Harrison's Reports (1933)

Entered as second-class noatter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March 3, 1879. Harrison’S Yearly Subscription Rates: United States $15.00 U. S. Insular Possessions. 16.50 Canada 16.50 Mexico, Cuba, Spain 16.50 Great Britain 16.00 Australia, New Zealand, India 17.50 35c a Copy 1440 BROADWAY New York, 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 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. XV SAIHJRDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1933 No. 49 Benefits the Exhibitor Will Derive from the Code — No. 1 The first Code draft and the subsequent revisions drew fire from almost everybody. The major company representatives were dissatisfied, and the representatives of the independent groups were downcast because they felt that they did not obtain the reforms they were seeking. It was natural for them to feel that way. At first I myself shared their feelings. But a careful examination of the different provisions and an inquiry as to the reasons why this, that or the other reform had not been incorporated into the subsequent revisions disclosed a different picture entirely. The benefits the exhibitor will derive from the Code are many and could not have been obtained by them under any other order of things. The credit for the sort of Code you have been given is owed entirely to Mr. Sol A. Rosenblatt, Deputy Administrator of the NRA. Administrator Johnson could not have selected a better representative to put the affairs of this industry in order, because Mr. Rosenblatt is thoroughly familiar with the industry. There have been times when the assignment proved more trying than many other strongminded persons would have tolerated. Criticized by friend and foe in his effort to eradicate abuses that accumulated since the industry came into being, Mr. Rosenblatt did not lose patience but kept on with the hope that his sincerity and his desire to do something constructive for a wrecked industry would be recognized. I do not mind telling you that I myself criticized him at first because of the absence from the Code of certain reforms upon which we had all set our hearts and souls. But it did not take me long to realize that under the circumstances he did the best any other human being could have done. I have satisfied myself that he would have killed block-booking forthwith if he could. But could he kill it when at every turn he was confronted by court decisions and consent decrees, rendered during the Hoover and other administrations, that declared blockbooking illegal when done concertedly, but perfectly legal when done individually by each company? There have been other conditions of similar and of other nature that made it impossible for him to give the industry one hundred per cent reforms at once. But the door is not closed just because the Code has been signed by the President ; after a trial of ninety days, the President may find it necessary not only to kill block-booking and blind-selling entirely, not only to establish the exhibitor’s right to buy against any competitor, but also to introduce other reforms that will bring order out of chaos. As far as you are concerned, I would suggest that you sign the Code immediately and show a spirit of co-operation to our President for his honest and sincere efforts to bring our industry', as he is trying to bring all other industries, out of the depression ; and if you have a little spare time, send a few lines to Mr. Sol A. Rosenblatt, Room 4217 Commerce Building, Washington, D. C., and thank him for his efforts on your behalf. The least you can do is to offer him a word of cheer for the gruelling experiences he has had until he finally framed the Code the President has signed. And while you are writing to Mr. Rosenblatt you may give him a list of exhibitor names as persons that can be trusted to act fairly and impartially as members of either the Grievance Board or the Qearance and Zoning Board. Beginning with this issue there will appear in these columns an interpretation of the Code. The different provisions will be interpreted, not in the order they appear in the Code, but as is most convenient. DISTRIBUTION P.A.RT I. By this provision no distributor can induce an exhibitor to sign a contract with disadvantageous terms by threatening to build a theatre in his locality. How beneficial this provision is every one of you realizes when you recall that from 1926 until about a year after the market crash many exhibitors were frightened into selling their theatres to a producer. In some instances the exhibitors sold their theatres and received stock as the price with the stipulation that they were not to dispose of such stock until a certain number of months afterwards ; and since in many cases such exhibitors failed to obtain a guarantee that the stock would be purchased by the producer at the end of the prohibited period at the market price prevailing at the time of the sale, such exhibitors received very little for their investments because of the market collapse. No such calamity can again befall an exhibitor as long as this provision of the Code operates. The true benefits of this provision will be realized by those who read the comment on Mr. Zukor’s article about the benefits derived by such producers as own theatres, made in last week’s issue, when they learn the motive that had prompted Mr. Zukor to issue that statement: Paramount has liquidated its theatre department. Where there were any bad leases, the receivers either cancelled these leases entirely or renewed them at advantageous terms. It is evident that Paramount is again ready to embark upon theatre operation perhaps on as large a scale as before. It is one of the failings of human nature that often we do not learn a lesson from our sad experiences. Paramount went broke because of its ambitious plans in the theatre field, and Mr. Zukor suffered great personal losses as a result of it. And yet he seems again to be drawn like a moth to the flame. Fortunately no producer representatives will again be able to call on exhibitors with film prices under the one arm and blue prints of a proposed theatre under the other. PART 2. This provision prohibits employees of producerdistributors from using their position to favor one theatre against another. There were times, as was disclosed in these columns several years ago, when exchange employees bought an interest in a theatre and used their position to book in that theatre the films not only of their own company but also of other companies. With this provision in effect, the committing of such an abuse will no longer be possible. PART 3. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of this provision prohibit the substitution of star, director or either novel, play or magazine story. Paragraph (c) provides that, when the producer finds it necessary to substitute a story, author, director or star in the middle of the season, he must make the fact known to the exhibitors by an advertisement, inserted at least in one national trade journal. Such a notice, however, shall not affect the rights of those who had already signed a contract ; these contract holders may reject, if they so wish, the picture in which a substitution of one or more of the factors was made. PART 4. Paragraph (a) of this clause makes it a violation of the Code should a distributor license pictures to a non-theatrical institution contrary to the restrictions, rules and regulations of a Local Grievance Board. Paragraph (b) exempts army posts or camps, ships of the United States Navy, merchant ships plying between the United States and foreign lands, prisons, orphanages, hospitals and other institutions of similar nature. PART 5. This clause prohibits a distributor from forcing an e.xhibitor to book more short subjects than he requires to complete his program on the days he shows that distributor’s pictures. Newsreels are excepted, in this way : If it should be your policy to show only the two issues of a particular newsreel brand and you have already contracted for that brand, if another distributor wants you to book also his newsreels, as a condition of selling you his features, then you will have the right to take your com{Continued on last page)