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 U. 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 SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1931 No. 11 THE CONSEQUENCES OF SELLING SCREEN ADVERTISING TO NATIONAL ADVERTISERS Unless Paramount and Warner Bros, give up selling screen advertising, the motion picture industry will suffer as it has not suffered before. There are indications that some newspapers and national magazines resent their intrusion into the advertising field and when all the newspapers and all the magazines come fully to realize the harm that will be done to their interests by these film concerns, they will, without the least doubt, turn their guns on the entire motion picture industry without mercy. It is then when the industry will pay for the short-sightedness and the avarice of these two film concerns. The motion picture industry needs the good will of the newspapers ; without their good will, it cannot exist. There are so many vulnerable spots in its composition that if the newspapers and the national magazines were to turn their columns on it we shall have legislation that will crush it. And every one of you knows how many allies they will have. Let the press convey to the public the impression that motion pictures contain commercial advertising and the receipts will drop to one half of what they are today. And there is no power on earth that will bring them back to what they should be with such a policy continued by Paramount and Warner Bros. Aside from the danger of incurring the ill will and the active hostility of the press, screen advertising on a national scale should be avoided because it is wrong ; it is unethical and unmoral to take advantage of the public, who pay their money at the box-office to see entertainment and not be “advertised” to death. Messrs. Adolph Zukor, Sidney R. Kent, Sam Katz, Harry Warner and every one in the industry know that it is wrong when they include concealed advertisements in pictures they have sold to the exhibitors purely as entertainments ; they know it is wrong also because they do not pay the exhibitor for the privilege of using his screen although they are paid handsomely for it — they get five dollars for each thousand customers to whom the advertisement is shown. They certainly know all this, and yet they do it. What are we to think of them? Are they so desperate as to resort to such tactics ? Must they have the profits that come from such a source in order for them to save their businesses? Or are there some subordinate officials who have induced them to adopt such a policy in order to give them an opportunity to make some fat commissions ? This paper warns them that it is going to enlist the aid of the press of the United States in an effort to stop this sort of profit-making; it is going to write to every newspaper and worth-while magazine in the United States and Canada calling their attention to the injustice perpetrated upon the public as well as upon them by the policy of these two concerns, asking their help to put an end to it. And there is no doubt as to what their response will be. It is yet time for Paramount and Warner Bros, to come back to the path of right. It is not yet late for them to right the wrong. In the meantime, this paper will advise all independent exhibitors that they have a right to bring suit against, not only those of the producer-distributors who use advertisements in features as well as shorts that are sold purely as entertainments, but also the concerns whose articles are so advertised ; and if you have sold the advertising privileges of your screen to an agency, this agency also has the right to bring a suit, for its rights are encroached upon when advertisements are shown on your screen without its permission. Stop “sniping” on your screen before your business is ruined. THE STATUS OF THE PATHE CONTRACTS I have been asked by several subscribers to tell them what are their rights in the contracts for pictures they hold with Pathe Exchanges, Inc., which has been sold to RKO ; also why should Pathe be selling “Lonesome Wives” as a Special when it owes them so many pictures, not only from the 1930-31 group, but also from the 1929-30. In order for me to get the facts correctly, I called on Lee Marcus, President of Pathe, which is now RKOPathe, Inc. Mr. Marcus informed me that RKO has bought from Pathe Exchanges, Inc., certain assets, and certain of its obligations, but not all. For instance, it took over the leases of the exchanges, Pathe News in its entirety (including the contracts,) and the contracts for the stars, but it did not take over the contracts for the 1930-31 pictures it sold to the exhibitors. He said that the old Pathe could not carry out its obligations to the exhibitors anyway, because it did not have any money to carry on production. RKOPathe did take over, however, the distribution, as he informed me, of the pictures Pathe Exchanges, Inc., had already produced and was serving the exhibitors with, on a percentage basis. As far as “Lonesome Wives,” is concerned, he told me that RKO-Pathe is distributing this picture for Pathe Exchanges, Inc., on a percentage basis ; also that Pathe Exchanges was to distribute this picture separately from the 1930-31 program. In this, he said, RKO-Pathe is merely carrying out the old Pathe orders. “Painted Desert,” he said, will be delivered to the exhibitors on their contracts ; and so will be “Beyond Victory,” with William Boyd. Old Pathe sold to you in the beginning of the present season twenty pictures. Of these, it has delivered or will deliver seven — “Swing High” (1109), “Night Work” (1103), “Holiday” (1110), “Her Man” (1106), “Big Money” (“Lookin’ for Trouble” — 1113), “Sin Takes a Holiday” (“All the Way” — 1116), and “Beyond Victory” (1101). The number of pictures it will not deliver is thirteen— “The Siren Song” (1102), with Mary Lewis; “I Take This Woman” (1104), with Ann Harding; “The Last Frontier” (1105) ; “In Deep” (1107) ; “Taking the Wrap” (1108) ; “North of the Yukon” (1111), with William Boyd; “Adam and Eve” (1112), which was to have beeh founded on Erskine’s novel; “Greater Love” (1114), which was to have been founded on the Eugene Walter play; “The Price of a Party” (1115), with Helen Twelvetrees; “This Marriage Business” (1117), which was to have been founded on the story by Josephine Lovett ; “Romance Harbor” (1119), with Ann Harding; and “Lazy Lady” (1120), with Constance Bennett. There was one more Ann Harding picture announced — “Rebound,” but since its production number (1122) was not contained in the contract, we must take it for granted that it was to be a Special, to be sold separately, like “Lonesome Wives.” (Joe Kennedy, the President of old Pathe, has been noted for doing this sort of thing. While President of FBO, the predecessor of RKO, he took the late Thompson out of the program and made pictures with him, which he released through Paramount, thus depriving those exhibitors who had the FBO program under contract of this star’s pictures.) Mr. Marcus informed me that Pathe Exchanges, Inc., has not disbanded ; it is still functioning, receiving from RKOPathe the rentals from the films now in circulation, and the income from the 49% of the Pathe-Dupont stock it owns. Before making any comment on this matter, I shall wait for the results of certain representations I intend making with RKO-Pathe and with the Radio Corporation of America, whose subsidiary RKO-Pathe is, with the view of trying to save something for those of you who hold Pathe contracts.