Harrison's Reports (1939)

IN TWO SECTIONS— SECTION ONE Entered a* 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: 1270 SIXTH AVENUE Published We«kly by United States $15.00 1>^m IfilO Harrison's Reports, Inc., U. S. Insular Possessions. 16.50 Room 1D1£ Publisher Canada 1C.50 New York, N. Y. P. S. HARRISON, Editor Mexico, Cuba, Spain 16.50 , ,_ „. . _ . _ Great Britain 15.75 A Motion Picture Reviewing Service B.H,!lW,Hh«, t»iv 1 mo Australia, New Zealand, Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitors Established July 1, 1919 India, Europe, Asia .... 17.50 %r» q p„„„ Its Editorial Policy: No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial Circle 7-4622 joc a. ^opy Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXI SATURDAY, APRIL 8, 1939 No. 14 COMPLETION OF TRADE PRACTICE DRAFT TIMED BADLY After dragging the negotiations for several months, the producers at last decided to place into the hands of the exhibitor representatives the final draft of the Trade Practice Code. They delivered it Thursday evening, last week. Few exhibitors who know what is going on will blame the Distributor Committee, headed by Mr. Kent, with W. F. Rodgers acting as Chairman and carrying on the work ; but the suddenness with which the draft was completed will lead many exhibitors to believe that its completion was hastened so that it might appear in the trade papers before Monday (April 3), the day on which the hearings on the Neely Bill were held. By placing these proposed reforms in the record, they evidently hoped to convince the Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce that the passage of this Bill is now unnecessary. How the Allied leaders feel about seeing the final draft in print before they had a chance to go over it so as to express their views on it, as has been the procedure heretofore, Harrison's Reports does not yet know, for no statement has so far been given out from Allied headquarters. A statement will no doubt be issued soon. The revised draft is far clearer than any of the previous drafts — it is more specific, enabling the reader to know what reforms the distributors have decided to grant to the exhibitors. Under the heading, "Exclusion Privilege," the exhibitor is granted the right to cancel, in addition to the 10%, 15%, or 20%, as the case may be, in accordance with the price he pays for film, also pictures that are declared "locally offensive on moral, religious or racial grounds," the arbitration board settling the dispute in case there should be a disagreement between exhibitor and distributor whether a feature may or may not be excluded on the aforementioned grounds. The provision under "Trade Announcement" might have just as well been left out, as Mr. Abram F. Myers once suggested ; it does not mean anything. Some provision has been made to give an exhibitor the right to contract big pictures belonging to distributors with whom he has no contract, whenever there is public demand for them. Whether or not this provision will prove satisfactory to the independent exhibitors represented byAllied this paper does not yet know; but the concession granted does not seem to be enough to act as an inducement for the Allied Association to give up its fight for the complete elimination of block-booking and blind-selling. Under "Preferred Playing Time." the distributor agrees not to demand preferred playing time either on flat-rental pictures, or on percentage pictures that are contracted for with a guarantee of a minimum amount ; but it does leave the matter of plain percentage pictures as it was before. How does Allied feel about this concession? In looking over the speech that was made by Col. H. A. Cole, president of Allied, at the convention of the MGM sales forces in Chicago on March 21, I find the following remark : "Knowing that the week-end business equals 80% of your total for the week, how would you like to have to play designated high percentage pictures on every w-eek-end against the competition of radio programs featuring movie stars, some of whom may be featured in the pictures you must play ?" This remark leads us to believe that the Allied organization is not getting from the distributors what it fought for. And I doubt whether there are many exhibitors who would disagree with Col. Cole. Under the same heading, that is, "Preferred Playing Time," the exhibitor is given the right to refuse to play pictures that he considers unsuitable for the people of his community on those days. The conditions under which he may refuse such pictures are set forth in the provision. Under the heading, "Some Run Available," any exhibitor shall be able to obtain pictures, provided he fulfills the qualifications prescribed in the provision. The prices demanded for pictures shall not be subject to arbitration, but each distributor is not to ask for his pictures prices, or impose conditions, that may be considered "unreasonable." Notice that an arbitration board is barred from saying whether the prices asked from an exhibitor are unreasonable, if such they should be, asked of him for no other purpose than to defeat the intent of this provision. Under the heading "Regular Customer," the provision attempts to take care of frequent independent exhibitor complaints that the distributors always favor the affiliated circuits. Certain regulations are prescribed, with the right of the exhibitor to resort to arbitration in case there should be any violation of this provision. Under the heading, "Short Subjects, Newsreels, etc.,'' all called "Shorts" for convenience, an exhibitor is freed of the obligation to buy a distributor's shorts in order to obtain his features. (This term includes westerns as well as "foreigns." ) In case any distributor violates this provision, the exhibitor may resort to arbitration. Under the heading, "Score Charges," the distributors promise not to make separate charges for pictures of the 1939-40 season, on either flat rental or on percentage pictures. The following other matters are treated under their respective headings : The distributor shall, at the time he sends a notice of availability, notify the exhibitor of the price allocation of the picture. On selective contracts, the exhibitor must make his selection within twenty-one days after a notice of availability is sent to him. An exhibitor shall not be required to play a picture in the order of its release if the distributor should hold it hack. A distributor shall not coerce an exhibitor into signing a contract by employing the familiar threat about building a competitive theatre. Such methods are subject to arbitration. Breaches of contract shall be arbitrated. So shall be clearance as well as over-buying. License fees, and other terms and conditions (except those specifically provided for in the Code), shall not be subject to arbitration. This Code shall be effective on contracts entered into after January 1, 1939, but only for the 1939-40 season, and thereafter as long as the Code remains in effect. But the proposed agreement covers only two seasons, beginning with the 1939-40 season ; a signatory, whether exhibitor or distributor, is given the right to withdraw at the end of the second season by giving a written notice of withdrawal at least six months prior to the end of the season. (August 31 is to be considered the end of a season; September 1, the beginning. ) In regard to arbitration. Mr. \V. F. Rodgers. speaking for the Committee, said in his letter to Col. Cole, president of Allied, as follows about it : "Your counsel's revision contained counter suggestions as to arbitration, which we discussed with our counsel. However, we have not yet completed a revision of the pro [Continued on last page)