Harrison's Reports (1950)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March 3, 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 v i, on M v Publisher Canada 16.50 New York zo« 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 .... 17.50 Ug Editorial Policy: 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, MAY 6, 1950 No. 18 THE TAX FIGHT MUST GO ON! As most of you no doubt know by this time, the House Ways and Means Committee, which is studying the prob' lem of reductions in excise taxes, has voted to cut the Federal admission tax from 20 per cent to 10 per cent. Abram F. Myers, chairman of COMPO's Committee on Taxation and Legislation, issued the following statement immediately after the action taken by the House Committee: "While half a loaf is better than none — and there was a time when it appeared we would not get even a crumb — I nevertheless am deeply disappointed that the Ways and Means Committee voted to retain a 10% tax. "It must be understood that this action is tentative and that there is still a chance that the exhibitors' friends on the Ways and Means Committee can bring about a more favorable action. "When COMPO is formally organized on May 8 the authority of the Committee on Taxation and Legislation will end. It has not yet been decided whether to hold another meeting before that time. "This much is certain: Those members of the Tax Com' mittee who have worked whole-heartedly for repeal will urge COMPO to carry on the fight until all admission taxes have been abolished. The motion picture industry — and a lot of Congressmen — have promised the movie patrons that they will be relieved of the tax and that promise must be kept. "I sincerely hope that this temporary reverse will not plunge the industry into pessimism but will be accepted as a challenge to do a better job in the Senate than it has in the House." According to a report in Motion Picture Daily, there has developed in some industry quarters a feeling of timidity that is all for settling for the half-a-loaf offered lest further pressure antagonize the House Committee and cause it to withdraw the tax cut it has already proffered. Harrison's Reports hopes that no exhibitor will fall in with this line of reasoning, for any relaxation of the effective tax fight that has thus far been waged may very well result in our losing even the proposed fifty per cent cut. The exhibitor must bear in mind that the tax cut voted by the Ways and Means Committee, even if it is passed by the House of Representatives, where all tax bills must originate, is not the final word. The proposal will still require the approval of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate itself. And even if it succeeds in passing both the House and the Senate, there is still the question of a Presidential veto, by no means a remote possibility because of the fact that the President, not only did not recommend a reduction in the admission tax, but threatened to veto any bill that did not provide for new taxes in an amount equal to the revenue lost on excise tax cuts. Thus far, there is every indication that the revenue lost from the excise tax cuts approved by the Committee will be much greater than the revenue that will be gained from any new impositions. To be remembered also is that other industries, which either have failed to get a reduction or are dissatisfied with the cuts granted to them, will wage a strong battle for better treatment from the Senate Finance Committee, and, unless the motion picture industry continues to make itself heard in no uncertain terms, the pressure on both the House and Senate committees from other sources may very well result in the admission tax being boosted again. Mr. Myers is right! The tax repeal fight must not only be continued but intensified! HOW SOME INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES FEEL ABOUT TELEVISION — No. 6 Responding to my request for his views on television and its effect on the motion picture industry, Mr. Nicholas M. Schenck, president of Loew's, Incorporated, has sent me the following statement: "Upon my return to New York, I find your letter asking me to express some thoughts on the future of motion picture exhibition. As you know, Mr. Harrison, I always have resisted the temptation to assume the role of a prophet. Sometimes I think we have too many prophets too willing to express either over-optimism or over-pessimism. "You tell me that small exhibitors are panic-stricken as a result of the advent of television. I am sorry to hear that. I hope that such reports are exaggerations. I see no reason for panic. "Some of us have been in this business too long to turn pale each time a new competitor comes into view. I have seen this business go through many ups and downs — and land on its feet. There may be some who find it to their advantage to write the obituary of the motion picture business. They are premature by a long, long time. "Television, like any other competitive factor, is not to be brushed off or ignored. Deep, serious consideration must be given to meeting this new competition. There are many good showmanship minds busy on the problem. They'll come up with an answer. "In the meantime, the most disturbing cloud is an apparent tendency to let fear color our thinking. 'Desperation remedies' growing out of panic-thinking is just what we do not need now. I read in the trade press too often suggestions for 'free shows," price-cutting without awaiting Congressional action on the tax repeal, exaggerated give-aways and other evidences of the fear-complex. In previous periods of uncertainty, we had similar thinking and it didn't help a return to prosperity. "The recent effort to stimulate active showmanship and build a fighting spirit among exhibitors is a step in the right direction. With studios bending every effort to turn out better pictures and exhibitors intensifying their efforts to sell them to the public, the results are bound to be good. So far as Loew's theatres are concerned, we are urging our managers not to talk gloom or disaster but to buckle down and fight for business. "I have been interested to note how many of our pioneer, successful exhibitors now have their grown sons in business with them. Apparently those veterans have confidence in the future of the motion picture business and are not letting any temporary problem change this attitude about the future. "This is no time for either complacency or panic. It is a time of challenge. We see no reason why the challenge cannot be met." THE CEREBRAL PALSY CAMPAIGN Throughout the month of May, the United Cerebral Palsy Associations is conducting a national campaign to raise $5,000,000 to establish clinics and assemble competent professional personnel to aid the more than 546,000 Americans affected by cerebral palsy, of whom more than 200,000 are children. Cerebral palsy is a condition — not a disease. It is caused when those parts of the brain that control the muscles fail to develop properly before birth, or when they are damaged at birth through injury or accident. In later life it can result as the alterniath of sickness, accident or cerebral hemorrhage "stroke." (Continued on bac\ page)