Harrison's Reports (1931)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March 3, 1879. Harrison’s Reports Yearly Subscription Rates: United States $15.00 V. 3. Insular Possessions. . lo.OO Canada, Alaska 16.00 Mexico, Spain, Cuba 16.00 Great Britain, New Zealand 16.00 Other Foreign Countries.. 17.50 35c a Copy 1440 BROADWAY New York, N. Y. A Motion Picture Reviewing Service by a Former Exhibitor Devoted Exclusively to the Interests of Exhibitors Its Editorial Policy: No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. Published Weekly by P. S. HARRISON Editor and Publisher Established July 1, 1919 Tel. : Pennsylvania 7649 Cable Address : Harreports (Bentley Code) A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XIII HARRISON’S REPORTS No. 6 THE METRO SALES POLICY I wonder whether many of you have figured out whether your MGM contract will prove profitable to you this year or not. I am referring to this season’s MGM sales policy, which has compelled many of you to agree to give MGM the right to withdraw ten pictures from the entire group to make “Specials” out of them, charging you thirty-five per cent of the gross receipts and "overage.” The provision reads as follows : “It is agreed that the Distributor shall have the right to designate as ‘Specials’ not more than ten of the feature photoplays hereby licensed for each of which ‘Specials’ Exhibitor agrees to pay, instead of the license fee provided for in the Schedule hereof opposite the title of the respective photoplay, the following: 35% of the gross receipts. . (and twenty-five per cent over a certain amount.) In some contracts the regular pictures are sold on a basis of twenty-five per cent of the gross receipts. MGM reserves the right to designate the Specials. And it does not seem to designate the same pictures for all the exhibitors in the same territory. That is, at least, what I gather from the complaints I receive from different exhibitors in the same territory. The contract specifies that the exchange must notify the exhibitor of such “Specials” before play-date availability notices are sent. But the exchanges disregard this obligation and notify the exhibitor after play-date availability notices are sent. When the exhibitor complains, the exchange threatens to hold back the pictures for an unreasonable length of time as punishment. And the pictures are not, of course, worth to such an exhibitor as much when they are old as they are when they are new. Even if the exchanges kept faith and lived up to the letter as well as the spirit of the provision, still it is not profitable for an exhibitor to accept a contract on such terms for the following reason: MGM naturally selects the drawing cards to make Specials out of them. And it books them, as a rule, on the best days of the exhibitor, on days when he would draw a large number of customers, no matter whose pictures he might show. It avoids booking such pictures during the summer months, or on the week before Christmas. The result is that MGM gets the best of it all around. Since MGM selects the best pictures for Specials, for which it exacts a heavy percentage and “overage,” the remaining pictures do not draw at the box office. Thus the exhibitor loses money on the poor pictures, and is unable to make up his losses with a small profit on the good pictures, in addition to giving up to MGM his best days. Figure the matter out in any way you want to; a contract such as this is unprofitable. It should be much better for an exhibitor to be without pictures so bought than to be with them with no chance to make a profit. PARAMOUNT RUINING GEORGE BANCROFT Mr. George Bancroft is, as the box office tells you, popular among all classes of picture-goers; but children between the ages of ten and twenty are his greatest admirers: they idolize him because, to them, he represents all the qualities a real man should be endowed with. They applaud when they see him besting the villain: and when they see him give such villain a good beating they get up from their chairs and cheer. It should be evident to Paramount that Mr. Bancroft should not be made to act in stories that present him in any other light; he is a box office asset, and they should do everything in their power to keep him such. But what is the case with his latest picture, “Scandal Sheet”? He is presented as a hard and cruel newspaper managing editor, who does not hesitate to make innocent people suffer, if in so doing he furthers the interests of the paper. To him, printing the news comes first. In one scene he is shown as having obtained information that a certain gangster, who had murdered a policeman, was the brother of a school principal in a small town, a peaceful, law-abiding, respectable man, with a wife and children. The principal visits the owner of the paper and tells him of his information that the paper is going to print the story, and that if it were printed he would be ruined. The owner, who happened to be a personal friend of the principal, takes him to Bancroft and pleads with him not to print the story, oancroit teils me owner that as it is news it must be printed, and that if he should kill the story he would have to accept his resignation with it, in which event he would take the story to the other paper he would connect himself with on that day. The story is printed. But this is not all: Mr. Bancroft is made to commit a murder; he finds out that his wife had been unfaithful to him, and that she was ready to run away with a banker. He goes to the banker’s apartment, shoots him dead, and then surrenders to the authorities. In the closing scenes, he is shown in stripes, editing the prison’s paper. What a cheerful story! It is nothing short of cruelty to the millions of children, who worship Mr. Bancroft, for Paramount to put him in such a story. They will be heart-broken to see their idol be such a contemptible man. This paper hopes that Air. Bancroft will not again appear in a story that causes so much sadness to his young friends, and conveys so bad a moral. HARRY WARNER WINNING THE ADMIRATION OF THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY Harry Warner is giving Adolph Zukor the fight of his life. Zukor has been used to having things his own way in this industry. Being a clever political manipulator, he would let a rising adversary go so far and would then pull the strings. Notice, for instance, what has happened to William Fox. When Fox heard that Paramount had decided to go into the sound news reel business, he (Fox) issued a threat to Zukor that he would put him out of business if he did. You know what has happened. There are other such cases. Like the Sultan of Turkey, Adolph Zukor would pit one person against the other, and then stand aside watching their downfall. But the old game does not seem to wrork well in the case of Harry Warner, who seems to have, not only courage and brains, but also resources, as it is evident from the fact that he has taken away from Paramount Ruth Chatterton and William Powell, and is bent upon taking away other Paramount stars. Adolph Zukor did not expect it, but this fight is going to be pretty costly for him. I have often found many acts of Warner Bros.’ to condemn, but this does not prevent me from admiring Harry Warner for his spirit and his courage. The industry is watching the results of this war with great interest, for it is one time that it will not be so easy for Adolph Zukor to brush his adversary aside.