Harrison's Reports (1948)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New Yerk, under the art. of Mareh 8, 1879. Harrison's Reports Yearly Subscription Rates: 1270 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS Published Weekly by United States $15.00 (Formerly Sixth Avenue) Harrison's Reports. Inc., U. S. Insular Possessions. 16.50 N v I, «>n M V Publisher Canada 16.50 Wew Tork N Y p. s. HARRISON, Editor Mexico, Cuba, Spain 16.50 A Moti0n Picture Reviewing Service Great Britain ........ .... 15.75 Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitor! Established July 1. 1919 Australia, New Zealand, India, Europe, Asia .... 17.50 Itg Editorial Policy. No probiem Too Big for Its Editorial circle 7-4622 35c a Copy Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXX SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 1948 No. 4 SAM GOLDWYN'S ANNUAL HARANGUE Like the sparrows that return in the Spring with clock-like regularity, Sam Goldwyn can be depended upon always to issue to the general public an annual harangue against the quality of motion pictures being fed to them. Nor does he forget to take his annual dig at those who make it possible for him to stay in busi' ness — the exhibitors. This time he says that the exhibitors receive the "lion's share" of total industry profits without assuming any risks, and that they should be satisfied with "a reasonable profit" since they are basically in the real estate business. Just what is "a reasonable profit" Goldwyn did not say. Sam Goldwyn is not wrong in his estimate of present picture quality, for it is low; but he is wrong, very wrong, when he feeds such statements to the public. What good does it do? None! If he were genuinely concerned about the betterment of picture quality, if he really had the interests of the industry (which has been mighty good to him) at heart, he would not make statements designed to keep him in the public eye. He would, instead, discuss the matter with other producers privately, for telling it to the public is just like telling them to keep away from all but Goldwyn pictures. His bleats to the public about inefficiency in Hollywood and poor pictures produced at high costs merely serve to create among moviegoers a state of mind that makes them, either consciously or unconsciously, want to stay away from all pictures. This year Goldwyn 's harangue seems to have a special significance: Having chosen an unfortunate title for one of his fine pictures, "The Bishop's Wife," (he is now advertising it as "Cary and the Bishop's Wife," because many youngsters stayed away from it in the belief that it was a religious picture) he evidently wants to draw the public's attention to this picture and thus induce them to support the boxoffices of the theatres where it is playing. In other words, Goldwyn's concern is Goldwyn. In condemning the mistakes of the other producers for the poor quality of pictures, Goldwyn no doubt is right in attributing the poor quality to mistaken judgment in the selection of story material. "The Bishop's Wife," however, proves one thing — that mistakes in judgment are not the monopoly of any particular group of men, and that Goldwyn himself may make mistakes, if not in the story, at least in the title. Before issuing any more statements to the public about the prevailing quality of pictures and about whatever else might ail Hollywood, Goldwyn should calculate first the harm such statements might do to the industry as a whole, and to the exhibitors in particular. If he should expect the exhibitors to give him a profit, he must think of their interests, too. After all, he should remember that these exhibitors, or real estate operators as he prefers to call them, do not get enough pictures from Goldwyn to keep their theatres open 365 days a year; they operate mainly with the pictures he persists in condemning openly. Without these pictures the theatres could not stay open, and every closed theatre, caused by a state of mind Goldwyn's statements serve to create among the public, would mean one less potential playdate for a Goldwyn picture. And since playdates are very dear to the heart of Mr. Goldwyn, perhaps, if he gave this angle some deep thought, he would cease his periodical harangues, the obvious purpose of which is personal aggrandizement. The trouble with Mr. Goldwyn is that, having won himself a number of Academy Awards last year, he has set himself up as a master producer, qualified to pass judgment, not only on other producers, but also exhibitors. There is no question that Sam Goldwyn, by virtue of some very fine pictures he has produced, ranks with the top-flight producers in the industry, but he seems to forget that he has made some pretty bad pictures, too. Quit struttin' around Sam lest you slip on your own banana oil! LEGISLATION INTRODUCED TO CURB ASCAP Representative Earl R. Lewis, Republican, of Ohio, who is Chairman of the House Judiciary Sub-Committee on Patents, Trade Marks and Copyrights, in' troduced in Congress last week a bill that, in effect, will require ASCAP to deal exclusively with the motion picture producers for royalty payments cover' ing the public performing rights to all copyrighted music contained in pictures, thus relieving the exhibi' tors from the requirement that they pay license fees to ASCAP. Known as H.R. 5014, the bill, which has the backing of Allied States Association, provides for the following amendment to the Copyright Act : "Any assignment, license or other disposition by the owner or distributor of a copyrighted motion pic ture film of the right to exhibit such film for profit shall include the right to reproduce and publicly perform any and all copyrighted material contained in the film including copyrighted music recorded thereon or on discs, wire or other devices accompanying and (Continued on last page)