Harrison's Reports (1939)

EnUnsd as »«e«nd-elass matter January 4, at the powt office at New Tark, K«w Y*i<k, tM»*w Hn a*t *f Wbmb «t NN, Harrison's Reports Yearly Subscription Rates: 1270 SIXTH AVENUE Published T«aHr by United States $16.00 D««»,1K19 Harrison s Raport* i.e., U. S. Insular Possess*™*. 16.50 KOOm IttlZ Pubtoaer Canada 16.50 New York, N. Y. P. S. HARBISON, Hditor Mexico, Cuba, Spain 16.50 . .. _. , _ _ i-raai i>rif,i„ ik^s A Motion Picture Reviewing SefTiee Vjrreat £>ritain 15.75 ■n'„,«ui:«u-.^ t,»i., 1 im Australia, New Zealand, Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitors Established July 1, 1319 India, Europe, Asia 17.50 ik« » pmv Its Editorial Policy: No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial Circle 7-4«t2 a ^opy Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXI SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1939 No. 49 A WRECKING CREW OF ONE Harry Brandt, president of a shadow exhibitor organization in this city, is touring the twenty-one zones (1 don't know at whose expense) in order id induce individual exhibitors to take a stand against the Neely Bill, by writing letters to their Congressmen expressing their opposition to it. In zones where Allied is organized, his success is, of course, nil, but I don't know what is happeningin zones where there is no Allied unit. • As a side issue, Harry takes a crack at Mr. Abrarri F. Myers, general counsel of Allied States Association, and, strange to say, against Warner Bros. As a matter of fact, my information is to the effect that he is blasting this company very severely. Harrison's Reports is not concerned with Harry's criticisms against Warner Bros., for it feels that that company should be able to take care of itself — Grad Sears, president of Vitagraph, is certainly not of the squeamish type, for he can take it just as well as he can give it; he ought to know what is behind Harry's blasts, and whether his trip is financed by himself or by some film company that has the killing of the Neeley Bill uppermost in its mind, and the blasting of Warner Bros as a secondary issue. But Harrison's Reports is concerned about his tirade against Mr. Myers. A transcript of his speech made in one of the zones is expected in this office, and incidentally in Mr. Myers' office, for study. Comment on his speech, then, will be made, if it should be necessary. In the meantime, let me say that Harry Brandt, in criticizing the Allied leader, is serving no exhibitor interests. It seems as if the producers have realized that Ed Kuykendall and MPTOA are "dead," so far as being useful as a front at Washington is concerned, and some one in their ranks has conceived the idea of using Harry Brandt to do the work that was Ed's business. The use of a fresh person to do Ed's work seems to have become absolutely necessary, because of the Columbia-Capra blunder of maligning the United State Senate. Many members of the House of Representatives and a large number of Senators have expressed their indignation at the insult done to their body by the picture "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and the producers, fearing that there is no chance to defeat the Neely Bill by the usual methods, have decided to use the back-door method — by inducing some exhibitors to write to their Congressmen directly expressing their opposition to the Bill. They know that John and Jim and Charlie exert a greater influence upon their legislators than do Zanuck, and Zukor, and Schenck, and are determined to use this method as a last straw. Such a method might have been successful some years ago, but it cannot succeed now, for the simple reason that the Neely Bill is altogether out of the hands of the exhibitors, to such an extent that, even if most exhibitor leaders who are now fighting for the bill were to drop their fight and join the ranks of the opponents, the Bill would, in the opinion of those who seem to know, go through just the same ; it is now in the hands of public groups, whose stand the producers in no way can influence. Though the new way of going about it in an effort to kill the Neely Bill will, in the opinion of this paper, prove just as unsuccessful as the old way, just the same Harrison's Reports is eager to know who has inspired Harry to make his vicious blasts against Warner Bros. Not that Harrison's Report, too, would hesitate to criticize this company if the occasion required it, but its curiosity as to Harry's real motives for these blasts has been aroused. Perhaps Gradwell Sears can enlighten us. I notice that the Independent Exhibitor, which is Harry's house organ although it is supposed to be an independent paper (it has no second-class mailing privilege ; the Post Office grants such a privilege only to bona-fide publications) contains advertisements from MGM, RKO, and Paramount, but not from Warner Bros. Is that one of the reasons for the blasts? THE EUROPEAN SITUATION AS THE AMERICAN PRODUCERS' "GOAT" In his letter to Simon Fabian, which was discussed in last week's issue, Darrvl Zanuck, head of the Twentieth Century-Fox studio, attributed the need for longer runs of meritorious pictures partly to the present European situation, which has caused a shrinkage in the producers' return from the foreign market. It seems as if the American producers have nowfound a situation which they may use any time they see fit to scare you into giving them more money for film. In order to make it difficult for them again to use the European situation as a "goat," allow me to acquaint you with certain facts. The latest British trade papers from London state that the picturetheatre business in Great Britain is nearly hack to normal. Mr. Arthur Dent, an outstanding figure in the picture business there, is quoted as having said the following : "Business is certainly not more than 10 per cent lower all around. In fact, we are not finding it seriously down at all. Some areas in the provinces are not down at all, while some suburban theatres are doing better than they did before the war." The same trade papers carry the news that there [Continued on last page)