Harrison's Reports (1949)

96 HARRISON'S REPORTS June 11, 1949 all cases where foreign governments impose unjust quotas, restrictions and other burdens on our trade and commerce/'' and that they would jointly urge the State Department to send a "new and vigorous pre test to the British Government on the British film quota." There is no question that this agreement for a joint fight against the British quota is a major victory for Mr. Arnall. Ever since he became president of SIMPP, he has stressed the importance of closer cooperation between his organization and the MPAA in matters having to do with foreign restrictions against American films. And recently, when Eric Johnston reached a proposed agreement with British industry leaders whereby he granted concessions that virtually required the American picture industry to subsidize and support the British film industry, Mr. Arnall was not only most emphatic in his condemnation of the proposed agreement because it embodied "dangerous principles which will lend themselves to become patterns for similar agreements in other countries throughout the world," but he also declared it to be illegal and made an official complaint to both the Department of Justice and the State Department. As a result of his action, it is generally conceded that the proposed agreement is doomed. Meanwhile the British Government, in reply to a protest by our State Department, has stated that the forty per cent quota discrimination against American films was imposed by law and nothing can be done about reducing it. This paper regrets that the British Government has taken such an attitude. At a time when harmony between the American and the British Governments is so necessary for the protection of the democratic nations' interests threatened by Communism, the in' transigent attitude adopted by the British does not help matters at all. Already several Congressmen in Washington have taken up the industry's fight, and unless the British give assurances that their attitude has been determined, not by a desire to shut out American films, but by the dollar shortage, and that there will be a reduction and even the complete elimination of the quota restriction as soon as the economic situation in Great Britain is alleviated, these Congressional forces may be compelled to take action that will make it difficult for those of us who favor an amicable settlement of the American-British differences in film matters. It is to the interest of the British to offer such assurances. AN AD TO ENCOURAGE PRODUCERS The Essaness Theatres Corporation, of Chicago, took a page advertisement in the June 6 issue of the Hollywood Daily Variety, under the heading, "So You Think Business is Bad?" to tell the Hollywood producers that bad business is the result only of bad pictures, and that when a picture is good people flock to the theatres to see it. The management of Essaness took as an example Stanley Kramer's "Home of the Brave," distributed by United Artists, expressing the feeling that its Woods Theatre alone may pay one-half of the picture's production cost. The advertisement is so instructive that this paper takes the liberty of reproducing it in toto : "SO YOU THINK BUSINESS IS BAD? "We know it isn't good. Like others in the industry, we have been conjecturing and asking questions (with and without the aid of Life Magazine), to ascertain whether bad business is caused by television, quality of pictures, or what. "WE NOW STATE UNEQUIVOCALLY that with a great picture you can still do great business. Stanley Kramer and Grad Sears screened 'Home of the Brave' for us last Spring in rough form, in California. Its box-office possibilities were immediately apparent. A real problem confronted us — here was a fine meaty picture, even though controversial, but without ANY star value. How to merchandise it? ? ? The Essaness organization devised a campaign just as meticulously as a motion picture should be planned and executed from script to completion. This campaign, radical, different and truthful, was carried out with intense fervor. THE RESULTS MADE MOTION PICTURE HISTORY. The Woods Theatre in Chicago has 1093 seats. Its admission price is 98c, including 16c tax. The first week gross is $46,442.00. THIS IS AN ALL-TIME RECORD FOR ANY THEATRE IN THE WORLD. The average admission occupancy was over $42.00 per seat for the week. Translated in terms of one of the 6000-seat New York theatres at their current admission prices a gross of over $350,000.00 in one week would be required to equal the Woods Theatre per-seat record. "It is a pleasure to congratulate Stanley Kramer who dared to walk an untrodden path. He is also to be commended for making a great picture with a most modest budget, sans stars. However, we do not recommend this procedure unless a script is as fine as 'Home of the Brave' was, and the equivalent attributes of writing, acting, direction and production are forthcoming. "This ad is being published to cheer those of you who might be despondent. The Woods Theatre is making a lot of money with this picture and paying tremendous film rental, and selfishly we want to maintain our advertising slogan that the Woods Theatre is the 'World-Renowned Home of Hollywood's Best.' To the end that we do not exceed credibility in our advertising slogan, whenever deserving pictures are available we will continue to send Hollywood large film rentals. "Essaness Theatres Corporation" "Home of the Brave" is not, of course, the first picture that has made a howling success even though every one in the cast was more or less unknown to the public; there have been many others. Unfortunately, most exhibitors have been guilty of asking, "Who's in it?" thus discouraging the producers from putting the money into the story and the production rather than in the stars, with the result that a producer, rather than take a chance in producing his picture with players that fit the part, engages wellknown players, paying huge sums of money for their services, even though most of the times those stars are miscast. The industry owes the Essaness Theatres Corporation a debt of gratitude for informing it that "Home of the Brave" has broken and will break records, even though the players are relatively unknown to the picture-going public. The merit of the picture overshadowed the lack of names.