Harrison's Reports (1946)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March 3, 1879. s 1270 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS (Formerly Sixth Avenue) New York 20, N. Y. A Motion Picture Reviewing Service Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitors 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 Yearly Subscription Rates: United States $15.00 U. S. Insular Possessions. 16.60 Canada 16.60 Mexico, Cuba, Spain 16.50 Great Britain 16.75 Australia, New Zealand, India, Europe, Asia 17.50 35c a Copy A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXV 111 SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 1946 No. 12 Established July 1, 1919 Circle 7-4622 MOTION PICTURE CREDIT THE INDUSTRY DIDN'T GET Before retiring from his money-raising job with the U. S. Treasury Department, Mr. S. George Little praised the newspapers for their "amazing" support of the most sue cesslul war-financing job the world has ever known. Mr. Little, who is president of General Features Corporation, and was special newspaper consultant in the war finance division, sent a letter to the newspapers throughout the nation citing the fact that the newspapers gave, during the War Loan, as well as the Victory Loan, drives, 318,543,000 lines of news and editorial support. In addition, he said that the newspapers published more than $110,000,000 worth of bond advertising, much of it either contributed or sold to sponsors at reduced rates. "This amazing contribution by newspapers to help finance and win the toughest war in history," Mr. Little said, "should make every newspaperman proud of his profession — proud, too, of the leadership and patriotism of his associates, but most of all, proud of the glorious war record that newspapers made which will go a long way toward furthering the cause of a free press throughout the world. . . . "During the war years newspapers had more problems than ever before yet there was never a time when the Treasury called upon them for help that they failed to come through." Mr. Little then thanked the newspapers for their invaluable assistance. What Mr. Little said about the war effort of the press was printed in conspicuous places in almost every one of the newspapers throughout the nation, so that the public, too, might know of it. It is not the intention of Harrison's Reports to detract from any of the credit due the newspapers for their war effort, for they really did a marvelous job, and unselfishly. What this paper aims to do is to compare the effort of the press with that of the motion picture industry and to point out how woefully deficient the industry has been in acquainting the public, particularly the servicemen, of its contribution. According to a recent statement, the picture industry contributed $45,000,000 worth of free film. Yet, if I can accept the word of a former Army officer, who served almost three years in the Pacific, only a handful of men overseas knew that these films, which provided such pleasant divertisement and entertainment, and which contributed so immeasurably to their morale, was a GIFT of the motion picture industry to the Government, for the benefit of the fighting forces. Even this young officer, connected prominently with the industry before the war, had to return to this country on a short leave before he learned of this valuable contribution. "It was a shame," he said, "that a short introductory leader was not attached to pictures to inform the serviceman overseas that they had been given to the armed forces as a gift. It would have redounded in immense good will and prestige for our much-maligned industry." This Army man told me that, among the press, the big national magazines did a greater job outside the United States than the newspapers. Time and Life, through their miniature editions, — both devoid of advertising — did the best job. Their efforts in this direction were regarded highly, and by identifying their publications as a donation to the armed forces they won the respect and gratitude of the men in the field. These "miniature" editions were passed from hand to hand, eventually finding their way into dayrooms and recreation huts where they were filed permanently. Hewswee\, too, published a miniature edition, void of advertising, that served as a great morale builder to the men on the fighting fronts. The newspapers, however, did not fare so well outside the continental United States. Postal restrictions designed to reduce mail loads were largely accountable for this, and consequently only scattered clippings, included in letters from friends and relatives, and an occasional reduced photostatic reproduction of a local newspaper, the cost of which was financed by some advertiser, comprised newspaper coverage and was naturally very limited in appeal and scope. "In short," he summarized, "any contribution that the newspaper industry might have made to the morale of the armed forces could be classified as negligible, whereas the motion picture industry's contribution was immense. Yet, I'm afraid that many young men, who cheerfully endured a tropical downpour and swatted mosquitos in the heat to watch a motion picture, left the Army with the impression that the cost of the film was borne by the War Department as was their chow, uniforms, weapons and ammunition." Who is responsible for the fact that the industry did not put its war contribution before the serviceman? None else that the War Activities Committee. It would not have been a great effort on the part of the Committee to suggest to each film contributor to put a "leader" in the beginning of each feature informing the men of the armed forces that the picture they were about to see was a gift from the motion picture industry. They should have been proud to do so, for what the motion picture industry contributed toward the upkeep of their morale was greater than what was contributed by all the other industries. And now, after showing so pronounced a myopia, these very same men — the former heads of the War Activities Committee — want to continue leading you by asking you to join the Theatre Activities Committee, their new exhibitor organization. What for? ABOUT BRITISH PICTURES Under the heading, "The Great British Invasion," Abram F. Myers, general counsel of Allied States Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors, has this to say in an organizational bulletin dated March 13: "Every day from morning till night the tom-toms are being beaten to herald the establishment of a great British film industry which will challenge Hollywood and perhaps topple it from its throne. Most of the bally-hoo consists of extravagant claims as to the quality of the pictures which shortly will be flowing into the American market. But there is also an underlying suggestion of coercion. J. Arthur Rank, it is said, controls most of the theatre circuits in England and, therefore, is in a position to grant playing time to American pictures on his screens in proportion to the number of (Continued on last page)