Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1954)

eXHIBITORS FORUm Opinions Culled from Organization Bulletins TESTING CENSORSHIP LAW ITO of Ohio The decision of the United States Supreme Court in the "M" case was a very narrow one. There seems to have been a bit of confusion when it was announced. The facts are these. The court, in a per curiam opinion (unanimous — for the entire court) overruled the State Supreme Court and held that "M" could not be barred from exhibition in this state. Justices Black and Douglas, concurring in this decision, issued a concurring opinion in which they said that the guarantees of the free press prohibit any censorship of motion pictures. However, since this was not a majority opinion, the decision per curiam applies. There seems to be no way to make the Supreme Court decide the broad issue. There is only one other possible way of doing so. We would have to find a completely inocuous picture, show it in a number of theatres without submitting it to censorship and attempt to have a number of exhibitors arrested for violation of the law. The penalty is only a small fine. If the exhibitors were all acquitted, the result would simply be that in the jurisdiction of the particular Municipal Court where they were tried, censorship would be illegal. If one were convicted, however, the case could be appealed, first to the Court of Common Pleas in the County concerned, thence to the State Supreme Court and finally to the United States Supreme Court. The expense of this would be heavy. Resides, we would have to find some distributor of a picture of the type we suggest, who would be willing to risk not only the expense but the possibility that he would not get full distribution of his picture in the state. If the picture were subsequently submitted for censorship and passed, the question would no longer be moot when brought before a higher court and would be subject to dismissal on that ground. It is admittedly a difficult situation. Ikil this seems to be the only way in which the law can be tested. MORE ON STEREO-SOUND ATO of Indiana Indiana Allied members who have installed stereophonic sound and who have queried their patrons and seriously studied the results, are firmly convinced that stereophonic sound adds a great deal to the enjoyment of a motion picture. VVe have just about decided that "I like it", and "It means nothing", are just matters of personal taste, and t)iat so far there is no scientific answer to which way most patrons feel. But it does seem a shame, where there is such difiference of opinion, that all drive-ins and the many indoor theatres that cannot aflford stereophonic sound, must be deprived of all the t-Tfal product that is being released in CineniaScope. BMI VS. ASCAP North Central Allied BMI has announced that it is going to collect from theatres using its music. The rates will be way under ASCAP's however. Here is a comparison: Indoor Theatres BMI ASCAP Up to 600 seats per vr. $ 5.C0 $15.00 601-1200 seats per vr. 7.50 up 1201-1500 seats per yr. 10.00 to Over 1500 seats 15.00 48.00 Drive-ins* Up to 200 cars _.. $ 5.00 $36.00 201 to 400 cars 7.50 up 401 to 500 cars 10.00 to Over 500 cars 15.00 60.00 *Fee for more than 26 weeks of operation. One-half for 26 weeks or less. It is obvious that no theatre can pay both fees nor should it. For those who are not paying ASCAP, we recommend that a BMI license be taken only after it is requested by BMI. The BMI organization says it will have 132,000 active copyrights available to exhibitors for intermission, overture and exit music. As a part of its service, it will supply to exhibitors full programming facilities and complete information on its recorded music. TAXES, TV & TERMS Allied Caravan The way of taxes, 'I \' and most distributors with a small, independent theatre is beyond any reasonable comprehension! Take my own theatre in an Iowa town of some 2680 people; never a really good show town, but a nice place to live, play golf and raise a family. Fair years, poor years, lush war years; they sort of balanced out — neither very good, or bad — until — T\' network programs hit us out of Ames the last day of September, 1950, now 3 ^ years ago. Quite a number of T\' sets in town already, so it rapped us for 30"^^ immediately and it never let up '.'xcept for sl.ort periods in the summers; rather it bit deeper, steadily — but, let's let the tax returns tell the whole stor\-. In 1951 we grossed $38,700 and made a net profit of $3,090; in 1952 our gross slid to $32,113 and we lost ^3,332; and in 1953 the gross went on down to '$27,221 with a loss of just $5,785.35! During these 3 years we paid ol' Uncle Samuel just over $13,000 in admission taxes, which of course went down as the gross dropped. But our film rentals — that's another story! From 24.5% in 1951, this little item went to 28.59^ in 1952, and on up to 34.2% in 1953. In other words, while our receipts went down about a third or $11,520, our film rentals went up 10''/. ! Now that's progress, the kind of progress that fattens the corporate profits of the film companies, as it has from their recent reports all up, while mc — well I ought to be broke! That I am not broke isn't the distributors' fault; they tried — hard! No wonder Ike said, as he pocket-vetoed the tax bill last summer, that "not all segments of the movie industry are in trouble!" PLAYING THE PERCENTAGE ITO of Ohio Those of you who have been in the business for a long time remember the days when salesmen and branch managers used to sell pictures on percentage and tell the exhibitor to under-report the grosses. This hasn't been done to our knowledge for a long time. Today, if you must play percentage pictures, please remember that you can easilj' be checked without your knowledge. In some cases, the distributors will not press you for slight under-reporting at the time it takes place, but will hit you with a big bill all at once. Preserve your reputation as a businessman. If you play percentage pictures, give the distributor every cent he is entitled to. HONING AN OLD SAV^ Allied Caravan Full\' realizing that it is first necessary to be able to procure merchandise at a price that will allow a mark-up that will make a profit when it is turned, it is nevertheless the most important job of every theatre to make itself attractive enough physically to revive the spirit of romance that accompanies nio\ics when the patron first sets foot in \our hou;e. It is hard to do in these times. lUit if are to continue to thrill and bring back the .American public, we have got to do it in ■showcases that look new, neat, clean and attractive. The atmosphere must be romantic. The American public is conscious of a yearly new model in their cars, refrigerators, T\' sets, clothes and vitamin tablets. If the theatre looks today just like it did in 1945 the public has had a pretty long time to "get 'jsed to it". Doing something the public can see and use is as good an investinent as something they just hear. They'll notice decorations, carpet, seats, etc., before they do a picture of different dimensions. BUILDING FUTURE BUSINESS ITO of Ohio Sure, kids are a headache. The\' wreck the place. They make so much noise, adults can't enjoy the picture. They pay so little it doesn't pay to cater to them. But looking at it the long range way, it does. The kids of today are tomorrow's youths. Today's youth's are tomorrow's young married couples. Today's young couples are tomorrow's old folks. Who makes up the bulk of your audience now? The answer to this question should determine your policy. Some theatres have revived the student price for high school kids. We are not the only ones with this problem. The most backward industry in this countr\ — the railroads — have lately allowed kids under 12 to travel free and those up to 16 at half fare. Price is not important to adults who are earning money. To high school kids whose earnings are meager, if any, a small concession will help. FILM BULLETIN February 8, 1954 Page 13