In the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States of America, petitioner, vs. Motion Picture Patents Company, et al., defendants (1914)

Record Details:

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2810 Joseph M. Cummings, Direct Examination. time prior to the undertaking of this duty? A. Not before that, sir. I knew nothing at all about, the practical working of an exchange. Q. Since you took charge of the property and business and assets of the General Film Company in the State of Texas on behalf of the receivership, have you made a study of the motion picture business? A. A very close study. Q. Rave you endeavored to familiarize yourself with its various ramifications and its development? A. I have. All the details. Mr. Grosvenor: You mean the details of the distribution of the pictures? Not the details of the making of the pictures? The Witness : I beg your pardon. No, sir ; not only about the details of the distribution, but naturally, just from a matter of curiosity, I tried to make a study of all conditions. The relation of the General Film Company to the customers— from the first moment I got in there. Q. Have you as representative of the Receiver, conducted an active campaign for business in the State of Texas, during the months that you have been in charge of the General Film Company's assets and business? A. I have, sir. Q. Have you endeavored to increase the business of the General Film Company under the receivership? A. I have, sir. Q. Have you succeeded in doing so? A. I have, sir. Q. To what extent have you increased the business of the General Film Company in the State of Texas while acting as representative for the Receiver? A. Well, we came in on one Saturday, I remember, and the reports of that day stand out very clear in my recollection. The reports showed that we were doing a weekly business — and later I examined other reports behind that — and the average business around that period was between fifty-five hundred and six thousand dollars a week. For the last six months we have been doing an average business of ten thousand dollars a week, and we are still going up steadily. Q. How many exhibitors was the General Film Company serving from its Dallas otfice at the time you took possession? A. Between 100 and 105. That number fluctuates.