Oct-Dec 1930)

Editorial Supreme Court Decisions LEADERS in motion picture trade circles see no occaJ sion for the industry to become disturbed by the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States to the effect that the arbitration provisions of the Uniform Exhibition Contract are in violation of the Sherman Act. The new contract and arbitration proposals, drafted a* a result of the 5-5-5 Conference and expected to be in operation within a year, were drawn with the thought in mind to conform with the practices approved by federal agencies. M. A. Lightman, re-elected president of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America, informed the exhibitors at their convention in Philadelphia that the exhibitors' organization through its representatives at the 5-5-5 Conference had "offered many constructive thoughts and in most instances got what we wanted." Abram F. Myers, president and counsel of the Allied States Association, while holding that the decision "has an important bearing on other activities of the producers," points out that "fortunately the way is left open for the solution of all problems by negotiation between the real parties of interest, such as was attempted in the 5-5-5 Conference." Thus, in the statements of the presidents of both national organizations of exhibitors there is found an indication of the conviction that the industry has no reason to be alarmed at the Supreme Court decision affirming the opinion of Federal Judge T. J. Thacher. Even more conclusive is the fact that the industry has gone along with its steady progress on an even keel for the twelve months since the Thacher decree was handed down, a period in which the film business has been adapting itself to the stipulations of the decision while at the same time, by the 2-2-2 and then the 5-5-5 Conference, undertaking through its leaders to write a new instrument which will satisfy the changed conditions brought about by that decision. It is to be expected that in a similar manner the industry also will approach the requirements of the United States Supreme Court decision that the Credit Committee system is unlawful. This opinion overrules the decision of Judge Thacher, who had held that the credit requirements of the distributors were not in restraint of trade. The Government in its argument had maintained that it was illegal to require that persons acquiring theatres, by purchase or otherwise, be responsible for the consummation of exhibition contracts entered into by the previous owners or operators. While this ruling will require readjustment of the method of disposing of such contracts, leaders are confident that the industry will settle this problem to the mutual satisfaction of all branches concerned, as it has done with its major problems in the past. It appears now that each distributing company must work out its own contractual regulations. One possible action as a result of the decision is a return to the deposit system. A Notable Opportunity THE theatre building program announced by Mr. Joseph M. Schenck for United Artists is of dimensions and character offering a notable opportunity for intensive development in motion picture theatre design. Twenty-five new theatres are to be constructed. Such a number represents a broad field for architect and engineer to work in concertedly, pooling the special knowledge of each through project after project, experimenting with this idea and that, seeking an ideal solution of the utilitarian and aesthetic issues so dynamically involved in this highly specialized type of structure. Then, each theatre is to seat in the neighborhood of 900 patrons, turning the course of theatre design in a direction opposite that along which the development of the motion picture theatre has generally been conducted. The splendor of mere magnitude will be here ignored in an attempt to realize a more fundamental beauty, and because of the relatively small investment permitted per theatre, it is likely that function, rather than a mere architectural style, will dictate the forms by which that simpler idea of beauty shall be expressed. Vision and audition — these are the predominant functional factors to which every aesthetic impulse of the designer must be subordinated. The physical comfort of patrons, achieved through a truly scientific method of air conditioning and (with justified emphasis) through ample spacing of chairs, is also of paramount functional importance. Only after these come "looks." The time has also arrived for a new consideration of the problem of vision. Already we are preparing for the establishment of the wider screen image, and quite probably it may be taken for granted that United Artists will anticipate this innovation structurally in its new houses. Such preparation will give the architects and engineers an extraordinary opportunity to consider the reallocation of the projection room so that the angle of projection is reduced to a minimum — and preferably, of course, to zero. And they will also be able to confront auspiciously another readjustment that is invited, if not demanded, by the wider screen image — the reduction, both horizontally and vertically, of the angle of vision from the main floor. As a program, therefore, the 25 theatres to be erected by United Artists by next August offer a splendid chance to place the motion picture theatre in an up-to-the-minute laboratory — a laboratory, if you please, of both science and art — out of which can come a series of buildings perfectly adapted to the process of presenting, with complete effectiveness, the new motion picture. PLACING in practice the plan announced by M. E. Comerford at the exhibitors' national convention in Philadelphia for theatre cooperation in general industrial aid, the board of managers of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Eastern Pennsylvania has made the commendable decision to donate the proceeds of a special matinee for the relief of unemployment. If member units of the MPTOA should do likewise, the added good will should more than repay them. Exhibitors HERALD-WORLD MARTIN J. QUICLEY, Publisher and Editor Incorporating Exhibitors Herald, founded 1915; Moving Picture-World, founded 1907; Motography, founded 1909; The Film Index, founded 1906. Published every Friday by Quicley Publishing Company. 407 S. Dearborn Street, Chicago: Martin J. Quigley, President; Edwin S. Clifford, Secretary; Gtorgt Clifford, Assistant Treasurer. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. All contents copyrighted 1930 by Quigley Publishing Company. All editorial and business correspondence should be addressed to the Chicago office. Betteb Theatres, devoted to the construction, equipment and operation of theatres, is published every fourt* week as section two of Exhibitors HeraldWorld, and the Film Buyer, a quick reference picture chart, is published every fourth week as Section Two *i Exhibitors HbraltvWobi.d. Other Publication*: Thi Motion Picturb Albianac. Picture! and Personalities, published innually; Til Chicagoaw.