Harrison's Reports (1951)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of Mareh 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, MARCH 24, 1951 No. 12 WHY BLAME STALIN FOR TWISTING AMERICAN FILMS? Commenting on the report that Russia is using certain American pictures for anti-U.S. propaganda purposes, William H. Mooring, film editor of the Tidings, the Los Angeles Catholic diocesan weekly, had this to say, in part, in a recent issue of that paper: “The State Department has just made a horrible discovery. It finds that Stalin ‘doctors’ some of the Hollywood movies to use as propaganda against the United States. That is just too bad and a hot protest has gone from Washington to the Kremlin. “Frank Capra’s 15-year-old pictures, ‘Mr. Deeds Goes to Town’ and ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’ are responsible for this ruckus. It seems they got touched up a bit to convict us, out of our own mouths, so to speak, of being a nation of imperialistic racketeers. “ ‘We didn’t do it,’ reply the boys in Moscow, ‘we captured the films from the Nazis.’ Which may or may not be true. “In any case the State Department should know that Russia has been twisting Hollywood movies for at least 10 years. Some of the films didn't call for much twisting. They are all set to give the United States a black eye from the start. “Way back in the early '30’s, when Eric Johnston, Holly' wood czar now drafted to economic stabilization went to Soviet Russia, he took with him W. L. White, noted author who afterwards wrote a book called ‘Report on the Russians.' “In that book Mr. White exposed those old Soviet tricks. . . “If Eric Johnston did not know and understand what was happening to our films when they got to Russia he must have been giving too much time and attention to the caviar and compliments Stalin heaped around him. “W. L. White who travelled with him as his recorder knew it and Johnston, like a few of his friends in the State Department had only to read White's book to learn the truth. “Instead of doing anything about it, Eric Johnston actually went back to Russia after he became a paid spokesman for Hollywood and tried to sell Stalin more American films. “Stalin bought some too. He must now be grinning behind his moustache at the State Department's protest about a couple of pictures made when Gary Cooper and James Stewart hadn’t a wrinkle between them. “Some of Hollywood's current films need even less twisting than ‘Mr. Deeds’ and ‘Mr. Smith’ to serve the crooked purposes of the Soviet Union. ‘Born Yesterday,’ for instance, and ‘Storm Warning’ and ‘Asphalt Jungle' and ‘All the King’s Men’ and ‘Born to Be Bad’ and White Heat’ and almost any of the latest war films from Hollywood. . . .” In the issue of October 2, 1948, Harrison’s Reports printed an editorial under the heading, “Whom Is Johnston Kidding?”, which went on to say that Mr. Johnston could not sell the Russians any films other than those that could discredit our form of government. Part of that editorial read as follows: “The Russians know that the American film industry pro* duces the best pictures in the world. But do the Soviet leaders want to show our pictures to their people? Do they want to show them that the American way of life is comfortable and luxurious in comparison with the Russian way of life? Do they want the Russian people to see that the Americans have plenty to eat, to drink and to wear, with electric refrigerators even in poor homes, with running hot and cold water, with rugs on the floors, with the walls in the rooms of homes either painted or papered, with fat piles of uncensored newspapers available for reading, with children dressed in comfortable and warm clothes, wearing pajamas when ready for bed (something unheard of in Russia), with the mother tucking the children into comfortable beds in well appointed rooms, with people free to come and go as they please and to belong to different political parties or to none at all, with workers employed on jobs of their own choosing, free to quit if they so desire, with law officers keeping the peace but not violating the rights of decent people — do the Russian leaders want to show such a bountiful, democratic life, as depicted in American films? “If any one thinks that the Politburo will allow such films to be shown to the Russian people, he must be out of his mind, for one of the main reasons why the Soviet leaders want to shut out the American pictures is that the American way of life depicted cannot help but make the Russian people dissatisfied with their miserable lot. “Oh, yes! There are circumstances under which the Russian government will buy American films to show to their one hundred and eighty million people — glad to do it. But what kind of films will these be? ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' or ‘The Senator Was Indiscreet,’ which show American politicians and elected officials as crooks of the worst sort; ‘Roxie Hart,’ which depicts a rotten judiciary system; ‘Grapes of Wrath’ or ‘Tobacco Road,’ which can be used to give the Russian people a distorted picture of the American way of life; and dozens of other pictures with crime themes and vicious characters, which the Soviet leaders would like to exhibit to their people as perfect examples of the degeneration of American democracy so that the miserable life they lead will seem, by comparison, like heaven. . . .” As you see, Harrison's Reports predicted how the Russians would use our films — to discredit us. But at that time some people in the industry believed that these predictions were only in the imagination of the writer. The Hollywood producers, particularly Harry Cohn, Columbia’s studio head, who has been the worst offender, should give a little heed to the national interest. They should be willing to sacrifice some of their profits for the benefit of the nation, which had made it possible for them to make profits. ABRAM F. MYERS’ ANNUAL REPORT ( Concluded from last wee\) “Theatre television is still the most ‘iffy’ of all questions. In this Allied is fortunate in having the knowledge and guidance of Trueman Rembusch whose thinking on the subject has gone far beyond that of any other individual. It seems almost inevitable that Allied’s policy and activity on theatre television will be consistent with its traditional stand against monopoly. It will oppose any disposition of this matter by the Federal Communications Commission which would confer a monopoly on a few big city first-run theatres and deny television to others. This issue is bound up with the problem of allocating channels and if in order to avoid such a monopoly condition it is necessary to re-, arrange the whole system, Allied, as at present advised, is prepared to insist that that be done. “Therefore, in closing I again urge that Allied leaders and exhibitors resolve not merely to keep their organizations intact but to enlarge and strengthen them for the common good. The problems of the future, no more than those of the past, can be successfully handled by the lone wolf howling in his special neck of the woods. To accomplish anything, he must join the pack. And in matters of common interest, exhibitors must speak with one voice. The Tower of Babel effects in a certain other organization delayed the organization of COMPO for many months. Allied has an enviable record for unity of thought and action. We arrive at our policies through free and open discussion and then carry them out with hearty good will. That must be the spirit in which and the method by which the independent exhibitors deal with current and future problems. That must be the approach to the problems of reviving the boxoffice, of combatting excessive film rentals (Continued on bac\ page )