The Exhibitor (1960)

TO A ( Continued from page 8) bringing modern comfortable theatres to new communities still without motion pic¬ ture facilities, due to exhibition not keeping pace with the population changes of the na¬ tion.” The committee also stated, “We also wish to restate our conviction that star names alone are not the vital ingredient of motion pictures; it is the subject matter which is of prime importance ... We need good subject matter, and we need more new names and new faces. To this end TOA has agreed to help producers in all possible ways to effect pictures that have good subject matter, and by this quality, will help to build new names and new faces.” E. LaMar Sarra, chairman, TOA state and local legislation committee, stated that the impact of proposed and enacted legislation on censorship, classification of films, taxes and blue laws was the heaviest in years, with the trend continuing for 1961. Work¬ mens’ compensation and unemployment com¬ pensation and minimum wage bills were also introduced, along with discrimination in em¬ ployment bills. He acknowledged the assis¬ tance of all elements of the industry, espe¬ cially that given by MPAA’s Washington office, in working to combat any and all legislation adversely affecting the industry. Producer Jerry Wald, as a member of the panel discussion on legislation and taxation, said, ‘‘I think the Motion Picture Code has been a wonderful instrument to minimize the dangers of local and governmental cen¬ sorship. ... It has helped us immeasurably to keep censorship and efforts at censhorship to a minimum. . . . The largest segment of the public wants their entertainment to be morally decent. ... It is my sincere conviction as a producer that there is no subject that cannot be handled on the screen as long as it is in good taste. ... I don’t think we should feel that we are hampered by some stem and immutable censor. . . . True freedom does not involve catering to low taste, and indulging in an orgy of sexual sensationalism for its own sake. Freedom is something that has to be preserved and fought for with integrity, taste and perception. As long as those are the tenets that guide a producer, I think the cen¬ sorship problem will be held to a minimum. . . . The motion picture is too powerful a medium, too emotionally charged, appealing to all kinds of poeople of all ages, for a pro¬ ducer to ignore his moral responsibility to¬ wards the public. . . . No one has ever stayed away from a great picture because it was great nor has anyone ever patronized a bad picture because it was bad. . . . The skillful producer can always, with the application of good taste, common sense and creativeness tell any good story that has ever been written. The imoprtant thing is not to offend the in¬ nocent nor frustrate the intelligent moviegoer. If you look at the really successful films you will see this is just what the producer has done. And the danger of censorship is averted.” Samuel Pinanski, representative of TOA to the governing board of COMPO, reported that COMPO’s principal activity had been in the fields of minimum wage and censorship. The activities of the American Congress of Exhibitors were explained by S. H. Fabian, chairman of ACE and head of its committee on more production. He said, “In addition to getting more product on the market we are concerned with post-48’s, industry research, toll -TV, industry -government relations and producer-exhibitor relations.” Adding that “we struck out on conciliation,” Fabian con¬ tinued, “The production crisis has grown steadily worse . . . Some 25 per cent of the U-I's "Spartacus" sign in the Piaria dei Cinquecento, Rome's busiest square, illustrates the extensive advance publicity the film is re¬ ceiving in Italy. 1960 releases were made by European com¬ panies, most of them having no sizeable built-in American boxoffice potential for the general run of theatres. The studios think they can strike an inexhaustible gold mine by spending more money on fewer pictures to make more big pictures and bigger profits. That could be wonderful for the distribution business; but what about us — the theatre in¬ dustry? . . . How does a production concen¬ tration on block-busters alone fit the indus¬ try? With a limited number of releases coming off the regular first run and sub -run theatres how do we keep theatres open in the neigh¬ borhoods and thousands of towns across the U.S., under such a restricted film diet? How do you keep solvent the two and a half bil¬ lion dollar investment and continue paying $285,000,000 in salaries to 150,000 employees? “The ACE executive committee determined that self-help was the remedy and thus began the moves to start up ACE productions . . . The five national circuits put up $2,000,000 and we then made a very limited number of solicitations obtaining another $1,000,000 in the bank — and are on our way to the fourth million; but without the enthusiasm and money of the TOA membership, ACE Pro¬ ductions would never have been bom. . . . The company will be in the hands of the entire exhibition business. Every exhibitor a stockholder