Harrison's Reports (1949)

132 HARRISON'S REPORTS havior, will be refused jobs; but the reasons that will be given to them will be other than that they are, in the producer's opinion, either Communists or fellow travelers. But even in these cases there may be an injustice done. The very fact that a person exposes the defects of capitalism does not necessarily bring him into the Communistic fold; he may merely be a liberal, fighting for an improvement of the capitalistic system. When the welfare of the nation is involved, however, one or two injustices against innocent persons will have to be tolerated, for if we had to let Com' munistic acts go unpunished out of a desire to avoid punishing one or two innocent persons, the fate of millions of non-Communists would be tragic, including the fate of those who were punished unjustly, if Communism prevailed. Some sacrifice is required on the part of every one who has enjoyed the blessings of security and of liberty under the capitalistic system, even though it has its defects. CONFLICTING STATEMENTS At a meeting of the Motion Picture Industry Council last month, Eric Johnston, head of the producers1 association, assured John Dales, Jr., executive secretary of the Screen Actors' Guild, and Roy Brewer, representing IATSE, that production of American pictures abroad is not increasing. Published accounts of production advantages as a result of blocked currencies, he said, are largely fallacious. Besides, he said, many of the pictures that are announced are never produced abroad. Dore Schary, vice-president in charge of production at MGM, supported Mr. Johnston's statement and said that no greater number of pictures will be produced abroad this year than were produced in the pre-war period. Three days previous to the aforementioned meeting, a dispatch from Hollywood to the Motion Picture Daily stated that MGM has lined up seven pictures to be produced abroad within a year, or eighteen months at the most. When Spyros Skouras, president of 20th CenturyFox, was about to go abroad, where he now is, publicity releases from the company to the trade press stated that he was taking the trip in connection with the eight pictures that his company is going to produce abroad. The same statement was made when Mr. Zanuck was leaving for Europe. When Scotty Dunlap, of Monogram and Allied Artists, was about to leave for Great Britain, where he now is, a publicity release stated that he was going there for the purpose of arranging the production of two Allied Artists pictures with blocked funds. In the few weeks that have gone by since Mr. Johnston's talk, several of the other major studios, including a number of independent producers, have announced plans for the production of pictures abroad. This paper is criticising, not the production of pictures abroad with blocked currencies, but the fact that Mr. Johnston's statements are in conflict with the publicity releases that are sent out by the different companies. When the representatives of the different guilds find his statements contrary to the publicity releases, perhaps they will pay no attention to whatever he says in the future. A LESSON FROM THE GOLF CLUB ORGANIZATIONS Asserting that golf club organizations perform a public service, an attorney representing 22 golf clubs in the Los Angeles area recently appeared before the Board of Equalization and won a reduction in the assessments. Mr. A. J. Hill, the attorney, declared that the tax burden is so heavy that many of the clubs may have to go out of business. As a result of his plea, the Board voted to reduce the land values of the clubs by 25%, and the buildings up to 50%. The motion picture industry could learn a lesson from the action of the golf clubs. If they were able to convince the Los Angeles Equalization Board that they perform a public service and for that reason should not be taxed heavily, certainly we would have a better chance to convince Congress that picture theatres perform a great public service by furnishing the people with entertainment at a nominal price, keeping them happy, particularly in times of stress. We could cite also the educational value of pictures, as well as the great service the picture industry performed during the war. When we say "industry," we mean mostly the exhibitors, for they are the ones who carry the most influence with the Washington legislators. A Congressman will give greater heed to a plea from his constituents than from the big fellows in the industry. President Truman, of course, has stated that nothing can be done to repeal the war excise taxes during this session of Congress, but this should not discourage the exhibitors from continuing their efforts to influence their Congressmen of the need to either eliminate or reduce the 20% admission tax. Even if nothing can be done during this session of Congress, it will still do much good to gain Congressional support for elimination of the tax during the next session. We must put all our energies towards the elimination of this burdensome tax, for once it is eliminated theatre attendance cannot help taking a jump. LET THEM LOOSEN UP THEIR PURSESTRINGS Recently Daily Variety, of Hollywood, published a pamphlet listing the backlog of pictures each company has. Immediately after its appearance, a radio commentator used the information in the pamphlet to inform his listeners that better pictures were on the way and that a turn for the better in the picture industry has come. It was a convincing talk, and it no doubt reached the ears of many people who are not steady movie patrons. The shorts that are now being shown in the theatres to build up good will for the industry also are effective. But they are not all-inclusive. In other words, they are seen only by those who attend moving picture performances. What about the millions who do not attend such performances? What is needed to get our message over to these non-picturegoers is institutional advertising, the sort that will tell the public of the blessing of the motion picture as a popular entertainment and as a subtle educator. The producing and distributing end of the motion picture business had better loosen up its pursestrings; it will pay them in the end by millions more than they will spend.