Harrison's Reports (1941)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March 3, lOTfc Harrison's Reports Yearly Subscription Rates: United States ..$15.00 U, S. Insular Possessions. 16.50 Canada . . . ...... .... 16.50 Mexico, Cuba, Spain. 16.50 Great Britain 15.75 Australia, New Zealand, India, Europe, Asia .... 17.50 35c a Copy 1270 SIXTH AVENUE Room 1812 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 Harrison's Reports, Inc., Publisher P. S. HARRISON, Editor Established July' 1, 1919 Circle 7-4622 A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXIII SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 1941 No. 2 HERE AND THERE WRITING FOR THE Sunday, December 29, 1940, issue of the New York Times, Mr. Thomas M. Pryor called attention to "some of the things which might conceivably be regarded as among the year's highlights : "Obviously the unkindest cut of all was Samuel Goldwyn's frank confession in a national magazine that Hollywood was 'sick' and that there apparently wasn't a doctor in the house. This was regarded as heresy by most of his fellow-producers who only two years before had poured a million dollars into an all-industry campaign to convince an apathetic public that 'motion pictures are your greatest entertainment.' * * * "But the most embarassing (to Hollywood) aspect of the Gallup survey was the disclosure that ony 54,000,000 people went to the movies weekly, whereas for years Mr. Will Hays had been saying that the number was 85,000,000. There was considerable controversy over that point, since the poll was made in the middle of the Summer, when business is admittedly off, but nobody could explain how that 85,000,000 figure came into being. We read in the trade papers that a Hays office spokesman said the industry got it from the Department of Commerce, but that agency had a handy explanation, too; it got the figure from the Hays office. So there !" Regardless of who invented the figure of 85,000,000, the fact is that millions of former movie patrons stay away from the theatres week after week. They have no prejudice against the theatres — on the contrary, they enjoy the atmosphere and the comfort of the movie house. Moreover, although they may not be convinced that motion pictures are their greatest entertainment, they have found that motion pictures can sometimes be their greatest entertainment. Yet they do not go to the movies except on rare occasions. Such a condition may warrant the assertion that the industry is "sick," but it does not warrant the statement that there isn't a doctor in the house, for the doctor who can cure the sickness complained of has always been available. The trouble is that the industry has failed to call upon him often enough. The doctor I refer to is represented, as you have no doubt guessed, by good pictures. If any one doubts that good pictures will still make people fight one another to get into the theatres, he need only see the newsreel shots of the crowds at the Radio City Music Hall where "Philadelphia Story" is playing, and he will, I am sure, change his opinoin. To get into that theatre patrons stood four abreast in a line going completely around an entire city block, and the police reserves had to be called to handle the overflow crowds that could not get into the line and were therefore interfering with traffic. With an indication, such as this one, that the public will patronize good pictures, and with the assurance that the production of a greater number than ever of such pictures will be inveitable in the new order of things under the Consent Decree, the industry may with justification look forward to a healthy, prosperous era. * * * THE FIRST EFFECTS OF THE Consent Decree have begun to be felt : four of the five consenting distributors have already announced that they plan to add anywhere from two hundred to two hundred and fifty salesmen to their staffs and it is expected that Paramount, which is not yet ready to make the announcement, will add another sixty or so, bringing the total to approximately three hundred salesmen. In other words, three hundred new men will be taken from the roll of the unemployed and given remunerative jobs. The fact that most of the additions will be merely promotions from other jobs within the organizations does not alter the situation — new men will have to be hired to take the jobs of those that have been promoted, a healthy condition in any industry. Harrison's Reports admits that the Consent Decree is lopsided — that it does not give the independent exhibitors one-half of what they expected to receive ; but lopsided was also the NRA Code, yet under it the independent exhibitors received benefits that they were not able to get before the adoption of the Code, nor after the NRA had been outlawed. For instance : in a large number of cases the Code Authority found that the circuit theatre had bought more pictures than it required. In such cases, the Code Authority compelled that theatre to let its competing theatre have a number of pictures. Such a thing had never been heard of, except perhaps in cases where the wronged exhibitor had resorted to the courts for relief. Likewise, under the Consent Decree, the independent exhibitors may not get all the relief they need, but they will get some relief, the extent of which will depend on whether they belong to an exhibitor organization or not, and to what kind. Allied has already announced that it will act as a sort of Clearing House for complaints from its members, so long as such complaints are based upon actual experiences. With Allied as a sentinel, the complainants are sure to receive the attention their complaints deserve, and, as Abram F. Myers, its general counsel, has aptly said, through National Allied "the full scope and national character of the violations can be pointed out." * * * "LAND OF LIBERTY" WAS ORIGINALLY a motion picture that ran approximately two hours and ten minutes, and representated a cavalcade of American history from Colonial days to the present time, all the scenes having been taken from feature pictures that had previously been produced by the major companies. In order that the motion picture industry might do its part in the present war emergency, this picture has been edited so that it will run approximately 90 minutes, and will be distributed by Metro. The distributor will be allowed only a nominal sum, far below the actual cost of distribution, and the net proceeds will be donated to war emergency welfare work. The reports are that the picture is great, not only localise of its artistic value, but also because of its tendency to inspire patriotism and love of country. As Mr. Nate Yamins. former president of National Allied has said: "My opinion is that the picture is beautiful and that it is something that every exhibitor ought to show and that every true American ought to see." Mr. W. F. Rodgers of Metro lias said of the picture : "We are releasing it as a regularly released picture and will designate it according to grosses established at its test engagements * * * and if the desi : nation given is too low we ask your cooperation in voluntarily increasing the rental, and by the same line of reasoning if its designation is higher than its results justify, and you have lost money, wo will gladly redesignate it in a lower bracket. The support {Continued on last page)