Harrison's Reports (1951)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March 3, 1879. 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 s 1270 SIXTH AVENUE New York 20, N. Y. A Motion Picture Reviewing Service Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitors Its Editorial Policy: No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. Published Weekly by Harrison’s Reports, Inc., Publisher P. S. HARRISON, Editor Established July 1, 1919 Circle 7-4622 A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXXIII SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1951 No. 35 A TIMELY WARNING Speaking at the 16th annual convention of National Thei atres, held in Los Angeles last week, George Bowser, gen' eral manager of Fox West Coast Theatres, one of the seven National affiliates, warned the gathering against utilizing film advertisements that are untruthful, and against undue overselling of pictures that are admittedly weak in enter' tainment values. He pointed out that the patron who spends money on entertainment today does so on a selective basis and, for our own good, should not be misled. Although other right-thinking industry people have spoken out against false and misleading advertising in the past, Mr. Bowser’s warning comes at a most propitious time in view of the pending “Movietime U.S.A.” campaign, which is designed to attract people back to the theatres, and to win the public’s good will. Because of past abuses, one of the great handicaps our industry has to overcome is the fact that the public, innured to the traditional methods of ballyhoo, has long since learned to discount the high praise given to pictures in advertising and exploitation campaigns. Consequently, any attempt at this time, either by the producer-distributors or the exhibitors, to exploit pictures in a manner that will not live up to the fabulous claims made for them, will be injurious to the interests of the industry as a whole, for such pictures serve only to incense the patrons who are drawn to the theatre on the basis of the claims made in the exploitation campaign. There is no question that a good exploitation campaign will attract movie-goers to the box-office and will keep them coming if the picture lives up to the claims made for it. But if it is a mediocre picture that has been hailed in the exploitation campaign as great entertainment, you may be sure that, no matter how extensive the exploitation campaign, the adverse word-of-mouth advertising will keep the picture-goers away from the box-office in droves. Moreover, it will result in the addition of many more thousands of movie-goers who have lost faith in motion picture advertising. The responsibility for most objectionable movie advertising lies, not with the exhibitors, but with the producerdistributors, for they are the ones who design and furnish the exhibitors with advertising mats, trailers, outdoor displays and other forms of exploitation in connection with a particular picture. According to the Advertising Code, which is under the administration of the Advertisers' Advisory Council, whose members are the directors of advertising and publicity of the principal motion picture companies, all forms of picture advertising must meet with their approval. The Code requires, among other things, that “good taste shall be the guiding rule of motion picture advertising,” and that “no false or misleading statements shall be used directly, or implied by type arrangements or by distorted quotations." Since the Advertisers’ Advisory Council is a department of the Motion Picture Association (the producers’ organization), all the member companies have pledged compliance with the Code’s provisions. But how many times have you seen these provisions violated? As this paper has had occasion to say before, from a good deal of the film ad copy that has appeared and still appears in the nation’s newspapers and magazines, it seems as if those in charge of the Advertising Code either are winking at one another as they nod approval or are wearing blindfolds as they examine the copy submitted to them. No one can deny that the selling of a picture to the public is of the utmost importance to our business, but in doing so let us not go overboard in our claims of a picture’s entertainment values. Otherwise we will find that, when the exceptional picture that rates all the ballyhoo we can possibly give it comes along, much of our efforts will be dissipated because of the many thousands of movie-goers who will pay no attention. “MOVIETIME” DRIVE EXTENDED FOR ONE FULL YEAR The “Movietime U.S.A.” campaign, which had been originally planned for October and November, has been extended for a full year, beginning October 1, according to an announcement by Robert J. O’Donnell, national director of the drive. "The reason for this extension,” O’Donnell said, “is that we do not want people to get the impression that this is merely a shot-in-the-arm promotion effort, with our best pictures bunched for a temporary effect. We know from scrutiny of the studios’ production schedules that there will be a continuity of superior product for as far into the future as we can now see, and we want this all-industry effort to continue so that the public will be thoroughly aware that it is only the movie theatre that offers the best entertainment.” O’Donnell added that plans are now under way for the staging of several special events during the winter and spring to give further impetus to the campaign. Notable among these is a mammoth motion picture exposition that will be held at the Grand Central Palace in New York City late in March, with the exposition to be taken on a tour of the country’s principal cities following the New York City engagement. In extending the campaign for a full year, O’Donnell stated that efforts will be made to give greater emphasis to the fact that the drive is being held to celebrate the motion picture theatre's golden anniversary, it being fifty years since the establishment by Thomas Talley of Talley’s Electric Theatre in Los Angeles, the first theatre in America to be devoted exclusively to the showing of motion pictures. O’Donnell announced also that, because of a conflict with the annual Governor’s Conference of September 28, the simultaneous appearance of Hollywood personalities in each of the forty-eight state capitals will take place on October 8 instead of October 1, in order to allow the Governors sufficient time to return home from their conference. As a result of this change, the campaign’s newspaper advertisements, originally set for publication on October 8, will now be published on October 1, or whatever days close to this date are chosen by exchange area committeemen as most suitable for local purposes. Meanwhile the enthusiasm with which the exhibitors throughout the country have responded to the “Movietime” campaign is nothing short of phenomenal. Arthur L. Mayer, COMPO’s executive vice-president, is reported by Variety as saying: “It is the most gratifying example of industry-wide cooperation in a common cause than anything I have seen during the 30-odd years I have been in this business. These ( Continued on bac\ page)