Harrison's Reports (1951)

Entered ae seoond-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the aet of March 3, 1879. Harrison’s Reports Yearly Subscription Rates: United States $15.00 U. S. Insular Possessions. 16.50 Canada 16.50 Mexico, Cuba, Spain 16.50 Great Britain 17.50 Australia, New Zealand, India, Europe, Asia .... 17.50 35c a Copy 1270 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS (Formerly Sixth Avenue) New York 20, N. Y. A Motion Picture Reviewing Service Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitors Published Weekly by Harrison’s Reports, Inc., Publisher P. S. HARRISON, Editor Established July 1, 1919 Its Editorial Policy: No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial Circle 7-4622 Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXXIII SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1951 No. 8 ALLIED TAKES ACTION ON RAW STOCK SITUATION Having sounded off frequently in these columns about the effect a raw film stock shortage will have on exhibition, and having urged the exhibitors for many months to take action that will protect their undeniable equity in raw film stock in the event that it should be rationed by the Government, this paper is indeed gratified that National Allied's board of directors, at their annual Mid-Winter meeting held in Washington, D. C., on February 15-16, took official recognition of the problem. Asserting that the exhibitors are again experiencing a “serious print shortage,” Allied’s board voted to inquire of COMPO’s officers just what they are doing to protect the interests of the exhibitors in the present raw stock situation, and to take up with the distributors the reasons behind the smaller number of prints now in circulation and to apprise them of the exhibitor’s needs. Abram F. Myers, Allied's general counsel and chairman of the board, is quoted by Motion Picture Daily as stating that Allied is asking COMPO to take steps in the raw stock shortage to make sure that “the distributors don't do as they did in the last war when they seized on the raw stock situation to cut down the availability of prints.” Mr. Myers added that, if COMPO “cannot or will not” act, Allied itself will take the matter up with the National Production Authority. He pointed out also that, thus far, all raw stock conferences held by the Government have been confined to producers, distributors and raw stock manufacturers. In an apparent reply to the Allied complaint, Nathan D. Golden, head of the NPA's Film and Photographic Equipment Section, had this to say to Motion Picture Daily's Washington correspondent: “There have been no exhibitors at any of the conferences so far because there’s been no need for them. We haven't done anything effecting them. If we should plan anything that affects them, they'll be consulted at the proper time." He added that if the distributors could cut the number of prints of any picture in circulation, “that’s all to the good.” Nathan D. Golden has long been a friend of the motion picture industry and there is no question that he means well when he assures the exhibitors that they will be consulted before the NPA takes any action that might affect them. The big question, however, is this: Who will decide what action does or does not affect exhibition? The producerdistributors? The Government agency in charge of the raw stock? At the time of the last raw stock shortage, during World War II, the War Production Board’s Consumers' Durable Goods Division, the Government agency that had control of the raw stock, based its rulings and allocations on the recommendations of the Industry Advisory Committee on Raw Stock, which was composed solely of representatives from production and distribution. Past performances show that neither such a committee nor the Government agency itself gave due consideration to the interests of the exhibitors in the allocation and disposition of the available raw stock. And there is no reason to believe that there will be a change of attitude at this time, for despite the howl raised by exhibition during the last shortage, neither the producerdistributors nor Mr. Golden’s agency has seen fit to invite exhibitor representation at the conferences held thus far. As a matter of fact, Mr. Golden's statement that there has been no need for exhibitor representation at these conferences indicates that he either believes that the exhibitors are not within their province when they seek a voice in matters dealing with a raw stock shortage, or that he does not comprehend the hardships that can be caused to exhibitors by the distributors’ misuse of the stock. Mr. Golden himself has pointed out that raw film stock has become an important weapon in the present national emergency, and he has indicated that it may be placed on a rationed basis once the needs of the Government and other industries are established. The fact remains, however, that once raw stock is rationed, and even now when it is in short supply, its disposition by the producer-distributors is of primary concern to the exhibitors. They want to know, and they have a right to know, just how much of the raw stock allocated to each film company will go into the negatives of new pictures, how much into release prints of current pictures, how much into new prints of reissues, and how much into prints that are to be shipped to foreign markets. These are matters that concern the exhibitors directly, for unless regulatory restrictions are placed on the disposition of raw stock when it is either rationed or in short supply the producer-distributors will be enabled to establish and maintain a so-called “sellers’ market," such as existed during the last raw stock shortage, and it will virtually give them the power of life or death over the exhibition branch of the business. Having urged the exhibitors for many months to take action in this matter, Harrison's Reports is indeed pleased to see National Allied take the lead in seeking recognition of the exhibitors' equity in raw stock. It cannot agree, how^ ever, with the Allied decision to ask COMPO to take steps to protect the interests of the exhibitors in this matter, first, because the problems posed by the raw stock shortage are too closely allied with trade practices for COMPO to be effective, and secondly, because COMPO, before it could intervene, will have to obtain the approval of all its member organizations, a process that will take much too long in view of the fact that the existing situation calls for immediate action. Moreover, COMPO may very well find itself in a long drawn out debate over this issue because of producer-distributor objections, and could even be stopped from intervening by a veto on the part of one of its producer-distributor members. Allied should forget about COMPO and should follow up its action in Washington by requesting Mr. Golden to arrange an immediate conference with the different exhibitor leaders so that they may outline to him in detail the difficulties independent exhibitors will face unless specific controls are placed on the producer-distributors’ use of raw stock. And the exhibitors need not theorize in presenting their arguments; all Mr. Myers has to do is to submit to Mr. Golden the comprehensive statistical report compiled by Allied in 1945 and submitted to Stanley Adams, then head of the Consumers Durable Goods Division, to show the hardships undergone by exhibitors throughout the country, as a result of the complete indifference shown by the distributors as they juggled their raw stock allocations to suit their own purposes. (Continued on bac\ page)