Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1950)

BULLETIN Volume 18, Number 5 February 27, 1950 Xvtrs at id Opinion MYERS. SULLIVAN TESTIMONY BRIGHTENS REPEAL PROSPECTS The audience was obviously sympathetic. Although it was a long show, some 36 acts, the two principals representing the motion picture industry were warmly .received during their allotted ten minutes apiece. The audience was the House Ways and Means Committee, hearing a parade of witnesses last Tuesday (21st) on current and proposed excise taxes, and the film indutry representatives were A. F. Myers, general counsel of Allied States Association and chairman of the COMPO tax and legislation committee, and Gael Sullivan, executive director of Theatre Owners of America. They were there to present the industry's case against the 20 per cent Federal admissions tax. In addition to their oral testimony, Sullivan and Myers filed a 22-page statement for the record, outlining in detail COMPO's arguments for complete repeal of the obnoxious levy. Already under heavy bombardment from millions of public petitions urging repeal of the ticket tax and a mountain of correspondence telling why, the House committee members were well-backgrounded to receive the arguments advanced by the two industry witnesses. Industry at Stake "The preservation of the motion picture industry ' is at stake, Myers told the committee. Motion picture theatres, suffering from a gradual decline in boxoffice receipts ever since the war's end, has taken a "very precipitous decline over the past six months," he said, adding that weekly attendance has dropped from a high of 100 million weekly to about 70 million. The situation has become so critical, Myers declared, that many of the nation's theatres, particularly the smaller houses, will soon fall into the "hardship" category unless they are relieved of the burdensome admissions tax. Sullivan was even more specific. He said that some 8,000 of the nation's 18,000 theatres can probably be termed hardship cases today. Although neither he nor Myers blamed the attendance drop specifically on the admissions tax, one of the Committee's own members expressed the belief that this was the most important single factor, at least in his district. Rep. Curtis (R., Neb.) declared that when the admission prices get too high, attendance drops. In Newspaper Category Myers advanced two other arguments, developments in the industry since its representatives appeared before the Committen in 1917, which he said were important fnctorS in eliminating the tax. Since that time, he said, the industry has emerged as an "acknowledged part of the press" and should be treated on a par with newspapers and radio. The other development, he said, was the emergence of television as a "new strong competition, cutting materially into the motion picture business." He called TV the "most serious competition" A. F. MYERS Non-Discrimination . . . ever to threaten the industry since it makes its appearance when movies no longer have "novelty appeal." Want Equal Treatment Sullivan also pressed these arguments. He pointed to the $225,000,000 portion of the half-billion dollar Post Office deficit stemming from costs of second-class mailing over the amount paid by newspapers and magazines. This, he said, amounted to a Government subsidy of these media, whereas movies not only was unsubsidized, but was actually subject to a discriminatory tax. "The motion picture industry is the most overtaxed and the least subsidized of any form of communication," he said. "We want equal treatment with the o:h9rs." Sullivan also declared, "We cannot excise tax ourselves into a prosperous economic situation." Removal of the tax. GAEL SULLIVAN . . . // Not Subsidation he added, would aid in an "expanding economy" and might very possibly result in greater spending by the public that would make up to a great extent the amount lost by the Treasury in revenue from the ticket tax. Theatre Si?e Significant Two other Committee members voiced their concern over the drop in theatre business. Reps. S'mpson of Pennsylvania, and Woodruff, of Michigan, botn Republicans, spoke of the number of empty seats in small theatres in their districts. These houses, they said, all had less than 1000 seats. Th:s was emphasized in the COMPO brief. "A great majority of the theatreowners — those who are immediately affected by the tax — are small business not to be confused with the over-publicized 'movie magnates'," it was stated. "The size of theatres also is significant. The average seating capacity of the U. S. theatres is C43." Poor Man's Entertainment In his oral presentation, Sullivan alluded to movies as "the poor man's entertainment." He said it was a sorry state when a low-income family was penalized for having many children, since the head of such a family paid much more in excise taxes on movie tickets than 'Lhose with less youngsters, whose principal source of entertainment is the movies. He called movies "the greatest moralebuilding force we have in the nation," stressing the need for films as "an outlet for tensions." The industry, he added, wants to "continue being the poor man's entertainment." Following their appearance before the Committee, Myers and Sullivan emphasized that the fight to eliminate the ax must be pressed with continuing force. In a special bulletin to TOA members, Sullivan urged exhibitors to "keep in close contact with our congressmen until the bill is passed." He urged all exhibitors who had not received a definite commitment from his congressman to vote for repeal of federal admission taxes to "contact him at once and make certain of his position." Victory Prospects Bright ' Our prospects are bright," Sullivan said, but final victory, he added, can bo assured only by active support of every theatreman. In an appearance before the House Committee the preceding week, Eric Johnston, MPAA president and representing the National Committee to Repeal the Wartime Excise taxes, struck out at all currently existing wartime ex {Continued on AVrf ''««»•> REVIEWS in This Issue No i.^a.i \ji wer uwn Al Borderline 11 Woman .<\ Hiding 11 Young Man With a Horn 12 The Yellow Cab Man \ l Captain Carey, U. S. A. 12 Outside the Wall It