Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1952)

EXHIBITORS FORUm Opinions Culled from Organization Bulletins ON THE CONVENTION ATO of Indiana A. F. Myers (National Allied): Arbitration is becoming a word, a concept without any specification as to what kind of arbitration is meant. Many have taken sides for or against it without having read the plan. Arbitration consists of a code of conduct and a method for enforcing it, and careful consideration must be give to what goes into such a plan. Proof of a need for such a code are the number of road shows and pre-release pictures. Many exhibitors believe this is wrong and in some cases unlawful. Distributors tell us they are scrupulously careful not to have any forced increased admission prices, yet in widely separated cities theatres have increased !o a uniform figure The distributor draft of the arbitration plan had many needed reforms to be sure and let it be clear to all that there was not a single member of Allied who was against arbitration in principle. However, the plan fell short on such subjects as a lack of any approach whatever to the film situation. Mr. Myers is hopeful that the action in Chicago will result in bringing together informed exhibitor leaders and the film company presidents for a heart to heart discussion of conditions that may lead to some measure of relief and result in a better draft for an arbitration plan. Mr. Myers announced a national survey is being made of price fixing activities. * * * Max Youngstein (United Artists): There will always be differences between exhibitors and distributors and each group will fight to get the best deal within the limits of common decency. Many distributors too are experiencing difficult times today — U. A. is just coming through a period of near bankruptcy and KKO is losing money at the rate of $100,000 a week. The industry faces many problems today to be sure, but a few good things happened in the past year. Of primary importance is the advent of Cinerama. Every performance has been sold out and it is impossible to get a good seat for less than $10.00. People are coming from all over the world to see it and to apply for franchises. Costs of Cinerama are still high and details of reducing costs, getting equipment, etc. are yet to be solved. Another process, Truvision, is much cheaper and is comparatively easy for any theatre to install. Th« only drawback is that you have to wear polaroid glasses to get the third dimension picture. This process opened in California and has had a tremendous box office. Mr. Youngstein calhd attention to the improvement in color films. Today three processes are available, Technicolor, Eastman and Ansco. United Artists plans to increase color production 150%. Mr. Youngstein reviewed the troubled years for United Artists during which time the company was completely insolvent. They have managed to pay off a $900,000 indebtedness and at the same time produce 2 films a month. In 1952 they delivered 3 pictures a month and increased their personnel 25%. And now, for the first time in 10 years, U. A. has 36 pictures actually finished, cutting or shooting which will guarantee release of 3 pictures a month during 1953. The policy as stated by Mr. Youngstein is simply, "We do not believe that our company at any time can do well unless our customers, the exhibitors, do well. Our doors are open and we will try to establish at all times a program that makes sense. We are a young group of men who not only make a living out of the business but have a love for it. We are dedicating ourselves to deliver better and more product to you in the future." * * * M. L. (Mike) Simons (M-G-M): State exhibitor meetings should hold enough interest for theatre owners to last a week and should be held simultaneously with meetings of the women's clubs and service clubs. Exhibitors should go home with something valuable enough for their screens to more than pay for the cost of their trip. Many exhibitors today are in a sort of suspended animation. It is time we check our operations and put some life in them. He cited a case of a theatre which had 80 empty seats and about 60 people were standing the lobby. A doorman outside was telling people there would be a slight wait for seats. The manager was sitting in the office. Passive operation like this will mean more empty seats. All people in the industry should fight more zealously for the reputation of the motion picture industry. If a theatre sold these 25c paper bound novels that are on sale in almost every drug store in the country, blue nose critics would attempt to close the theatre. But it is all right for the druggist to handle such merchandise. If an act of misconduct occurs in the vicinity of a theatre, and even if it is stopped before anyone is hurt, that theatre is blamed for the entire incident. But a similar case could occur anywhere else in a town and be ignored or get no more comment than, "Isn't that too bad". The local exhibitor can do much to improve the reputation of this business, more than a large campaign. He should know his town and be in contact with the proper groups. This is part of his business. Mr. Simons had collected many good examples of discrimination against the industry. NO REPRISALS Allied Caravan of la., Neb., Mid-Central We learned at the convention that there were quite a number of cases where members hesitated to report deals in to Caravan for fear of reprisals that might be taken against them in future buys. Now that we think of it we can see this hesitance on some people's patt, fear not. Nobody but you and this office knows where the best buy deals originate. Under present Caravan set-iip this information is kept in the regional office. Rest assured no distributor is going to penalize you for reporting to Caravan. He just doesn't know where the deals come from. Nor is he going to know. However, anytime you want to know if a best buy reported in Caravan is in your particular locality, just call or write this office. We can tell you that. We won't give you the town, but we will give you the exchange territory and the size of the operations. So send in your deals and have no fear of having trouble because you helped your brother exhibitor. Any good deal helps us all. Any poor deal hurts us all. The cement of Allied could congeal us into a much stronger body. It's up to you. 'IVANHOE' POLICY ITO of Ohio To show you that your protests are being heeded the policy on "Ivanhoe" has been amended as follows: Engagements due to play before January 15 will be played off as per contract. The picture will then be withdrawn from release until Easter when it will be released as a top bracket Metro picture on ?. regular basis. If you are buying Metro flat you will be able to buy "Ivanhoe" flat at that time. "The Miracle of Fatima" not having set the world aflame, will probably be released shortly in the same manner. It has already played some engagements at lower admission prices than Warner Bros, were holding out for originally. FREE ADMISSIONS ITO of Ohio Our Treasurer, L. J. Hofheimer has instituted a policy at one of his theatres here in Columbus of free admission, with the patron being requested to donate what he thinks the entertainment is worth when leaving the theatre. It has been decided by the Treasury Department in Washington that this is a perfectly legal device to avoid paying admission taxes. However, this opinion was coupled with a warning that if the practice became widespread, the regulations would be changed. The Little Theatre where the experiment is being conducted was, like many others, ailing. The gross income has risen remarkably. Candy business is, of course, much better. The average contribution has been from 25c to 30c against the 32c plus 8c federal tax which was the price before the experiment. However attendance is way up. Children paid 1 7c plus 3c. To answer many inquiries on the subject the following must be noted: This is a last run theatre where no percentage pictures are played; the free admission policy requires that anyone who wishes to enter may not be restrained from entering the show. This means employment of a house officer to avoid vandalism. Although the experiment has been successful, it is possibly only a temporary success. In the fourth week there has not been any appreciable decline, however. Pag. 20 FILM BULLETIN December 2?, 1952