will be our objective, but we are not ready to invite, nor are we soliciting an avalanche of subscribers . . . When we are further along in our program and when a registration statement with the SEC has become effective, all will have adequate op¬ portunity to examine the prospectus and to decide whether or not to invest and to what extent . . . One of the main objectives of ACE is to bring peace and prosperity to a battling industry. If we could once have peace, we could together and as a united in¬ dustry, achieve almost any objective we set out to accomplish in the field of government assistance, public relations or world influence . . . Even without negotiated relief of the hardships that beset us in the form of trade policies and practices, it is the unanimous opinion of the ACE executive committee that once our exhibitor-sponsored production hits the market, conditions will begin to change. The repercussions of an adequate feature sup¬ ply should relax tensions and troubles. Our vast audience potential, waiting for the pic¬ tures of their choice, will respond to a larger variety of features showing in theatres. The strains of transition to a new theatre indus¬ try will ease and changing exhibition will profitably serve the new era of leisure.” Irving M. Levin, San Francisco, chairman TOA’s foreign film committee, reported that it was the committee’s belief that “the day will soon come when all good imported films will be dubbed and played in the majority of the theatres in the U.S. The product short¬ age will make it mandatory that commercial theatres present this product, so that these commercial theatres will be competing with foreign film theatres for this product . . . Foreign film imports have increased to about 230 per year, and I predict that they will continue to increase . . . The art house op¬ erator will have to play many of these films day-and-date with the big commercial thea¬ tres; but he will be able to show the film in its original language with English sub¬ titles, while the big commercial theatres pre¬ sent the dubbed version. In our expanding American culture, foreign films will continue to grow in popularity, particularly as long as the current product shortage continues. Your committee feels this acceptance of foreign product is good, and predicts that for many commercial theatres these imported films will earn increasingly larger grosses.” Philip F. Harling, chairman, TOA anti¬ toll -TV committee, pointed out that “the en¬ tire coin-in-the-slot-television situation is at a much more critical stage than it ever was . . . The fate of Pay-TV now lies in the hands of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, of which Oren Harris, of Arkansas, is chairman . . . By petitioning Congress we may effect our salvation and to this means all our efforts must be directed in our fight against pay-TV. Toward this end we have placed in motion a national cam¬ paign to obtain 30 million signatures from people of all walks of life, directed to every Senator and Congressman in the nation, tell¬ ing him in simple, direct language that we don’t want pay-TV; that it is not in the public interest; that it should be banned in whatever form it takes, whether by air or by wire; and that the air-waves are free and should remain free. ... If it were not for exhibition’s efforts Paramount’s Telemeter would not have gone across the border, into Canada, to test its costly coin-in-the-slot sys¬ tem; it would have run the test right here in the U.S. . . . Pay-TV would destroy Free-TV ... We now know that we exhibitors are the only ones actively combatting pay-TV; that we must carry the load, just as we have for these many years. “In the U.S., pay-TV through the air was effectively delayed thanks to public hearings held by Congressman Harris. The FCC issued what is known as its Third Report, which sets forth the conditions under which overthe-air tests of subscription television may be made. This in effect summarizes all the elements of Rep. Harris’ Bill HJR #130. When the report was adopted, Harris ap¬ peared before the entire House of Repre¬ sentatives and stated, ‘Under no circum¬ stances can the action of the Federal Com¬ munications Commission and the action of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce be construed to place a stamp of approval on subscription television as a permanent service. All that is authorized is a conduct of limited tests sufficient to deter¬ mine the feasibility of subscription television, but not so extensive that it would permit, without further action by Congress and the Commission, the development of a new sub¬ scription television service on a permanent basis.’ “When Zenith and RKO General first an¬ nounced their plans for Hartford, Conn., they stated, ‘The cost of the individual programs will vary, but will approximate that of a single admission to a first-run film. The sub¬ scriber will know in advance what each pro¬ gram will be and how much it will cost. Subscribers will pay only for programs ( Continued on page 19) 18 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR September 21, 1 960