Minutes of evidence taken before the Departmental Committee on Cinematograph Films (1936)

MINUTES OF EVIDENCE .5 May, 1936.] Mr. R. D. Fennelly. [Continued. itself was, for various reasons — but principally to avoid the loek-up of capital for too long — not put into production in the studio till towards the end of the year. Far too often, the budget of production cost was revised in line with the bookings taken and was made lower than was at first intended, and the picture resulting was, naturally, much less attractive than the exhibitors .who booked it could reasonably expect. " The exhibitors had therefore two evils to contend against both arising from the ' blind ' and ' block ' booking practices. By the time the American films reached the British screen they were ' dated,' and the clothes worn by the favourite stars had become old-fashioned. Similarly, the British film was less attractive than had been promised. " The Government decided to meet the grievance by making ' blind ' booking an offence which rendered the contract invalid and the parties to any such arrangement guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to money penalties. A ' blind ' booking was, in effect, defined as one which related to a film that had not been tradeshown in London. Though the exhibitor might not have seen the film himself, the trade show guaranteed that it had a physical existence, that is would be delivered as shown, and that, if he desired, he could obtain a report of its suitability and value from the agent, or from the trade papers which make the reviewing of every new film a principal function of their existence. " Closely related to the ' blind ' booking provision of the Act was the attempt to deal with the advance-booking evil. There were many at the time who felt that this part of the Act was superfluous. The argument was that if business could be inaugurated only after the physical existence of the film was established and all the expense of production had been incurred, sufficient inducement existed to secure the maximum reduction of the interval between trade show and sales-dates and exhibition dates. The producer (through his agent the renter) would naturally exert the maximum pressure to secure the earliest possible play-dates, especially as, in contrast with the prevailing practice in other countries, no payments on signing contracts or at any date in advance of playing, ever form part of the exhibitor-renter contract in this country. But the Government thought otherwise, and insisted on their clause for the reduction, by easy stages, of the maximum interval between the sales-date and play-date from 12 to 6 months. " It may be possible to give convincing proof that they were right who believed the advancebooking clauses of the Act were unnecessary. It is much easier to prove, however, that these clauses have been ineffective, and have at all times been more honoured in the breach than in the observance. Every salesman in the trade knows that booking arrangements are made every day for films which will be played long after the legal date. Sometimes they are called reservations only, at other times they are ' gentlemen's agreements,' at still other times the illegal interval is bridged by a series of one or more transfers of dates. Most frequently contracts are signed by the exhibitors, left with the salesman with power to insert a date when the contract is assumed to have been executed and confirmed by the renter. It is undeniable that this procedure is illegal. It is equally certain that both parties are equally guilty of this illegal practice. But though the existence of this illegal practice is known throughout the trade, and is also, I think, not unknown to the Board of Trade, I cannot recall a single case in which the Department has instituted proceedings, and what is, perhaps, even more striking, I believe there has not been a single occasion when the validity of such contracts has been questioned in a court of law." 13. Part I of the Cinematograph Films Act, 1927, seeks to remedy the abuses referred to above by prohibiting the blind booking and the excessive advance booking of films. The restrictions imposed necessarily affect the booking of films in blocks, but block booking as such is not specifically prohibited or controlled. 14. 7?//'//'/ Bonking. — Section 1 makes it illegal to enter into an agreement to rent, or imposing an obligation when called on to rent, any film to which the Act applies until the film has been registered or a valid application for its registration has been made, and Section 5 (1) prohibits the exhibition of a film or a part of a serial film or series of films unless the film has been registered. Under Section 6 (4) an application for registration is not valid until the film has been trade shown. Modifications of these prohibitions are made in the following circumstances: — ■ (a) The booking of a film which has not been previously exhibited to exhibitors or to the public for exhibition at one theatre only on a number of consecutive days and also the exhibition of a film at one theatre only on a number of consecutive days. The first of these exhibitions constitutes, for registration purposes, the statutory trade show (definition (b) under Section 32 (1)). These relaxations of the general provisions recognise and permit the common trade practice of giving, generally at prominent Metropolitan theatres, early and special pre-release exhibitions of some of the more important films for longer periods than is usual at the ordinary cinema. (b) After the first three parts of a serial film or series of films have been registered, or valid applications for their registration have been made, the whole serial or series may be booked without trade show of the remaining parts. 15. Advance Booking. — Section 2 prohibits the excessive advance booking of films by limiting the period between the date of the contract and the date of exhibition. The authorised period was reduced by stages from 12 months for contracts made before 1st October, 1928, to six months for contracts made since the 1st October, 1930. In the booking of a serial film or series of films the authorised period applies only to the first three parts. 16. Penalties. — Under Section 3 contravention of Sections 1 and 2 renders the offender liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £50. Any agreement in contravention of Sections 1 and 2 is invalid. 17. The Board of Trade have received from many sources information that Sections 1 and 2 are being widely contravened. They understand that it is a common practice for a renter to arrange with one or more exhibitors in an area to take the whole or agreed parts of his supply of films. In some cases the renter may refuse to rent any films unless the exhibitor agrees to take the whole or a stated part of his supply, including films not yet registered. In other cases actual terms may not be discussed or formal contracts signed until after the films concerned have been registered, thus leaving the exhibitor in a position to reject the films if their quality or the terms offered should be unacceptable to him. 18. The Board have been able to take proceedings under Section 3 in only one case. On that occasion, in 1928, they obtained possession of a copy of a postcard to exhibitors in which a renter stated that he 36452 A 2