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. S. Insular Possessions . . 16.00 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 PEnnsylvania 6-6379 Cable Address : Harreports (Bentley Code) A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XIII SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1931 No. 20 STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN! Mr. H. M. Richey, Secretary and Business Manager of Allied Theatres of Michigan, printed the following in the last Bulletin of the organization: “Before buying your pictures this year consider for a moment the angles that come with ‘blind percentage.’ Last year several companies in offering their product reserved the right to hold out from 5 to 15 pictures to be run on percentage. These pictures were not designated at the time of signing the contract but were to be decided on later by the producer. “The result was that practically every picture that had any box office appeal was withdrawn from the flat rental program and the exhibitor was notified that these pictures were the ones he had selected to play on percentage. “The value of this kind of plan . . . works to the detriment of the exhibitor. “Exhibitors who were notified that certain pictures were to be withdrawn and played percentage, could not run such features on Saturday and Sunday or the good days of the week when they had to depend on an abnormal business (if there were such a thing last year) to make up the losses of the rest of the week. And of course many times they did not even do that. . . .” This matter was discussed in Harrison’s Reports, in the February 7 issue. At that time it was said that it is of disadvantage to the exhibitor, for the reason that the producer (in that article it was MGM that was discussed) withdraws the drawing cards and forces you to play them on your best days, one of the days being Saturday, and forbids you to play them on Holy Week, or during the week before Christmas, or during the warm summer months, with the result that you do not make any profit out of the specials, and lose money on the regulars. At this time let me again call your attention to the injustice of the Road Show clause, which was “put over” on you cold-bloodedly. According to the contract, you have the right to reject one picture for every picture the distributor designates as a Road Show. But according to information received by this office, MGM is forcing the contract holders to sign a Rider giving up their right to reject a picture as a result of the withdrawal of “Trader Horn.” In this way, MGM gets all the benefits and the contract holder all the disadvantages. Some of you are in such a position that you are compelled to submit to the unreasonable terms of a distributor: but some of you are in a more fortunate position and there is no reason why you should submit to highhanded tactics. This year, you should scratch out the road show clause, and should refuse to permit a distributor to designate a number of pictures as specials at his discretion. * * * M. P. T. O. of Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Delaware has advised its members not to buv pictures now, btit to wait. W. A. Steffes, in the Bulletin of his organization dated May 4, states that more than one hundred and fifty theatre owners, members of the organization, gave their promise not to buy anv product until after the annual convention of the organization, which will be held on September 9 and 10. Mr. Steffes says also that the money spent by the producers for their annual conventions must necessarily come out of the exhibitors. He says that he had attended two such conventions and states the following: “If you had been on the spot you would agree that the only reason these conventions are called is to pep the boys up to a point where they are going to go back home and soak us a little more money for a little poorer class of product. . . . I don’t believe in the history of the theatre business has the product been of such poor quality as that of the 1950-31 season.” Mr. Steffes says also that another reason why it is necessary for the exhibitors to delay buying is to give the organizations an opportunity to study the contract of each distributor; each distributor is going to have provisions of his own in his contract and it takes time to analyze them. The reasons for late buying given by Mr. Steffes are given also by this paper; for this paper, too, wants to study each contract and to report any special clauses the distributor may have inserted in his own contract. Harrison’s Reports has consistently advised you in the beginning of each season to be careful as to what prices you should pay for pictures. But this year it desires to impress on you the necessity of exercising greater care, first, because the product does not seem more promising than that of last year, which was the worst in the history of the motion picture business, and, secondly, because the country is going through the worst financial depression it has known in forty years and there does not seem to be a prospect of an improvement before another year shall have passed. And one way by which you could show that you are exercising great care in buying is to delay buying until late in September. Because the producers are selling early in an effort to steal a march on their competitors is no reason why you should rush to buy your pictures. Buy late and have no regrets. WORKING THEMSELVES OUT OF A JOB The selling season has opened two months ahead of time this year and the salesmen have been instructed to clean up all sales by September 1. If they should carry out their instructions, they will be compelled to look for a job after that date, for, according to reliable information sent to this office, the branch manager of one of the companies intimated that, after that date, his company will not need any salesmen. Film salesmen have the peculiarity of not being able to see more than a foot beyond their faces. Two years ago, they made the life of the independent exhibitors so unbearable with their high-pressure sales methods that a large number of them sold their theatres to the chains, with the result that, with the chains controlling more than three thousand of the best theatres, the distributors no longer required the services of more than half of them, for the sales were made in New York, between the heads of the departments. Thus more than half of them found themselves walking the streets of the exchange centres — all dressed up and no place to go. Many of them have been out of a job ever since. Have those who held their jobs learned their lesson? This paper does not suggest that they should give their film awav; but it does suggest that, for their own good, they weigh carefully what each exhibitor is able to pay, taking into consideration the existing conditions and the fact that no decided improvement is looked for during the current year, and make his price accordingly. Luring the exhibitor into signing contracts with big prices will eventually prove to their detriment, for unless the exhibitor is able to make a profit he will be compelled, either to sell his theatre to the chain or to close it up. And in neither case is it beneficial to the salesmen. It is about time that film salesmen learned to use their heads. ( Continued on last page)