Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1948)

EXHIBITORS FDRUM inioni C^uiieJ. ^rom Organization ACADEMY RASH Academy awards might be alright in Hollywood, but how much do tliey mean in tlie small town and neighb<jrho<jd theatres It is reported that Fox is trying to push up the film rental terms on all its pictures. And, of course on their picture OK.VTI.KMA.VS AGKKKM KNT tin exchange has gone plain nuts. Last July, .Andy Smith, General Sales Manager of F(,x, |)ublicly stated that any exhibitor could buy any picture he wanted from his comijany. Recall that to the salesman when he tries to sell you the whole works. Buy the pictures you can use — at the right prices: pass up those on which you cannot make a profit. — I'-astern Penna. .Allied SAUCE FOR GANDER Associalcd Theatre Owners of Indiana After the controversy between tlie AmtTiciiii film induitry and Knt;land had been ironed out and Hollywood a^ain would be able to sell pictures to English exhibitors at least one prele.vt for securing higher film rentals lost its punch. Many exhibitors wlio paid increases during the pan several months on the appeal of the loss of the English market were enthusiastic ovi'r the British tax settlement and naturally thou-'ht that they could now properly ^eek a downward adjust me.it. Mr. .Andy Smith of Fox demonstrated what naive thinking this was by promptly announcing that U. S. exhibs could expect no reductions as a result of th;^ iettlement. According to him Fox "still mu.st get 100% of our costs and profits back from the domestic market . . . We should never have got away from seeking 100% of our profits in the U. S " Mr. Smith concludes that Fox will continue to sell its pictures in this country based on what tlie compiny thinks the pictures are worth and the ai)ilit\ of theatres to pay. Distributor i diouid have emphasized that policy yt the time the British market was lost. Seizing the rule to £U t the imme.liate interest reminds us of the communist who would divide a million dollars if he had it but if he had two shirts would not give one away because he really did have two shirts. Mr. Smith also said t>.at the tax selt'.enient should prove an incentive to U. S. exhibs to gi\e, "more favorable consideration tu British pictures." The distributor's want this consideration" because in addition to the fiixed amount of SI 7.000,000 cash that American companies can withdraw from England (plus other ways that frozen funds can be employed) is the amount of revenue returned by the distribution of British product in this country. Naturally, the two-fold incentive to sell English pictures is going to make the pressure very great. In the words of Arthur Rank, the time has come when the American industry will take off its coat and go to work for them. If "what the pictures are worth" is the yardstick for Hollywood product then it should al.'-o apply to English pictures and there is no reason to give them "more favorable consideration". It would be better to be guided by the advice of Barney Balaban that "Every picture must stand on its own — British or American . . . It'll earn what it's worth providing it has mass aopeal and is acceptable to the American public." So let the yardstick be how acceptable is the picture to your patrons. In buying pictures your obligation is not philanthropy. If you can make money on it. O.K. If not. pass it up. LEWIS BILL LIVES Allied Theatres of Michigan Although currently issued trade papers have carried the information that the Lewis Bill is "dead," such is not the case. It is true, however, that the Sub-Committee, before which b.earings were held, surprisingh and unexpectedly adversely reported the bill. Immediately the combined forces of Allied began to act. Certain information was presented and as the result Congressman Lane moved to reconsider the vote. This means that the bill will now go to the full Committee on the Ju<liciary. Due to the fact that almost completely the mc.-mbership of Allied followed the suggestion or the association, ASC.AP reversed itself on the previously announced policy to refrain from accepting in>tai;ment payments. Incorporated in one of the many letters from ASC.AP to exhibitors who had submitted monthly and (juarterly payments, is this statement : "We h. ive no (jbjection to accepting your payments on a monthly or quarterly basis, but we must have an application and a contract on wdiich to base this license." Many of our members, together with other exhibitors, have received letters from ASC.AP returning the checks which had been initially ofiered for three months' payment. The letter provided for three different plans of license or contract. 