The Film Daily (1923)

THE Again Percentage •3&?k DAILY Monday, August 6, 1923 exchange in close touch with and partlj owned by the producers of the picture failed in the ,-key" city to get it over. It is a matter of the exhibitor in many cases that they are without number. Recently an exchange man in Los Angeles said to me personally. "Oar quota calls for more money in many cases than the individaul spot can ' possibly pay. In others the quota is far under what is right but '.New York says.'" And there you have it. New York a 1000 miles from the seat and perhaps four thousand in this case says Dokesville must pay us $300 for "Joe Bush the Pinhead" our new picture — New York says it. The swivel chair Solomon who knows only where Dokesville is, by the red tack in the sales map, without a chance to dope local conditions or sight at local happenings of the time savs it must be so. The exchange man, hired for his intelligence but not permitted to use it must exact from Peter to pay Paul and there you have the reason for Mr. Aronson's attempt to find a solution for the most perplexing problem of the industry. You cannot measure the ability of an exhibitor by a percentage proposition equitable to all alike. Let's take a real case right out of last year's business. In some manner known only to the trade the gross of any percentage picture played at this time becomes the common property of all the exchanges. Last winter in the good season in our best house we played a fine picture. It had "been exploited in the key city in a superb manner. It had been served with a pretentious prologue. It had been run for several months at $1.65 top. Its fame had spread to every center. We guaranteed that picture a fat rental and agreed by reason of the public demand in our baliwick to view it, a fiftv-fifty split. We exceeded the guarantee by over $1000 and naturally gave the exchange a mighty fat rental. We were more than satisfied. The picture had the earning value. We and the exchange made money. Now in the course of a few weeks another concern is sending out from New York fervid wires on the success of their picture. It has not had its local key city first run. It (Continued from Page 1) at the same prices that we ask for our regular admission not advanced prices and when I go to make a bid for the picture I am confronted with the gross of the picture from the other exchange. Not only that but I have a fat chance with the "hop" telegrams in front of the exchange man to convince him that His picture will not start to gross half or in this case even one-third of what the picture he holds up my gross on did for me. There you have your percentage plan. That exchange manager was almost inclined to become good and sore at me. But despite the fact that his picture eventually opened at the key city house selected and lasted two weeks instead of six months as did the one I played at $1*10 top in my outside city, he is still of the opinion that I am holding out on him when I refuse to fall for the inspiration he obtained from the hop wires from his sales manager in New York. No, Mr. Aronson who wrote a mighty fine story on waste in the studios if I recall it right, is off at logger heads with the exhibitor in his plan for percentage. You cannot bring the exhibitor to a percentage level. He is or is not a go getter. If he takes what the other fellow failed on and cashes he must not be made to pay for the failure of his fellow exhibitor any more than one clothing merchant who out sells and out thinks his competitor must be penalized for the ability to think. Percentage is not the angle. In the days when the legitimate stage launched a production the public refused to buy it because it did not belong, Mr. Legitimate Manager put it into the storehouse and produced another one. If the picture producer makes a flivver his sales force starts out to choke it down the necks of the exhibitor and he will lie like a gas meter to plant it. The reason for the closed town is too apparent in the forcing of exhibitors to play on a program bought sight-un-seen the dead failures. Is it any wonder that exhibitors finding themselves surfeited with duds on a program they cannot duck get together and try to bargain for the sure-fire stuff when there is plenty to supply them and when they know that by picking the cream they can and will make money. It will take more than Percentage Authors is to open in a house in the key city I to stop the bad leak in this* business. Plan Theater at City Island Residents of City Island, the Bronx, headed by Joseph Reingold, are behind a plan to erect a theater there in the Fall. The company has already obtained a site. Harry MacKenzie Back From Trip (Special to THE FILM DAILY) San Francisco — Harry