International photographer (Jan-Dec 1935)

Twenty-four The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER August, 1935 The Facts About Block Booking B\ Earl Theisen [HAT is block booking? It is surprising how few persons, even those connected with the motion picture, really know what block booking is or its significance to the industry. Block booking is like the wholesale system of buying employed by other industries in which a store owner agrees to take a certain quantity of goods and in so buying secures the goods at a cheaper rate than if bought as single items. The exhibitor may buy the pictures singly, but he chooses the block because in buying the commodity in quantities it costs less. In all big business, buyers contract in advance to use the season's output of a factory or a portion of it; so it is with the motion picture. Business must be conducted on this basis so that finances can be arranged and the production of the factory regulated and distributed. The United States Steel Corporation conducts its business almost entirely on orders for future delivery. The same applies and has applied for years to the automobile industry. Opponents to block booking claim that the system is responsible for the alleged anti-social aspects, the bed-room scenes and such stuff of the motion picture as has been critized in the past. The opponents further charge that it obstructs the free distribution of pictures, fosters monopoly, etc. They view this established custom of picture distribution as a means of precluding anyone except those who control the major producing companies from successfully competing in the industry. Is block booking just a device or subterfuge to enable the gigantic picture corporations to crush the small independent or is it a more efficient and economical means of distributing motion pictures? At present this controversial question is largely the result of lack of understanding of its advantages. Many arguments and fictions have been started as a camouflage behind which exhibitors can hide or which reformers and social workers can get their teeth in for a bit of functioning. This last named group who know little of economics of picture distribution are largely responsible for the dissatisfaction and litigation which has been raised. They have been told that block booking is responsible for allegedly undesirable pictures and that is sufficient. Block booking is merely the wholesale method of handling picture distribution, and in block booking the theater owner is assured a continuous supply of pictures. Block booking is not compulsory any more so than wholesale transactions in other lines of business. The producer studio through the distributor offers his entire output in a block. The theater man selects from this block list those pictures which he believes will make money in his theater, or in other -words satisfy the community demands in which the theater is located. He may select from the block list anywhere from two to two hundred films; the remainder of the list is rejected and the theater man is not required to show the pictures as is popularly thought under the block booking system. The pictures shown in the theater constitute a reflection of what the exhibitor feels will please his audience. The block booking system has been criticized because the theater man is obliged to select in advance without seeing the picture. It would be ridiculous to ask a grocery clerk to open a nationally advertised brand of canned soup. The brands on the grocery shelves are of a recognized quality and the purchaser knows what to expect in the can. The same is true in a general way in the purchase of pictures. That analogy is stretched, but the comparison in essence is correct. The producer of pictures manufactures a certain quality of film, and various directors do a defnite type of picture. Boris Karloff does horror and mystery pictures while Shirley Temple does children subjects. Various picture makers have an established policy and reputation under which pictures are produced. The exhibitor knows this policy. The theater man is not blindly buying under the block system any more than a subscriber to a magazine is blindly buying. The magazine subscriber knows that in the past a certain magazine has had a certain character of material. He knows that certain authors appearing in the magazine do a definite type of story. A church publication deals with church material while a breezy story magazine publishes breezy stories; likewise, a Mae West film is a Mae West and a Bing Crosby is a musical. When the exhibitor selects a Little Women film, he knows with a reasonable assurance that he will not be getting a bed-room story. The truth of the matter is that theater men on the whole do not prefer such pictures as "Alice in Wonderland," for the obvious reason that such pictures have proven to be poor money makers. The exhibitor wants to make money and if the public won't spend money to see that type picture he is naturally reluctant about running it. If the exhibitor does not like a certain picture, he is not obligated to run it. He is permitted a ten per cent cancellation on his contract on pictures which are considered commercially undesirable and unlimited cancellation of pictures undesirable from a community viewpoint. A few statistics on the type of pictures cancelled might prove of interest. "Call Her Savage," a picture that received much fire and objection from educators and women's clubs interested in social welfare, and other socially minded critics, had 8,420 contracts with only 70 cancellations. On the other hand "Calvacade," one of the best recent pictures, had 7,230 contracts and 229 cancellations. Which picture made money? Which picture did the public want to see? We will choose two types of pictures for comparison; one which received moral objections and one which did not. It was found in New Orleans that "She Done Him Wrong" enjoyed tremendous popularity while "Alice in Wonderland" had 18 cancellations. In Kansas City "Alice in Wonderland" had 20 cancellations while "She Done Him Wrong" had no cancellations and 40 repeat bookings. In New York there were many repeat bookings on "She Done Him Wrong" and 30 cancellations on the other picture. The same situation exists around other pictures of this same type. Does block booking actually affect the type of screen entertainment? Block booking is not a social issue, but theater owners will often lamely blame the system for their own inability of selecting pictures or because they are too busy to explain the system or because they need an excuse for the picture that is being shown. What would you do if a social (Turn to Page 26) tansHji'i MAX FACTOR'S N EW LIQUID FOUNDATION A REVELATION IN FACIAL AAAKE-UP