'I'his office recrmmends the acceptance of the plan outlined in Paragraph Number Three, which is as follows : "We will i. ssue the regular license for the ten-year period, but add a clause that you may terminate the contract upon thirty days' registered notice, at the end of any year." It must be remembered, however, that you nuist make a specific request that this be written into your contract; consequently be certain tint you use the wording noted above when you send your check. Although the other two plans as outlined in the ASCAP letter carry some amount of merit, it is felt that the one suggested will meet with \-our approval in that it eliminates the necessity of additional bookkeeping and clerical work. PERCENTAGE REISSUES Allied of Eastern Penna. In the Eastern Pennsylvania territory Warners has had a bad rush of blocxl to the head. They are so dizzy that they are quoting percentage for the reissue of ROBIN HOOU. This outrageous practice has been discussed many times. It is so patently unfair to expect percentage or top flat terms for second-hand goods (reissues), that no arguments are really necessary. However, in this particular situation there is proof that the Eastern Pennsylvania territory is being discriminated against. See Caravan Bulletin No. 1714 which reports ROBIN FIOOD sold at 55F for a No. 2 classification (first run medium town). This means that in the subsequent run city theatres (Caravan classification Nc. 6) and in the first run small towns (Caravan Classification No. 1), the price should be even lower. Reissues are second-hand goods. They are alright in their place at the right price but only at the right price. BRITISH FILM PRESSURE Allied Rocky Mt. Independent Theatres This Bulletin prophesies that the exhibitors of America are about to be pitched one of the fastest curve balls in the history of supersalesmanship. You u'ill be asked to run more British films than ci'cr before. Every distributor will have a bushel basket of them and the sales talk will go something like this — "You've got to run these British pictures so that we can get our money out of England. It's a trade deal. They run ours in exchange for our running theirs. — And if you don't run theirs, we get so little money out of Britain that our production will sufTer and that will hurt you in the long run." When you start getting that sort of sales talk — ignore it. The facts are these: L'nder the new arrangements between England and .America, the American producers get back a lump total of 17 million dollars annually plus a sum equal to the earnings of British film in the U.S. ICstimates on the grand total range from 22 to 29 inillion-clependent on how many British pictures you will let them stuff down your th.oat. ^'our job is still to keep your theatre profitable not to play patsy for the prfxlucer-distributors in their high finance deals. If you can get away with playing British films, then buy them. But if they are poison t'l you, then don't bu> . WASTEFUL STORY BUYS Associated Theatre On ners of Indiana TIME magazine recently commented on a screen play bought by Warner Bros, for Sl,600 which after being sold to Mark Hellinger was resold to MGM for §115,000. Metro, according to their last financial statement already has a backlog of story properties that are valued in excess of ?7,000,0(K) and it could be that this will be just another manuscript to lie around in the vaults and collect dust. And at the same time Metro rolls merrily along spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on its prize novel contest — much of which is for pictures that can't be produced or can't make money. Green Dolphin Street had to be given double extravagant product'o:i value and had to be rewritten in order to barely make the grade. Before the Sun Goes Dozen, prize winner of the year before, still hangs fire because it isn't fit to be a picture in spite of the quarter million dollar prize money. Annie Get Your Gun was bought for 8600,000 in spite of the fact it was based on the public domain story of Annie Oakley. \\'hile this is a conspicuous weakness of IMetro it is also an obvious soft spot with other producers that we have frequently pointed out as one of the most apparent ways in which real production econom\ could be practised. In fact, so apparent that it becomes funny to those that are not sobered by having to face the consequence of an exorbitant film rental. CONTRACT RACKET Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio In recent weeks this office has received an increasing number of complaints about the practice of distributors in withholding approvals on contracts until a few days before the opening play date. Then, at the last minute, the exhibitor is informed that the deal has been rejected by the home office because of — usually — insufficient rental. This racket is as old as the hills. In 99 cases out of 100 the contract has never left the branch manager's desk. Here is a good rule to follow : Xei'er book a picture until you haz'e an approTcd contract. JVhen you do book, insist on a written confirmation of the booking. 16 FILM BULLETIN