The Exhibitor (1959)

UNSOLICITED • The letters from readers which appear on this page are not solicited. MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR does not suggest questions to readers in order to provide a flow of letters. From ESHOWE. ZULULAND, S. A. Please reinstate us on your subscription files and, if at all possible, send all of the back issues that we have missed. As a suggestion, how about printing some South Africa Cinema news? I’m sure that the A.M.P.E. in Johannesburg would supply it. R. A. LAGERWALL Star Theatre EDITOR'S NOTE: We will be happy to add Johannesburg to our existing cor¬ respondents in London, Toronto, Holly¬ wood, New York and more than 30 US. cities. We have so informed the A.M.P.E. From BISMARK, N. DAK. May I take this opportunity to thank you for the editorial, "A DEATH IN STURGIS, SOUTH DAKOTA,” published in your June 10 issue. The original article in the Sturgis Tribune was very well written and you de¬ serve generous praise for reprinting it. You may be interested to know that an enterprising exhibitor, Ken Christiansen of Washburn, North Dakota, was able to en¬ gineer and secure similar support from his Washburn (N.Dak. ) Leader and Wilton (N. Dak.) News (see enclosed clipping of the "Just Musing” column of June 26 that re¬ prints the Sturgis editorial and adds more of their own views). I personally took a copy of this, and through exhibitor John Thies, the editor of the Mountrail County Promoter (Stanley, N. Dak.) published a strong plea for the support of local theatres (see en¬ closed clipping of the "Odds ’n Ends” column of July 1). With concerted and wise effort by theatremen, I believe that similar help could be obtained anywhere, and that it could turn (into a country-wide crusade. Towns and editors at long last can become alerted to what is taking place via free TV. It is my sincere belief that your editorial comments on industry subjects are the finest. Such continued good effort is bound to arouse the best elements in the industry, and to put them to work directing the industry into its rightful place in American community life. LEO A. ZEITLMANN EDITOR'S NOTE: Excerpts from Mr. Zeitlmann's two clippings are being re¬ printed in an accompanying box. The effect of TV on both theatres and small¬ town newspapers is interesting and new to us. It is an added string in our bow! From ST. LOUIS, MO. Having followed Mr. Disney’s meteoric rise through his interest in catering to "Kids,” I am inclined to believe that he has no "peeve” on Kids. Along with being a genius in the medium of pleasing children and their parents, it ap¬ pears that Mr. Disney is a shrewd and wise business man. No business man with the objective of realizing a profit from his in¬ vestment and his effort can continue giving his wares and merchandise away free. Ex¬ hibitors did it for 18 years, as you say, and have been complaining of bad business right along. I think that Paramount and Disney showed the way for the exhibitors to re¬ appraise their situations and charge a nominal admission for children even if it is 10 cents or more. The children will better appreciate what we offer, and will conduct themselves better, if they have to pay a nominal fee. Since the "children-under-12 free” idea came along, exhibitors have been complaining, and along with that came the completely ob¬ noxious ideas of "Buck A Carload,” "Dusk to Dawn,” and other gimmicks. Reappraisal will show you that "Buck A Carload” means a great loss just as "childrenunder-12-free” does. It is high time that all of us in the exhibition end of the industry look upon competition with fairness, and work to¬ gether to boost our business as Mr. Disney does by creating interest, and, if possible, by working together with him by adopting his TV, Radio, and other novelty methods to brainwash our patrons into attending our theatres and drive-ins oftener. And paying a fair price, when they do. "Children-under-12 free” and "Buck A Carload” cheapens our industry. A reasonable individual admission of 50 cents and 10 cents or more upholds our industry’s dignity. Ex¬ hibition should aim hard and fast to change these give-away policies before they wreck all theatres, booth roofed and drive-ins. THOMAS JAMES, Chairman of the Board Missouri-Illinois Theatre Owners Assn. EDITOR'S NOTE. We agree with yon. As long ago as May 25. 1955, in an editorial titled " GIVING THINGS AWAY IS NOT SHOWMANSHIP ,” we drew attention to free admissions of all kinds, and whether adults or children. We have repeated the same views on many occasions since. But we believe this is an evil that should be corrected as an all-industry movement on all pic¬ tures. and not on just an isolated picture or two. If all standard exhibition con¬ tracts required that some admission, of some size, must be paid by every patron entering every theatre, it would get no argument from us. More current editorials on this subject appeared in the issues of July l and July 8, 1939. From OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA. I don’t see how anyone could get along without MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR. ROY C. KENDRICK Lakeside Theatre HELP . . . FROM LOCAL NEWSPAPERS (See letter from Bismark, N.Dak.) ‘‘For obvious reasons, we are interested in the prosperity of business establishments in this or any other community. The more we have, the more complete our shopping or business district is, and the better we are able to compete with larger communities for your weekend (and weekday) shopping. Since the advent of television, small towns have “hurt," and the injury began with the local theatre and newspaper. One has attempted at least to help the other. The theatre owners found that many people stayed home and watched TV; the home town newspaper editors suddenly found heretofore welcome and appreciated advertising either completely eliminated or cut down. The smaller the town the worse the situation was, for both newspaper and theatre. “The past week, a couple of items have come to our attention. Casselton, a community larger than all but Garrison (in this county) had been without a theatre for two years; their theatre re-opened recently. Business places in Casselton expressed their apprecia¬ tion with a full page ad in the Casselton Reporter. “But, for a sadder story. Here are excerpts from an editorial in the Sturgis (S.D.) Tribune: etc.” Above excerpt from the “Just Musing” column of the Washburn ( N . Dak.) Leader and from the Wilton (N. Dak.) News under date of June 26, 1959. “On our recent trip to Colorado we noticed one thing of a discouraging nature in several cities and villages we passed through. A surprisingly large number of movie theatres have been closed down. Even such large cities as Cheyenne, Wyo., had their casualties prominently displayed in their downtown districts. Deadwood, S.D., a city of over 3,000 has only one theatre and it is closed most of the time, opening spas¬ modically when a convention or some other activity is underway. At nearby Sturgis, S.D. the Black Hills Amusement Co. recently announced it was forced to cease opera¬ tions of their Dakota Theatre. “In North Dakota theatres at Mohall and Casselton have been reopened after being closed some time. At Casselton business places expressed their appreciation with a full page ad in their local paper. “In Stanley we are fortunate to have a theatre proprietor who has recently gone to considerable expense to remodel his establishment to make it more attractive and comfortable for his patrons. We sincerely hope that community support will continue, and increase, for this endeavor. “A theatre seems to be a central focal point of evening activity of any town. Take it away and the town immediately takes on the appearance of back sliding. Visitors passing through a community that has boarded up business places in the downtown district wonder about the economic stability, and prospects are x-eluctant to engage in new business enterprises. Give your TV sets a rest and see how enjoyable it is to get out at least one evening a week and take in a local movie. You'll enjoy yourselves." Above excerpt from the “ ODDS ’n ENDS ” column of the Mountrail County Promoter ( Stanley , N. Dak.) under date of July 1, 1959.