Harrison's Reports (1939)

56 HARRISON'S REPORTS April 8, 1939 visions with respect to arbitration machinery, and for that reason we again enclose the proposed basis for arbitration which we previously handed you. It is obvious that this is not complete and further elaboration will be necessary in the light of discussions and of your counsel's suggestions, but we believe that the statements of principle contained in it and in the revised memorandum enclosed herewith will furnish the foundation for the arbitration machinery desired." The suggestions in the Code draft about arbitration cover location of the board, method of selection of arbitrators, the cost of the arbitration machinery, qualification of the arbitrators, and a few other matters. Editor's Notk: Just before going to press, this office received an Allied release, part of which reads as follows: "The trade practice proposals submitted by the distributors not only are incomplete, but they do not pretend to abolish compulsory block booking and blind selling, and do not touch the subject of theatre divorcement. The proposals do not provide relief at all commensurate with that asked by the Government suit. Under the aforementioned resolutions of the Board of Directors, Allied can follow no other course than to support and seek the passage of the Neely Bill ( S. 2X0 ) to prohibit compulsory block booking and blind selling of motion pictures. ..." THE NATIONAL ANTHEM AND ITS PLACE IN MOVING PICTURE THEATRES At a recent meeting of the Northampton (Mass.) Motion Picture Council, the reaction of the picture theatre audiences to the exhibition of the trailer "The Star Spangled Banner" was discussed. Some of the members expressed regret that so few of the audiences in the theatres of that city stood at attention while the aforementioned trailer was exhibited. Some of the speakers, however, exonerated the audiences and, though they recognized the sincerity of the motion picture industry in its decision to spread patriotism, they criticized the manner of showing it ; they questioned the wisdom of showing the trailer at every performance. The result of this discussion was a decision on the part of the Motion Picture Council to make the following suggestions to the local managers : (a) The film, if shown at every performance, should be shown in the beginning, when it is easier for people to stand up. ( b ) The showing of the trailer at every performance tends to cheapen the national anthem. (c) The showing be confined to national holidays and to patriotic occasions. (d) Every precaution be taken to prevent the conveying to the audiences of the impression that the trailer is an "ad or a preview of a coming attraction." Harrison's Reports concurs with these suggestions and wishes that every theatre owner accept them. Nothing can do more to create disrespect for the national anthem than the showing of the reel every time a manager feels that the showing of it will bring prestige to his house; its showing should be prompted by more worthy motives. The New York Herald Tribune, issue of March 5, had a fine editorial on patriotism, under the heading, "Proof of the Patriot." "Like charity," said part of the article, "patriotism "is not puffed up.' A patriot would no more think of calling himself a patriot than he would describe himself as a gentleman. The deeper his love for his land, the less he is likely to assure the neighbors that it exists, and under no circumstances will he be heard bellowing that fellow countrymen who hold opinions opposed to his own are traitors and lice." The editorial continues in the same vein, remarking that it is better thai Americans should not go in for mass hysteria over the flag, nor for any of those other paganistic forms that the totalitarian states so love to display, because patriotism cannot, as the editorial says, be fostered by parades or insignia ; these merely promote arrogance. It closes as follows : "The glorious quality of the American way always has been that you were free to follow it or not. It never was designed for solemnly lifted, shiny boots for everyday wear, nor for prostrate obeisance. Always it has been rough with disagreements and with virile cantankerousness, and far from regarding it as perfect. Americans intend to go right on improving it." Harrison's Reports feels that every theatre owner should own a print of the trailer, but it believes, like the members of the Northampton Motion Picture Council, that the country would be served by the motion picture industry better if the showing of it was to be confined to Sundays and holidays, as well as to patriotic occasions. MGM ALREADY ADOPTING SOME OF THE TRADE PRACTICE REFORMS At the annual convention of the MGM sales forces, which was held in Chicago on March 21 and 22, Mr. W. F. Rodgers, general manager of distribution of that company, announced that his company has already decided to adopt the following trade practices beginning now, and not until after the code has been ratified : Abolition of the score charge. Elimination of preferred playing time on percentagewit h-a-guarantce pictures. .Selling of shorts (newsreels, trailers, shorts, westerns and "foreigns") will not be tied up with the features. No MGM employee will be allowed to employ theatrebuilding as a means of compelling the exhibitor to buy the MGM product. BOX-OFFICE PERFORMANCES OF 1938-39 SEASON'S PICTURES— No. 1 This is the second series of articles giving the box-office performances of 1938-39 season's pictures. The first series was printed beginning with the January 14 issue. Columbia "In Early Arizona," with Bill Elliott and Dorothy Gulliver; directed by Joseph Levering, from a screen play by Nate Gatzert : Good. "Adventure in Sahara," with Paul Kelly, Lorna Gray, and C. Henry Gordon ; directed by D. Ross Lederman, from a screen play by Maxwell Shane : Fair-Poor. "Blondie," with Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake; produced by Robert Sparks and directed by Frank R. Strayer, from a screen play by Richard Flournoy : Good-Fair. "The Terror of Tiny Town," with Bill Curtis and Yvonne Moray ; directed by Sam Newfield, from a screen play by Fred My ton : Good-Poor. "Strange Case of Dr. Mead," with Jack Holt and Beverly Roberts; produced by Larry Darmour and directed by Lewis D. Collins, from a screen play by Gordon Rigby : Fair-Poor. "There's That Woman Again," with Melvyn Douglas and Virginia Bruce ; produced by B. B. Kahane and directed by Alexander Hall, from a screen play by Philip G. Epstein, James E. Grant, and Ken Englund : Good-Fair. "Smashing the Spy Ring," with Ralph Bellamy, Fay Wray, and Regis Toomey ; directed by Christy Cabanne. from a screen play by Dorrell and Stuart McGowan and Arthur Horman : Fair-Poor. "Homicide Bureau," with Bruce Cabot, Rita Hayworth, and Moroni Olsen ; directed by C. C. Coleman, Jr., from a screen play by Earle Snell: Fair-Poor. "Lone Wolf's Spy Hunt," with Warren William, Ida Lupino, and Virginia Weidler ; produced by Joseph Sistrom and directed by Peter Godfrey, from a screen play by Jonathan Latimer: Fair-Poor. "North of Shanghai," with Betty Furness and James Craig ; directed by D. Ross Lederman, from a screen playby Maurice Rapf and Harold Buehman : Fair-Poor. Nineteen pictures, including Westerns, have been released. Grouping the pictures of the different ratings from the beginning of the season, exclusive of four Westerns on which reports have not been obtained, we get the following results : Excellent, 1; Good, 1; Good-Fair, 2; Good-Poor, 1; Fair, 2; Fair-Poor, 8. The first nineteen pictures in the 1937-38 season, including Westerns, were rated as follows : Excellent, 2; Good-Fair, 2; Good-Poor, 1; Fair, 4; Fair-Poor, HI.