The Film Daily (1923)

IHE tic brAdstreet >/ FILMDOM ZkRECOCMIZEB Authority >1. XXV No. 25 Monday, July 30, 1923 Price 5 Cents. •eal With Educational! :er-Globe Export Gets Exclusive foreign Distribution of All Short Keels — Garrett in London rhe Inter-Globe Export Corp. lias sed a contract with the EducationFilm Corp. of America to repreit the latter company in foreign ds. The deal gives Inter-Globe •lusive control of the Educational >duct in all countries abroad. Jntil now, Educational has dis;ed of its output direct and in this inection. Earl W. Hammons has de annual trips abroad, particularto arrange distribution in England, [ney Garrett of Inter-Globe is , now London relative to several deals olving Educational distribution on : Continent. Cleveland Joins Cohen (Special to THE FILM DAILY) :ieveland— The Cleveland M. P. hibitors' League has definitely deed to join the M. P. T. O. and to ;t its fortunes with Sydney S. hen. The unit is very well orlized. Attachment Vacated (Special to THE FILM DAILY) Los Angeles — The attachment suit ng up the funds of the Motion Pic•e Exposition has been vacated er Judge Bledsoe in the Federal urt heard the issue, rhe action was brought by Entile irecat, an employee of the exposin who was successful in securing attachment on the ground that 2,000 was due him for staging a geant. Derecat was scored by the urt when it was discovered that the jney was not due until August 4. More On Rentals 17 Michigan Meetings To Gather Data on Tax SituationPlan Active Campaign for Repeal — Sessions Start Today (Special to THE FILM DAILY) Detroit — The opening gun of Michigan's campaign to secure relief from Ben Davis, home office manager of the Schine Theatrical Enterprises, of Gloversville, N. Y., found a good deal of interest in Alexander Aronson's article on "Equitable Rentals." Davis J the admission tax has been fired when has a good deal to do with the operation of 17 Upper New York ||f«f went ^everj, theater ^ner houses and for that reason should be competent to speak on the ireiatjve to the situation, and the callexhibitor angle. This is what he says: Jing of 17 sectional meetings in the 'state, at which time the matter will and that the producer-distributor j,e discussed. should appoint himself the exhibitor's | Sectional meetings will be held in guardian? the following cities, on the following "(3) — Mr. Aronson believes that dates, with a local chairman in his plan would compel chain theaters charge of each meeting: to pay their fair share of rentals. In j Today, Lansing, Claude E. Cady, chairman; July 31, Kalamazoo, P. C. (Continued on Page 4) Results Ottuma, la. (By wire) Danny, Film Daily, New York. Since the publication of my insert of "Broadway Broke" in your paper, I have visited over 100 exhibitors. They are desirous of knowing who will distribute it as they are anxious to book it. They further encouraged me to produce more pictures of this type. Hope to see you Tuesday in New York. Best wishes. MURRAY W. GARSSON. "The subject of equitable rentals, is a matter close to my heart. I have given it considerable thought, and any literature on the subject is of more than sufficient interest, to warrant giving it the closest scrutiny. "As for my opinion, accept it for what it is worth. "I find that, Mr. Aronson's article has in it teeth which bite, and bite very hard; so much so that they should make all independent producer-distributors and all independent exhibitors sit up and take notice. Without going into any lengthy dicussion, or repeating parts of Mr. Aronson's article. I herewith enumerate the outstanding salients. "(1) — Mr. Aronson admits that picture rentals as they arc today, are not equitable, not good business, not honest. "(2) — Mr. Aronson admits that cost of production does not concern the exhibitor: that the only guage for price is box-office pulling power. "(3) — Mr. Aronson admits that iricc value of a picture, can not be iscertaincd till after the picture has played. "I concur in all the foregoing. I do, however, take exception to his plan, to remedy the existing evils. My exceptions are as follows: "(1) — Under the plan suggested, the exhibitor will cease to be an exhibitor but will become a landlord, leasing his theater to the producerd'stributor, or distributor, working to mike his overhead and perhaps (?) a little profit. He will be compelled lo play pictures good, bad and indifferent, and hold the bag trusting to luck. This is nothing new. It recalls the methods used by producers of legitimate shows, when they sent out road shows to the smaller towns. Where arc the road shows today? And what has become of the small town theater owner? "(2) — Under the plan, the producer-distributor will run the exhibitor's business, by hiring accountants to fix the exhibitor's over-head and tell the exhibitor how to run his business. From this, am I to infer j that Mr. Aronson, really believes that i the exhibitor is non compos mentos, speaking of chain theaters, did Mr Aronson have in mind the produccrdistributor-exhibitor chains? If he did, as he must have, because they are the biggest chain-theater operators, I must ask him the question, to whom will they pay a fair share of rental? Will the Paramount chain of theaters be unfair with Paramount? Will -Metro (Loew) chain be unfair with Metro? Will the Goldwyn chain of theaters be unfair with Goldwyn, or will the original franchise holders of First National. who own and control First Nation be unfair with First National? An if Mr. Aronson, will note this cor ing season's schedule of releases d he think that these producer tributor-exhibitors will not Aave enough product to supply thei/ theaters amongst themselves? "Since when are these chain theaters cheating their owners? "(4) — Mr. Aronson's plan if put into operation will be a great boon to the big vested interests of the companies known as producer-exhibitorcompanies, because, (a) his plan must kill the inferior theater and the smaller house in the smaller cities, thereby making it possible to have only one theater in a town, controlled by the highly organized producer-distributor-exhibitor companies, delivering thereby the death blow to the very few real independent producer-distributors, and wiping out vast exhibitor investments. "(5) — Mr. Aronson has apparently forgotten, and if he hasn't, most certainly is unaware of the conditions of the small towns. These as a rule are over-seated, having more theaters than really required and making one theater stand the burden of losses incurred by the others; that is, when the town is controlled. He has also forgotten that there are such things as competitive theaters, and the unfairness which goes with competition. (Continued on Page 2) Foreign Sailings Departures for Europe on Saturday included Marcus Locw, John C. Flinn and Robert T. Kane. "Broken Hearts" in Lyric? It is understood that "Broken Hearts of Broadway" the new Irving Cuminings Prod., will go inlo the next week for a four weeks' run. "Enemies" Closes Enemies of Women" closed its long run at the Cameo Saturday. "Broadway Gold" opened at the theater yesterday, to run indefinitely. Start "Yankee Consul" Soon (Special to THE FILM DAILY) Los Angeles — Work on "The "Yankee Consul" in which Douglas Mac Lean will be starred will start in a few davs. Open Market Buys Practised by Saenger, Witness Declares— Denies Other Exhibitors Are Blocked Out (Special to THE FILM DA IT V> New Orleans — The Saenger Amusement Co. buys its pictures in the open market with its competitors free to bid against it, testified Gaston Dureau, booking manager for the company at the Federal Trade Commission investigation into Famous Players and its allied organizations. . "The various producing companies submit their pictures to us and wc (Continued on Page 2) See Tomorrow's Issue Sidney R. Kent's article on "Percentage," originally scheduled to appear in this morning's issue, will appear tomorrow instead.