Harrison's Reports (1950)

IN TWO SECTIONS— SECTION ONE Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March 3, 1W6. 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 M y « v Publisher Canada 16.50 Wew Iork P. S. HARRISON, Editor Mexico, Cuba, Spain 16.50 A Motion Picture Reviewing Service Great Britain 17.50 Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitors Established July 1 1919 Australia, New Zealand, India, Europe, Asia .... 17.60 Ug Editorial Poiicy: No Problem 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. XXXII SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1950 No. 7 20TH CENTURY-FOX CHICAGO EXHIBITOR MEETING INTELLIGENT STEP FORWARD To explore and discuss new methods of showman' ship for increasing national attendance at the theatres, and to win new movie-goers, Spyros P. Skouras, president of 20th Century-Fox, announced this week that his company will hold a two-day showmanship and merchandising meeting at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, on March 8 and 9, to which more than two hundred leading exhibitors of the United States and Canada have been invited. Invitations have been issued to a cross-section of representative exhibitors of large and small circuits and large and small independents, including regional and national trade leaders of Theatre Owners of America; Allied States Association; Pacific Coast Conference of Independent Theatre Owners; and the national trade press. The company, which is defraying all expenses, including transportation, is hoping that every exchange area in the United States and Canada will be represented at the meeting, thus making it one of the largest and most diversified exhibitor gatherings ever to have been assembled by a film company under one roof. Mr. Skouras stated that it is the intention of his company to present a definite plan at the meeting "for encouraging and revitalizing showmanship methods throughout the country, based on the problems and conclusions formed at the company's recent merchandising meetings which were held with theatre advertising heads." The overall pattern of the Chicago sessions, said Mr. Skouras, will be an extension of the program involved in the company's "Clear Statement of Policy," announced last May, wherein it took cognizance of the importance of stimulating public interest in motion pictures to attract the greatest number of people to the theatres' box-offices. The agenda will include discussions on showmanship; merits of saturation bookings; and institutional merchandising for the benefit of the individual exhibitor, as well as the industry as a whole. Methods for attracting "new-found" a»diences will be presented, and included in this category will be practical methods for building a future audience through children's matinees, student admissions, and other activities aimed at increasing youth attendance at the theatres. Mr. Skouras made it clear that the Chicago conclave will not be a sales meeting, and that a discussion of trade practices will be avoided, if possible. The purpose of the meeting, he said, is to present to the exhibitors a practical plan for increasing theatre attendance through showmanship and merchandising ideas compiled by the company as a result of the meetings held with the theatre advertising heads, and to give the exhibitors attending the Chicago sessions an opportunity to express their own ideas at an open forum. In these days of declining box-office receipts, when the trend on the part of some producer-distributors as well as exhibitors is to economize and retrench, the action of 20th Century-Fox in sponsoring an exhibitor showmanship meeting, at great expense to itself, is indeed heartening and commendable. Competition for the public's amusement dollar is intense, and the need for new and practical ideas through which to sell the theatres and their attractions is greater than ever. It is estimated that, of the 150,000,000 people in the United States, some 100,000,000 are potential movie-goers, but according to several distribution executives no more than thirteen to fifteen million people ever get to see a particular picture. That leaves a vast number of 85,000,000 from which to recruit new and "lost" movie-goers, and to bring them to the box-office will require constructive planning of a program aimed at widening public interest in motion pictures. And that is the objective of the Chicago meeting. Spyros Skouras and the other able 20th CenturyFox executives are to be congratulated, not only for recognizing that showmanship, properly applied, is the essence of our business, but also for doing something positive about it. Both the exhibitors and 20th Century-Fox, as well as the industry as a whole, cannot help but benefit from this intelligent step forward. REMBUSCH ALLIED'S NEW PRESIDENT Trueman T. Rembusch, head of the Indiana Allied unit, has been elected president of the national organization by the Allied board of directors at their mid-winter meeting in Washington, D. C, held on February 9 and 10. He succeeds William L. Ainsworth, of Milwaukee. Abram F. Myers was again reelected as chairman of the board and general counsel. Charles Niles, of die Iowa-Nebraska unit, was elected treasurer, succeeding Rembusch, and Irving Dollinger, of New Jersey Allied, was elected secretary, succeeding Niles. Stanley D. Kane, of North Central Allied, was reelected as recording secretary. (Continued on bac\ page)