Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1947)

EDIIOIllflL Vol. 15, No. 15 July 21, 1947 Page Five THINK IT OVER Worth The cynic is one icho knoia, the price of everything and the value of nothing. — Oscar Wilde ^BULLETIN An Indtpendent Motion Picture Trade Paper p-blished every ether Monday by Film Bulletin Company. Mo Wax. Editor and Publisher. BUSINESS epFICE: Suite 622, Manufacturers Trust BIdg.. 1819 Broadway, New York 23. Circle 6-9159; David A. Bader, Business Manager; Paul Perez. Editorial Representative. PUBLICATION-EDITORIAL OFFICES: 1239 Vine Street. Phlladelph a 7, Pa., RIttenhousi 6-7424; Barney Stein, Managing Editor; Jaeli Dash, Publication Manager; Robert Heath, Circulation Manager. HOLLYWOOB OFFICE: 9126 Sunset Boulevard. Hollywood 46, Calif.. CRestvicw 6-2061; Sara Salzer, Hollywood Representative. Subscription Rate: ONE YEAR, 3.00 in the United States; Canada, $4.00; Europe, $5.00. TWO YEARS: S5.00 in the United States; Canada. $7.50; Europe. $9.00. WANTED: SHOWMANSHIP There is no sense or profit in playing ostrich about the fact that the box-office is in a slump. It is, and the causes are several, these three being the nio?t obvious: (1) a general business recession after abnormal wartime prosperity; (2( inferior product; (3) lack of ballyhoo for the worthwhile pictures as^ the result of retrenchment orders "from above". We are concerned at this moment with the last-named of these causes, since it is the one most simple to remedy. The difficulty appears to be that many of the top film moguls are unable to line up exploitation in its true perspective to box-office returns. Some of these executives, upon reading current reports of falling grosses, seem to have become panicky enough to cry, ''Throw away the oars, the tide's against us!" They order penny wise cuts in advertising and exploitation budgets, thereby inducing a bad case of jitters among exhibitors and a lack of interest in movies by the harder-to-sell public. At the moment when these unwise retrenchment policies are being followed bv some companies, it is heartening to witness a move in the opposite direction by at least one of the major distributors. Charles M. Reagan, Paramount vice-president and chief of distribution, told the industry an interesting and useful story last^week about his company's experience with one of its current releases, "Dear Ruth". Starting off with a normal (or slightly below) advertising campaign, this picture showed disappointing returns in its first few engagements, despite favorable audience reaction. As Mr. Reagan put it, Paramount felt it had a better picture than the business in those early runs indicated, "and we figured that unless we put showmanship behind it, we would only get a gross of a couple of millions." Translating this opinion into action, an extra $200,000 was allocated for advertising, most of it via radio, and the results already have more than justified the decision. Grosses have increased amazingly since the added campaign was instituted and the Paramount sales executive confidently estimates that it will bring the nation's theatres between 6 and 8 millions dollars in extra business. He predicts that the picture will be among the year's best 10 to 15 grossers. Mr. Reagan put his finger right on one of the causes of the present slump when he attacked the "listlessness on the part of some of us" brought on by the easy-money war years. He advocates that "hard thinking and action" be substituted, because "the right picture, properly merchandised and exploited, will do business any time and under any conditions." This experiment with "Dear Ruth" has taught Paramount a profitable lesson, a lesson Mr. Reagan wisely urges his fellow distributors, as well as cxhil)itors, to learn. If Paramount had buried its head in the sand like some of the other film companies have been doing, it would not have gained this valuable experience, which proves that the easiest and, yes, the cheapest way to lick the slump is by using this industry's talent for aggressive showmanship. MO WAX