The Independent Film Journal (1952)

Hearing On Tax Repeal Bills Set; Treasury Opposes Cuts WA.SHiX(iT()N. — The Treasuiy Department struck a blow at the prospects tor earh' repeal or rednctiou of the federal admission tax on motion picture tlieatres by telling Congress that it is tiatly opposed to any kind of a tax cut “until we know what the budget situation is.’’ On the optimistic side, however, Rep. Daniel A. Reed (R., N.Y.), chairman of the House Ways aiul Means Committee, called for a one-day hearing Apr. 20 on the flock of measures now before the House to repeal the tax. Another favorable auguiy was sounded by Di-ew Pearson, newscaster and columnist, who pi'edicted over his ABC radio appear¬ ance last week that the industry would be successful in its fight to kill the 20 percent excise. Case Strengthened IMoanwhile, the imhistiy’s case against the tax was strengthened with the completion of a 22-minute film, produced by Dore Scliary, M-G-M vice-president, at the request of COMPO. The short will be presented as “Exhibit A” during the congre.ssional hear¬ ings on the tax repeal measures. Written by Herman Hoffman, Schary’s production aide, the film is based on actual facts provided by COMPO which reveal the distress cases of theatres across the country. The bill introduced by Rep. Noah M. Mason (R., Illinois) has been adopted by the COMPO tax committee as the official industry-endorsed measure, and Mason has been in the forefront of the fight to obtain consideration of the measure by the Ways and Means group. Scheduling of the hearings is considered an im])ortant step forward by film industry leaders and by the COMPO tax committee in the long fight to gain the opportunity to explain the urgent need for tax relief. The holding of hearings by the committee, however, does not alone guarantee enactment of the repeal measure this session, but is merely the first step in the legislative pro¬ cedure following introduction of a bill. Report Scheduled Following the hearings, the committee must then rejiort the measure favorably, after which the House Rules Committee will con¬ sider it. Favorable Rules Committee action will send it to the House floor. If passed by the House, it must then go to the Senate Finance Committee for consideration, and then to the Senate for passage. Treasury Undersecretary Marion B. Fol¬ som, testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee on a proposal to cut the excise rate on economy brand cigarettes, said: “We do not want at this time to get less revenue from excises.” Ptelsom is in charge of Tr(‘asury policy¬ making on taxes. Basis of the Department’s opposition to the bill under consideration, he explained, is not the principle involved, but purely and simply the potential revenue loss. And, he added under qixe.stioning, the same reasoning applies to other proposals for immediate tax reductions. In another aspect of the campaign, Brook¬ lyn Congre.ssman Louis B. Heller (D.) added his name to the list of admission tax repeal sponsors, declaring that “the tax on Admission Tax Collections Continue Decline W ashington. — Admission tax collections continued to run behind those of a year ago in February, according to the Treasury Department’s monthly report. February collections, reflecting January box office, totaled $20,636,600, as against $23,891,495 in February, 1952, and $21,974,853 in January of this year the report disclosed. admissions is having a disastrous effect on motion picture theatres throughout the country.” Heller said also that “there is no longer any justification” for maintaining a war¬ time measure which was to have been automatically i-epealed six months after the conclusion of World War II. Meanwhile, Rejj. Emmanuel Celler (D., N.Y.) inserted into the Congressional Record a list of closed theatres supplied to him by Harry Brandt, president of the Independent Theatre Owners Association. Brandt’s letter, tran.smitting the list of 24 New Jersey and 37 New York houses which went out of business in 1952, was also included in the Record. Theatres Listed Brandt said : “since I last wrote to you and received your pledge of support, condi¬ tions have steadily worsened and many theatres have closed. “Our industiy can no longer afford the equivalent of a 20 percent gross sales tax and remain in business,” Brandt pointed out. Establishment by Congress of a commis¬ sion to study Federal-State activities, in¬ cluding conflicts over taxation, was also rec¬ ommended this week by President Eisen¬ hower. The American Municipal Association, among others, has asked the Federal Govern¬ ment to withdraw from the admissions tax field, on the plea that this is a suitable source of revenue for States and localities. The president told Congress that “the Fed¬ eral Government has entered fields which, under our Constitution, are the primary re¬ sponsibilities of state and local governments . . . it is time to relieve the people of the need to pay taxes on taxes.” Burbank, Calif. — Vigorously defending the use of polaroid glasses in conjunction with stereoscopic three-dimensional films. Jack L. Warner strongly criticised “selfelected spokesmen who make decisions for the public.” ‘The most important fact . . .,” said War¬ ner, “is that Polaroid viewers are a comfort¬ able part of viewing properly photogi-aphed three-dimensional motion pictures. ... We have proved to our own satisfaction that there is no inconvenience of any kind in wearing polaroid viewers. W'e are convinced that the public will wear such viewers as Survey Discloses Flow Of Old Pix Swells Over TV The number of feature films originally released for theatrical exhibition to find video outlet in the Greater New York area continued on the upswing during the period beginning November 16, 1952, and ending March 15, 1953, according to latest compila¬ tions made by The Independent. During the November-March period, theatiital films shown free and for the first time over the seven television channels in the area totaled 216, an average of 54 per month. This figure represents an increase over the 129 total registered during the pre¬ vious period from August 16 to November 15, 1952, which averaged only 43 per month. Records from the files of The Inde¬ pendent also disclose that in the course of the November-March period, a total of 2,990 run-olfs on these same channels was given of films which once were exhibited to paying audiences in motion picture theatres, or an average of approximately 25 per day. The previous August-November quarter registered a total of 2,091 run-offs, or an average of approximately 23 per day, slightly less than the average for the latest period. Quality Unchanged It was felt that a growing reluctance of advertisers to assume the mounting high costs of live video shows was primarily re¬ sponsible for the continuously increasing number of celluloid showings over TV, since there has been little, if any, change in the quality of features released to the channels. During the November-March period, a larger number of Republic westerns found video outlet than in the previous quarter, but the major portion of video film time was occuiiied by British programmers. Additional use in the New York area of feature films formerly played off in theatres was assured this week in an announcement heralding the acquisition by WCBS-TV of a package of 26 features produced during 1951-52 by Robert L. Lippert. These films will receive their national TV debuts in New York. Among them are “Rocketship X-M,” “Man Bait,” “Stolen Face” and “Lost Con¬ tinent.” Further “TV debuts” were made by inde¬ pendently produced films originally released through such companies as United Artists, 20th-Fox and RKO. Rights on these films have reverted either to the independent pro¬ ducers, banking firms or re-release outfits. effortlessly as they wear wrist watches or carry fountain pens,” added the executive. In replying to comments that the public will not accept the viewers, Warner said that the public often “disagrees with the so-called experts and makes up its own mind.” Summing up, Warner said “We at Warner Bros, believe as strongly as we believe in the motion picture industry that the public will patronize quality entertainment, that the public wants entertainment as exciting as three dimensions and WarnerPhonie sound can make it. . . . This is a buyers’ market and the buyer knows what he wants. He doesn’t want any substitutes.” Public Accepts Classes: Warner 6 THE INDEPENDENT FILM JOURNAL— APRIL 4. 1953