Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1953)

EXHIBITORS FORUm Opinions Culled from Organization Bulletins GIVEAWAYS ITO of Ohio A friend of ours in the South, who operates a circuit of theatres catering to Negroes reports that special events which he keeps going all the time are vital to the success of his business. Once a year, for 15 weeks, he runs live talent contests. Twelve preliminary contests are run on consecutive Friday nights, two semi-finals with the first place winners from the 12 preceding weeks and one grand final with the three winners from each of the two semi-finals. Prizes are $1,000 over the 15 weeks with the money being furnished by four big local sponsors paying $250 each for the 15 week deal. He adds t hat the successful gimmicks in his houses in which there is to be audience participation is the gimmick that's blessed with simplicity. Quiz programs are flops. "Movie Sweepstakes", which he recently started is spotty. The cash is all put up by the sponsors so it is inexpensive to operate and he reports that it is clicking fine at one drive-in and one neighborhood house, catering to Negroes. The big downtown house is not doing well with it. He adds that country store nights are good and that he has found the groceries giveaway the most popular right at present. On reading this over, it sounds as though some of these ideas are practical for theatres catering to a general trade, too. 3D IN SUBS ATO of Gulf States The sensational business which was done by 3-D in the early runs in the big key cities is not standing up in the sub-runs. Generally, reports are that business is somewhat over normal, but in most cases, not enough to justify the additiona' cost of the extra man in the booth demanded by the unions. Some exhibitors have told me that they did not play to any more people than they normally played to and that the slight increase in gross was due wholly to the increase in prices they had to go for in order to meet the high film rental terms. We must continue to play our cards close to the vest and watch and wait. It still seems to me that out of the frenzied race to out do each other the producers in Hollywood will soon come up with a combination of these new developments and that the result may well insure our business of an era of prosperity such as we have never before experienced. PREDICTS NO-SPEC 3D Allied MPTO of Western Pa. Nord Process, Inc. of Minneapolis demonstrated on Tuesday (16), their new 3-D process which projects the picture on a single 35mm. film strip and which requires no interlocking of the projectors. The process eliminates the necessity for double prints, large reels and magazines, intermissions, inter locks and radical booth changes. Polarized •classes and a metalized screen are required as are filters for the booth ports. The company has its own special camera which it will make available to producers and states that any 3-D picture produced in another process can be transferred to a single negative and exhibited on their equipment. In the demonstration, scenes from current two-negative pictures were used to show this. The cost of the equipment will be "in easy reach of the smallest exhibitor." This is a forward step along the way and presages bigger things to come. I go out on a limb and predict that within six months to a year we will have 3-D without polarized glasses. After all, in 1927 did any of us realize that sound on film pictures would ever become a reality? Scientific research can accomplish miracles today and nothing is really beyond the realm of possibility. STEREOSOUND VALUE ATO of Indiana In its June 15 issue, Film Bulletin reports the results of a survey they made in an article entitled "What Does The Public Think of 3D?" To the question "What particular aspect of 'House of Wax' did you like best?", only 20% of the respondents listed sound. 58% did, however, state that stereophonic sound did add to the realism and excitement of the picture. An article in the May issue of International Projectionist says that stereosound has been badly mishandled, an opinion that is shared by many we have talked with. The unreal affects of stereosound were explained by Mr. Ralph Heacock at French Lick who said that present stereosound is "synthetic" or dubbed — a fault that will be overcome in the recording of future pictures. And while these criticisms of sound are based on installations in the larger theatres, it seems the opinion that stereosound will be of even lesser value in the smaller houses. It appears to be a reasonable conclusion that the box office value of the new systems is 80% or 90% dependent on sight affects and not sound. It further appears that even after the customers are in the theatre that the new sound is not nearly as an important part of their satisfaction as the 3D or wide screen effect. With this consider that the stereosound pick-up systems are in great turmoil. The present system calls for a tape recording. Fox announces that "The Robe" will be made with 4 sound tracks on the print. Paramount most recently offers their system which proposes 5 magnetic sound tracks on the film strip. We assume that conversion from one system to another would involve considerable additional expense. With the questionable value of stereosound and the doubt as to the system that will emerge as standard we suggest that all situations outside the largest should proceed with caution after full investigation before going to the expense of stereosound. CRITIC SOUNDS OFF ITO of Ohio W. Ward Marsh, critic of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and regarded as a good frien< of our industry offers some biting criticisn in his column. He says in part: "The screei is howling for new faces because the ol< ones are worn out, but put a new one on an< the exhibitor screams because the picture has 'no marquee value'. "Too few new brains are in production but at the same time, the theatres are for th. most part in the hands of men who hav made their pile and are more interested it breaking 80 on the golf course than they an in the conditions of their restrooms, let alon. box offices. "Let's not blame everything on television "This lack of battle spirit now is one oj the factors which doomed Senator Mosher' bill (the original one to ban all censorship) "The teacher will take care of the chile during the day. The TV screen and thi movie house will occupy his leisure hours. I there's too much blood and too man; murders on TV, the movie critic will decid. what films are all right for him in the thea tre. The street is okay for him unless h> happens to get killed quickly by an auto mobile. "Gone is the one time stalwart parent whq commanded respect, and the result is such ; shocking state of juvenile delinquency tha a couple more generations of this decay and there'll be more prison cells than hote rooms." Senator Mosher states, 'I had not dreamei that so many intelligent people particularl; in the professions of the ministry and th, law and teaching would fail to see wher freedom of expression is curbed on on point, it is seriously threatened on all points "This is a sign of a frightfully uninformd public. "I get at least one telephone call a day-; usually more — from some mother who rej ports that she wants to take little Joe o Jane to such and such a movie and 'is it a right for him (or her)?' "Some children can see any and all pic tures and they are okay for them. There ar other children — due to crazy parental rulewho shouldn't see any picture (and certain! should never be permitted their daily dos of TV!). "These are the parents who want censor ship. Unable to rule themselves, unable t1 train their children properly, they feel that all goes cockeyed at home there will still b that great protector (political censorship! to save their day. "Cowards hold for film censorship. Cow ards — along with the uninformed, the misil formed and the enemies of freedom." Perhaps some exhibitors won't like wh; Mr. Marsh has said. We are reprinting th so that exhibitors outside of the Clevelan area can get an idea of what others think, also epitomizes our feelings on the questio of censorship of movies. Page 20 FILM BULLETIN July 13, 1953