Harrison's Reports (1945)

Entered as 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 Weekly by United States $15.00 Rnnm 1R12 Harrison's Reports, Inc., U. S. Insular Possessions. 16.50 i\oora ioi6 Publisher Canada 16.50 New York 20, N. Y. P. S. HARRISON, Editor St Britain' ^ ^ 75 A Motion Picture Reviewing Service Australia New" Zealand ' Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitors Established July 1, 1919 India, Europe, Asia .... 17.50 Ug Editoria, Policy. No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial Circle 7-4622 Sbc a copy Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXVII SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 1945 No. 3 The Exhibitor, Too, Has An Equity In Raw Film Stock The War Production Board's notification to the industry that it will receive approximately thirty million feet less raw film stock during the first quarter of 1945 than it received in the last quarter of 1944 is causing considerable concern to all branches of the industry, for the new cut will undoubtedly aggravate the already serious handicap under which they are operating. The suggestions for saving raw stock are many. They include, among others, eliminating so-called "B" pictures; reducing the length of important pictures so that their running time will be limited to ninety or one hundred minutes; curtailing, if not eliminating, the production of short subjects; greater use of short subjects as a replacement for second features; reducing further the number of feature prints in circulation; cutting down the length of newsreels; and tightening up on the waste in production by limiting the number of "takes" for each scene. According to some industry observers, this latest reduction in the raw stock allotment, if continued on the same basis for the other three quarters in 1945, may result in about thirty to forty-five fewer features being released during the year than were released in 1944. Fewer feature pictures would, of course, add considerably to the difficulties the exhibitors are already experiencing as a result of the limited supply of prints, and of the artificial product shortage, which has been brought about by extended runs and moveovers. And the subsequent-run exhibitors, whom these conditions affect most seriously, will probably have to contend with many more problems than they now have to solve. An interesting angle, one that requires close study by exhibition circles, is the current method by which the WPB allocates to the industry its share of raw film stock produced in this country. The stock is allocated directly to the eleven distributors — without restrictions as to its use. It is entirely up to them to work out their own problems regarding the number of feet they will need for their production schedules, and the number of feet that they will require for release prints. They have the right to dispose of their film allotment in any manner they see fit. They alone determine how much of it shall go into the negatives, how much into release prints of current pictures, how much into prints of reissue negatives and how much into prints for the foreign market. Independent producers, such as Samuel Goldwyn, International Pictures, and those who release through United Artists, obtain their raw stock requirements from the distributors with whom they have releasing deals. This method of raw stock allocation is causing considerable concern to some independent producers; they are experiencing difficulties in obtaining release deals with some of the major distributors. These distributors are reluctant to deplete their share of raw stock, for it would require that they curb their own production plans in order to accommodate independent producers from whom they can earn no more than a distribution fee. The raw stock they allocate to an independent producer would not, in these days, give the distributers as much profit per foot as would the stock used on their own productions. The independent producers, however, have a right to remain in business and to make pictures. To do this, they must have raw stock. Thus it is evident that they have an equity in the raw stock rationed to the industry and, because of their protests, it is assumed that an equitable arrangement will be worked out with the WPB when it meets in Washington with the Industry Advisory Committee on Raw Stock this coming February 1. And what about the exhibitors? They, too, have an equity in the available raw stock, for their interests are affected directly and vitally by the manner in which it is used by the producer-distributors. What assurances are there that the stock will be used in a manner that, so far as possible, will be beneficial not only to the distributors, but also to the exhibitors? Absolutely none! Under the present system of film rationing, there is nothing, as said before, to prevent the distributors from disposing of this stock in any way that suits their purpose. They can, for example, reduce still further the number of positive prints they will make for each picture, and then use the stock thus saved for new productions that will only add to their already huge backlog of productions now reposing in their vaults. Such a move would serve to aggravate the conditions under which the exhibitors are now operating their theatres, and it would serve also to perpetuate the "seller's" market, in which the producer-distributors are having the time of their lives. With the present print supply scarcely enough to take care of the exhibitors' needs, the producer-distributors have made and are still making the most of their opportunity. Rental terms, along with the demands for extended and preferred playing time, are way out of line. The situation as to both the shortage of prints and the excessive rental d mands has become so acute that many exhibitors have turned to reissues for relief. But this avenue of escape, too, has been blocked by the distributors, who, cognizant of the possible profits on reissues in a tight market, are demanding fantastic rental terms, percentage in some cases. The reissue field has now been turned into a profitable sideline— for the distributors. The exhibitor, desperate for product, pays through the nose. As a matter of fact, the reissue business has become so profitable that, on a number of old pictures, thousands of feet of rationed raw stock have been used for the making of new prints. Using rationed stock to make new prints of old pictures, which many exhibitors do not care to re-book, is a flagrant abuse of the exhibitors' equity in the stock, for its use in that manner deprives many of them of badly needed prints on new features. The lack of regulations controlling the distributors' use of raw stock brings up the very pertinent question of how they might use this stock to further their interests in foreign (Continued on last page)