Harrison's Reports (1950)

152 HARRISON'S REPORTS September 23, 1950 called they will succeed in convincing some of their audience that the movies are indeed a thing of the past and that it is a waste of time and money to patronize the theatres. No less a personage than Bob Hope, on his Easter television show, went out of his way to ridicule the movies and, considering what the movies have done for Mr. Hope, that was the unkindest cut of all. "Still another was a program sponsored by Ford Motor Company on Sunday, July 30, featuring one Johnny Johnston, substituting for Eddie Sullivan. He felt called upon to say, in substance, '1 went across the street from the station (CBS) to see a movie. The picture was so bad they had to spread Airwick to fumigate the place and also to fumigate the popcorn.1 We find no reference to this Johnston in Motion Picture Almanac and perhaps his only connection with the movies is by marriage. In any case, he should be on our list — he never will be missed. "Martin and Lewis are said to be good comedians but certainly they are not indispensable to the motion picture business and they and their kind should be told in no uncertain way that if they use a rival medium of entertainment to injure the motion picture business, they cannot hereafter expect to appear in the films. The motion picture producers should take a firm stand on this right now, before serious damage is done. "And if the producers ignore this condition or take a weak-kneed stand, then the exhibitors must serve notice that they will be slow to play pictures featuring those traducers of the motion picture business. "Also the sponsors of these comedians should be informed of the industry's resentment of such tactics. Fun's fun and the motion picture industry can enjoy a joke at its expense, but it cannot permit an endless repetition of these slanders. Colgate would scream bloody murder if a movie made slighting references to its products and we have a right to expect the same consideration from Colgate. "Members have asked that this subject be included in the agenda for the forthcoming Allied board meeting and that it be dealt with at the Pittsburgh Convention. Regardless of what other branches may do, the exhibitors will have their say on this subject and it is a safe bet that they will take definite action." There is little one could add to what has already been said about this matter by Messrs. Mayer, Brandt and Myers, except to say that Martin and Lewis would do well to come through with profuse apologies to the industry and with assurances that in their future appearances on radio or television they will exercise greater care in the choice of material that has any connection with the motion picture business. Recently, this comedy pair completed "At War with the Army," an independent production that has not yet been set for release through any distributing company. In addition to starring in the picture, it has been reported that they have a financial interest in it. If such is the case, Martin and Lewis, as a result of their thoughtlessness, are in the unenviable position of having maligned and offended the exhibitors, whose good will they need if they are to recoup their investment and emerge with a profit. They had better make amends soon lest the exhibitors prove to them that their comedy skit last Sunday night was not so funny after all. ALLIED CHARGES EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS WITH "UNBRIDLED PROFITEERING" In a press release issued last weekend from his headquarters in Franklin, Indiana, Trueman T. Rembusch, National Allied president, charged that "unbridled profiteering" by the manufacturers of theatre equipment and supplies is one of the major complaints being brought to his attention by Allied members. Typical of these complaints, said Rembusch, is a letter received from Abe Berenson, a director of Allied Theatre Owners of the Gulf States, in which he points out that the price of carpet for theatres has risen in the last few years from $3.25 per yard to $9.60 per yard. Berenson pointed out also that, instead of reducing prices on discontinued patterns, a practice that is usually followed by carpet retailers outside of the motion picture industry, the theatre carpet suppliers invariably push their stocks of discontinued patterns by increasing prices on the new patterns. He charged also that the exhibitor is further victimized by the practice of discontinuing patterns, which prevents him from securing enough carpet yardage of the pattern in use in his theatre for the purpose of repairing worn spots in areas that are heavily traveled. Berenson took up also the "terrific increase" in the price of projection heads, "in spite of the fact that the number of moving parts in projection heads manufactured today has been reduced substantially," claiming that the reduced manufacturing costs should have brought about a corresponding decrease in the price of new projection heads. On the subject of carbons, Berenson charged that in December of 1 949 there was a whispered campaign by suppliers that the price of carbons would be increased by 10%, but that this price increase did not take place because one of the small independent manufacturers of carbon refused to go along on the increase with the manufacturer dominating that particular market. Turning to outdoor theatre speakers, Berenson said that the price of these units was in the neighborhood of $40 each until outside manufacturers entered that field, resulting in competition that has made good units available for as low as $14 each. Berenson charged also that the mark-ups in the merchandising of equipment and supplies for motion picture theatres run from a minimum of 100% to as high as 300%, which are greatly in excess of markups used in other industries. He added that a National Allied cooperative buying plan would eliminate the "terrific profiteering" in the theatre equipment and supply field. Commenting on Berenson's observations, Rembusch said: "It is obvious that the monopoly and price-fixing inherent within the theatre equipment and supply market is due in no small part to the closely knit organization known as TESMA (Theatre Equipment and Supply Manufacturers' Association) ." Rembusch stated that Berenson, as well as Benny Berger, president, and Stanley Kane, executive secretary, of North Central Allied, who three years ago advanced the co-op idea, will present to the forthcoming Allied convention in Pittsburgh, on October 2-4, all the background information necessary toward establishing a co-op organization to furnish the exhibitors' equipment and supply needs. The subject promises to be one of the convention's highlights.