Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1945)

EDITORIALS (Continued from Preceding Page) knowing each other better. However, Paramount's bid for good will to have any fruition must be translated into some concrete terms bearing on the business relationship between the company and its customers. It is to be hoped that that is the distributor's long-range objective. Charles Reagan has the sound of a progressive film executive. He talks like a man who has not allowed his thinking to become restricted to the norm which permits of no remedy for exhibitor complaints. There is ample room for liberal-minded executives in our industry and Paramount's sales chief, if so disposed, can do much to lead the way into a new and happier era of distributor-exhibitor relations. COLUMBIA'S "SONG" Exhibitors have no ground to support their complaints about Columbia selling "A Song To Remember" on individual contracts, since the policy was announced by the company as early as last June. Of course, Columbia also announced plans to produce other important pictures this season — which it will not deliver — but the omissions no doubt will be attributed to its policy of "elastic thinking", as they so cutely term it. Sales manager Abe Montague has proclaimed his solemn resolve to see that no exhibitor buys "A Song To Remember" on any but the highest percentage terms. Those who rush to grab the picture while Mr. Montague is so fired with enthusiasm may have cause for regret. True, the Chopin musical has been enjoying considerable prosperity at the Radio City Music Hall, but some observers seem to think that it will be a decidedly deflated piece of merchandise in many situations. For instance, the usually reliable Allied Caravan has issued a bulletin in which this comment is made: " 'A Song To Remember', in Technicolor, is the story of Chopin and George Sand. It is a costume period play accompanied by classical music. Subsequent run, small town and neighborhood theatres will have an extremely difficult problem in selling this picture to the vast majority of motion picture patrons. "But Columbia thinks it has a 'natural' and has the effrontery to quote the highest percentage terms in its history. For a picture of very limited appeal, Columbia has unlimited gall." Check. BROADWAY NEWSREEL Despite the start of the Midnight Curfew, grosses at the majority of the Broadway film palaces have shown only a slight drop to date although the first week-end (March 3-4) is certain to make a difference in the total take due to dropping of after-midnight stage-and-screen shows. To counteract this, several houses, including the Roxy and Radio City Music Hall, have announced earlier openings to permit four complete shows with the last performance starting at 9 p. m. Three of the week's new entries started off in record-breaking fashion with "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" giving the Roxy one of the biggest opening days in the theatre's history and "The Picture of Dorian Gray" at the Capitol and "Hotel Berlin" at the Strand showing long waiting lines of opening day customers. "Brooklyn," which has Victor Borge and Joan Edwards heading the Roxy's stage show, followed three profitable weeks with "Hangover Square" and Milton Berle in person. The second week of a long run starts on March 7th... The widely-heralded and timely "Hotel Berlin" opened on March 2nd following a five-week engagement of "Objective, Burma" and Artie Shaw's Orchestra which was above the $50,000 figure for all except the final stanza. . ."The Picture of Dorian Gray," supported by an unusually strong stage bill headed by Lena Home, Robert Walker and Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra, came in on March 1st after "Guest in the House" and Gloria Jean and the Truth or Consequences show played only two weeks with a second stanza (including Washington's Birthday) even bigger than the first but the show was unable to hold over for a third. "Bring On the Girls," with Ella Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots heading an all-colored stage show, also drew the customers during its opening week at the Paramount and a second will start on March 7th. The theatre's previous occupant, "Ministry of Fear" and Johnny Long and His Orchestra, did good business especially during the two holidays of its three-week run... The biggest surprise is the class picture, "A Song to Remember" at the Radio City Music Hall where fifth week grosses again took a jump over the previous stanza. The total take was well past the $500,000 mark before the Columbia picture entered its sixth week on March 1st... Loew's State has been playing M-G-M second runs, "National Velvet," "Thin Man Goes Home" and now "Meet Me in St. Louis," in conjunction with vaudeville of late and been grossing better than with its occasional first-runs. . .Goldwyn's "The Princess and the Pirate" continues to lead all the straight-film attractions with a second week intake that topped that of any previous picture to play the Astor. The third week at this newly-refurbished house was also exceptionally strong and a fourth started on March 2nd. . .Two other RKORadio releases, "The Woman in the Window" and "The Three Caballeros," are also holding up well, the former starting a sixth week at the Palace on March 1st while the Disney picture went into its fifth stanza at the Globe on the following day. "Murder, My Sweet" is set for the Palace on March 8th but the other two will continue indefinitely. Following the first two profitable weeks with Abbott and Costello "Here Come the Co-Eds" at the Criterion the Universal picture started a third on March 3rd and M-G-M's "Keep Your Powder Dry" is set for March 10th.. The Victoria, now in its seventh smash week with "The Fighting Lady," will be used as a show window for many of the 20th Century-Fox productions in the future, starting with "Thunderhead, Son of Flicka," in mid-March .. .Another 20th-Fox release, "The Keys of the Kingdom," will complete eleven profitable weeks at the Rivoli before giving over to a return engagement, at popular prices, of "The Song of Bernadette," on March 14th. The original engagement was for 20 weeks... The Rialto, which has been accustomed to show its horror product until 3 or 4 a. m., will suffer most from the Midnight Curfew. The two week run of "Frisco Sal" here was followed by the current "Cl ime Doctor's Courage". . .United Artists "Mr. Emmanuel" is still doing good business in its eighth week at the 900-seat Gotham and no definite date for its British-made successor, "Colonel Blimp," has been set. . ."Roughly Speaking" is doing average business during its fifth week at the Hollywood while, across the street, the Republic Theatre struggles along with poor grosses for "The Big Bonanza" and for its predecessor, "The Chicago Kid." each playing two weeks. FILM BULLETI