The Exhibitor (1960)

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 TILTON, N. H. Dear Confused: Certainly that is the best adjective to describe the Screen Actors Guild and the major companies of a great industry. Come back with me if you will to that time when the industry was in another tur¬ moil. That turmoil brought about a panic which caused the selling of pre ”48” films to television. Nobody was thinking so at that time, but you have emerged all the better be¬ cause of better product and a depletion of old movies. The fact remains that it was foolish to sell the pre "48” pictures and this also applies to the recent idea of selling post "48” films. If the men who pioneered and saw this great industry prosper, such as the late Cecil B. DeMille, were alive, they would cast a discerning and sad look at some people in this industry. Who knows better what it means to fight than Joe Vogel or Spyros Skouras or Milton Rackmil. They have fought and built up this industry when it was dying. So the answer to all your problems is simple! Don’t release the films but instead fight with the great product you have. I’d like to someday be a proud member of an industry that has entertained millions of people everywhere and whose workers number in the thousands. Let’s make "60” the year of the movies. You have tele¬ vision on the run. Don’t quit now. If you do you’ll have the memory of six generations and thousands of people and pictures to haunt you because you let them down. Who can forget such great films as: "GONE WITH THE WIND,” "AFRICAN QUEEN,” "ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT,” "BELLS OF SAINT MARYS,” "GOING MY WAY,” "TEXAS,” "JOHNNY BELINDA,” "GENTLE¬ MAN’S AGREEMENT,” "IT’S A GREAT LIFE,” "TEN COMMNDMENTS,” "SHANE,” "GIANT,” "IMITATION OF LIFE,” "THE ROBE,” and "BEN HUR,” to name just a few? If you have any love for this industry of yours — fight — fight — fight. JOHN COEN Tilton Theatre EDITOR’S NOTE: The above open letter was addressed to principals in the current strike, care of this publication. All industry eyes are on Hollywood. From CLYDE, N. Y. I have just read with much misgivings about the Telemeter pay-TV experiment in Toronto whereby a current film (one that we can’t even touch yet here) "JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH” was shown. The response was fantastic, so the article said. And other current films are scheduled in the near future. My voice is just a squeak in the storm but it seems ( 1 ) like traitors are working amongst us and (2) it looks like people don’t give a damn about Cinemascope, color or stereo¬ phonic sound (which we have). Do you mean to tell me that the average person is content to sit at home and watch a 21-inch out-of-focus black and white version of a "real good” picture like JOURNEY? That seeing this picture in its original di¬ mensions means nothing? That 20th CenturyFox would actually dare to take a film that is making news in the industry about its ridic¬ ulous terms for one thing, that should only be seen on a theatre screen, and stick it on an arch-rival’s screen? If the response in Toronto is an idea of what people want, then why in h — are we small-town exhibitors struggling to make ends meet to give entertainment to those who have nothing better to do? And why should we continue to cow-tow to these film companies who make big an¬ nouncements, and take up our time by making us read ’em, about the big one for ’60 and then take the very same films and give them to TV? We are having a hard enough time now to get people to go out to the movies; now there’s no excuse to go out: for only a buck and in the comfort of your own home, you can see the same thing — exactly! No old films, no vintage product but the very thing that the local theatre has booked probably at increased admission prices, no less. It may be legal and all that, but it is cer¬ tainly immoral. Years ago, a producer said the average movie patron has the intelligence of a 12 year old and films were made accordingly. It seems to me that ones who go along with this payTV bit are much like a 12 year old in their actions — and exhibitors who sit back re¬ signedly are no better than they. For once, I would like an intelligent rea¬ sonable answer to "Where do we go from here? — and "Why?” JAMES L. RUSSELL, Manager Playhouse Theatre EDITOR’S NOTE: Mr. Russell asks a lot of pretty weighty questions. We don’t have the answers. The success or failure of Telemeter, it seems to us, is still to be determined. But its relations to motion pictures and to the theatre industry is a problem that a lot of peo¬ ple, on all sides of the industry fence, are sure to ponder more than slightly. From POTTSVILLE, PA. If you haven’t already seen the enclosed page from the Pottsville Republican, pertinent to "Teen-Agers Blast Movie Fare,” you’ll un¬ doubtedly find it of interest. The CWV locally, but on a national basis, have been soliciting signatures on petitions against obscene litera¬ ture, etc., and the enclosed is probably a directed letter writing campaign among the Parochial children. To the best of my knowl¬ edge, the Pottsville theatres have not been showing any "off-beat, fast buck” films, but have been sticking to general release. The objections would therefore seem to be directed against current Hollywood fare in general. CHARLIE POORMAN Theatre Manager-Exploiter EDITOR’S NOTE: Enclosed was the Tetters to the Editor page from the afore¬ mentioned newspaper. The letters, all supposedly sent in by outraged teen¬ agers, blasted the movies with sweeping generalizations. The wording in almost all cases was exactly the same, lending considerable credence to Air. Boorman’s feeling that the anti-film campaign was fostered via a form-letter suggested to the teenagers. Kids may act alike today, hut the Pottsville letters are far too standardized to he spontaneous. From MITCHAM, SURREY, ENGLAND I enclose herewith details and some photo¬ graphs of a campaign I carried for the film, "STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY,” while on re¬ lief duties here. I would mention en passant that this is the first campaign I have attempted, as I am a recent recruit to the industry. I have already come across your excellent magazine, however. P. MILNER, Manager Majestic Cinema EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome to the EXPLOITATION Department and con¬ gratulations on your first campaign. We look forward to news of your next showmanship effort as well. New ideas and fresh blood are commodities in short supply. From BANNER ELK, N. C. Thanks very much for the very fine article in the Feb. 17 edition by Dr. B. Frank Hall, Pastor of the Pearsall Memorial Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, N.C., "WHOSE FAULT IF MOVIES OBSCENE?” He certainly hit the nail on the head. I would also like to thank Mr. E. M. Marks for submitting the article. JERRY TOWNSEND, Manager Center Theatre EDITOR’S NOTE: This is typical of theatreman reaction everywhere. Our mail indicates that Dr. Hall did indeed say something that needed saying. From HOLLYWOOD, CAL. Everybody in the Allied Artists organiza¬ tion and particularly President Steve Broidy, was extremely pleased with the very fine job done on "HOW I WOULD SELL” SHOWMANALYSIS for "THE PURPLE GANG” by Frank LaFalce and your editors. It certainly should have been of great help to your sub¬ scribers who booked "THE PURPLE GANG.” I think the whole SHOWMANALYSIS idea is an outstanding service to showmen every¬ where. Please convey our thanks to Mr. LaFalce and our compliments on his very perceptive analysis of the selling angles for "THE PURPLE GANG.” SANDY ABRAHAMS, Director of Advertising-Publicity Allied Artists EDITOR’S NOTE: Distributors and exhibitors alike have been quick to see the value of the SHOW^MANALYSIS, exclusive in MOTION PICTURE EX¬ HIBITOR. Letters indicate it enjoys an avid readership.