MacKenzie, head of the producing organization bearing his name, is back from a trip through the south. The company will soon start work on a new picture. Hadley Has New Nordisk Film Hopp Hadley has acquired "The House of Fatal Love," for Xew York. Hadley also handles two other Nordisk films, "The Flying Dutchman" and "Great Expectations." Brooklyn Revenue Men Move Brooklyn exhibitors will be interested to know of the removal of the Federal Internal Revenue offices, Brooklyn, from the Post Office Bldg., to the new Chanin Bldg., corner of Court and Schermerhorn Sts. (Continued from Page 1) "Certainly no writer of reputation, free from ether and in his full senses, would entrust his delicate works of art to a moving picture manufacturer, when the entire writing world has record notice, as the lawyers saj . that a story written for limited circulation must of necessity be altered if it is to be exhibited to an audience of thirty million people. It is, therefore, charitable to believe that neither Miss Fannie Hurst nor Mr. Basil King ever consciously negotiated with a moving picture manufacturer for the sale of a story, and since at the convention they so roundly denounced moving picture manufacturers, it necessarily follows that they will never sell another story to a moving picture manufacturer for any consideration, which of course leaves the entire moving picture industry static and gasping for air." Another Hotel-Theater For Oneida (Special to THE FILM DAILY) Oneida, N. Y. — Syracuse interests will build a hotel-theater on Madison Street. M. J. Kallet has also started a theater along the same lines. Metro's Exhibitor's Date Book Metro is sending to every exhibitor in the country a leather-bound date hook with his name imprinted en the cover. Besides the section for recording bookings, part of the book is devoted to 192.3-24 productions and the company's directors. The hook was prepared by Jack Meador. Denies Cleveland Music Strike William J. Banks, general manager of the Cleveland M. P. Exhibitors' Ass'n states in a letter that there has been no strike between suburban exhibitors in Cleveland and the musicians' union. Banks adds that the contract between the two parties expired on June 30 and that since the Mutual Musical Protective Ass'n was unwilling to negotiate a new contract for the next year, the theaters dispensed with music. Framing a New Scale (Special to THE FILM DAILY) Cleveland — It is understood that surburban exhibitors dispensed with music because they discovered the musicians' union was framing a new wage scale for next year. The old contract has expired. Meet Today Important Exhibitor Conference i Atlantic City — National and Territorial Pow-Wow "" CSpecial to THE FILM DAILY) Atlantic City, N. J. — A three-co: nered exhibitor convention will t held here beginning today and rut ning through to Wednesday. Tr executive committee of the M. P. O. A. will meet; the directors of tl M. P. T. O. of New Jersey are 1 gather and the rank and file of tr exhibitor members of the M. P. T. C of Southern New Jersey and Easter Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia and Reading rai road is making arrangements to ru several special trains out of Philade phia for Atlantic in order to accon modate the crowd that is expecte for the ball tomorrow night. The Northern Jersey directors wi discuss the advisability of forming joint service station together with th Eastern Pennsylvania unit. The n< tional directors are expected to dis cuss taxation in general and probabl the music tax situation. Represents tives of the American Society of Corr posers. Authors and Publishers wi probably be present. Deibel and Loew Win C. W. Deibel of the Youngstowt Ohio Country Club, with a low gros score of 75. and David Loew c Metro, with a low net of 63-, were th winners of the annual imitation go tournament of the Famous Player held at Adolph Zukor's country horn -Mountain View Farm. About goiters took part in the mornin qualifying round of 12 holes, and i the final round of 18 holes in the a ternoon. Deibel and Loew were presente cups and other prizes were distrib uted by E. J. Ludvigh as follow runner up on low gross, Felix Kahn, sweater; runner up on low ne Adolph Zukor. cup; third low gros Aaron Jones, of Chicago, box of go balls: fourth low gross, E. S. Gaylo of Cleveland, a pair of golf shoes third low net, John D. Clark, Par mount, driver; fourth low net, W E. Atkinson of Metro, two golf shirts duffer cup, Harry Goldberg, Para mount. George M. Spidell, with th low net on the morning qualifyin round, won a pair of golf stocking and Frank T. Pope, with the secon low net on the morning round wa awarded a belt. LOUIS MEYER CRAFTSMEN FILM LABS. Ittc o-ar-po^rated 251 WEST WATKINS 19 T„H STREET 7461-7620