The Film Renter and Moving Picture News (Sep-Oct 1922)

8 _THE FILM RENTER & MOVING. PICTURE NEWS. October 14, 1922. LANCASHIRE’S FI Black, oe should LANCASHIRE TO WORK HARD FOR ABO. GENERAL PUBLIC—MANY FINE PA: SENSE | Business Transacted at Real An Impression of a Splendid | HE Blackpool Convention of Exhibitors, promoted by the C.P.M.A., can go down to history as one of the really most business-like gatherings that has ever been held in the kinematograph industry. With a fairly long experience of conventions, the majority of which usually degenerate into an excuse’ for joy rides, I was not too optimistic concerning the success of this enterprise, which opened at Blackpool on Tuesday, but let me at once, after spending a considerable time listening to the work set out by the promoters, record my appreciation of the excellent work they have accomplished. For two days this gathering of hard-headed Lancashire business men has grappled with problems which will undoubtedly be to the benefit of our great industry. ‘There has been no attempt to shirk the issue, and in two days each and every person, from the president to the organising secretary, had worked hard in his endeavours to accomplish something to the benefit of the trade, uot _ only in Lancashire, but throughout the United Kingdom. On Tuesday the conventions opened at 11 o’clock, and went on with but short adjournments for meals until 11 o’clock in the evening. On Wednesday the business of the convention was not finished till 6 o’clock, and the big dinner of the day, which afforded some excellent speeches, again went on till near midnight. The business has been varied, and the papers extremely interesting. Taking them in their sequence on Tuesday we had an interesting paper on ‘‘ Lenses,’’ following which Mr. Peter Willans gave us an address on the ‘‘ Marconiphone.’’ There was some disappointment at a demonstration not being forthcoming, and Mr. Willans’s arguments were met with a very considerable criticism by the members of the convention. Mr. John Harrison, the veteran showman of Levenshulme, gave an extremely interesting paper on ‘‘ The Proper Projection of New Copies,’’ in which this gentleman, who speaks with experience, gave much food for thought, as a result of which a resolution was passed that all new copies of films should be properly tested and prepared before sent out by the renters. In the evening we had a lecture on ‘‘ Cinema and Health’’ by the Medical Officer of Blackburn, all of which proved genuinely illuminating to everyone present, and, finally, there was an open meeting to discuss the tax agitation, Here it was*particularly enlightening to hear the views of exhibitors who have their own money invested in the business. ‘Severe and trenchant criticism of the disastrous policy of the Abolition Committee's lamentable mistakes was freely indulged-in, and it was very obvious to see that Lancashire will not ‘tolerate any mishandling of the Google . Mr. ‘matters in denouncing the renter. situation next time. It was also very apparent from the views of those present that exhibitors realise that to get any support from the public in this matter they must pass the tax on so that the public shall benefit. As a result of a very open meeting with free discussion a resolution was passed adhering to a cry for total abolition so that prices could be reduced to the public, and that if the tax was taken off the benefit would be felt by kinemagoers immediately. On Wednesday,.soon after 11 o’clock, the convention opened with a paper on ‘‘ Adversity and Its Lessons,’’ by Reginald Yorke. This gentleman has a fine expression of delivery, and his cogent reasoning made his paper extraordinarily interesting. Mr. Yorke -is.a hard hitter, and’ a fearless fighter, and he did’ not mince To be quite fair Ido not think that the renter is the ‘‘ super-Shylock ’’ that Mr. Yorke depicted, and many of his remarks, I am afraid, were somewhat exaggerated. Nevertheless, it was illuminating to hear his extremely interesting views, and undoubtedly his most forceful point was on the question of contracts. Here Mr. Yorke made a great hit, and it was obvious that the entire meeting was with him. The great ‘* bone of contention ’’ among exhibitors in the provinces is that when a contract is agreed to between the exhibitor and the renter’s representative the latter has no power to sign'and absolutely complete the contract, and there is no doubt that some unscrupulous firms and their ‘representatives have used an exhibitor’s offer for the purpose of obtaining a bigger fee from the opposition. Every speaker agreed with Mr. Yorke that this was absolutely undesirable, and they were not going to tolerate it any longer. Mr. Yorke’s paper left a very good impression, and was a sincere expression of opinion,the major portion of which entirely met with approval from everyone present. We next had a very able address by Mr. W. H. Huish, the organising secretary, on ‘‘ Co-operative Advertising, ”’ and the very clear and reasoned conclusions that this gentleman gave us for raising the kinema industry in the minds of the people were greatly admired. In the afternoonwe had.a paper read by Mr. Charles Lapworth, the secretary of Goldwyn, Ltd., on ‘‘ Selling the Picture to the Public.” “To the: utter astonishment of everyone present Mr. Lapworth did not, in any way, give us what we expected; namely, an address on how to get the picture over to the public, but instead indulged in a kind of subtle propaganda on behalf of the new Association, of which he is one of the promoters. His arguments