The Exhibitor (1960)

43 Years of Service to the Theatre Industry Founded in 1918. Published weekly by Jay Emanuel Publications, Incorporated. Publishing office: 246-248 North Clarion Street, Philadelphia 7, Pennsylvania. New York field office: 8 East 52nd Street, New York 22. West Coast field office: Paul Manning, 454 S. Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills, Calif. London Bureau; Jock MacGregor, 16 Leinster Mews, London, W. 2, England. Jay Emanuel, publisher; Paul J. Greenhaigh, general manager; Albert Erlick, editor; M. R. (Mrs. "Chick") Lewis, associate editor; George Frees Nonamaker, feature editor; Mel Konecoff, New York editor; Albert J. Martin, advertising manager; Max Cades, business manager. Subscriptions: $2 per year (50 issues); and outside of the United States, Canada, and Pan-American countries, $5 per year (50 issues). Special rates for two and three years on application. Second class postage paid at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Address all official communications to the Philadelphia publishing office. Volume 65 • No. 6 JANUARY 11, 1961 ECHO FROM A CRITIC On Dec. 21, we editorialized on the strange ways of dis¬ tribution in the Philadelphia area that resulted in a good motion picture, Warners’ “THE SUNDOWNERS,” being denied a downtown first-rnn date despite the fact that at least one first-run outlet had bid for it. Instead, the film was saturated in 17 sub-run situations in the city for the holiday season. Remember, this is the same film that played New York’s famed Radio City Music Hall along with the celebrated Christmas show. It seems we were not the only ones puzzled by the treat¬ ment accorded the film in Philadelphia. Ernie Seiner, movie critic for the Philadelphia Bulletin, echoed our sentiments on Jan. 1, and his comments, looking at the situation from the moviegoers point of view, deserve an industrv airing as well. In part, this is what he had to say: ‘7^’5 a bother that there isn’t a better system of releasing films than the shotgun teehnique of the last two weeks. The clanger of such year-end prodigality is the confusion it can create in the minds of discriminating moviegoers, resulting in some better-than-average films being overlooked. “One .special case is ‘The SUNDOWNERS.’ Ordinarily a film produced and directed by Fred Zinnemann, with the added marquee value of Deborcdi Kerr and Robert Mitchum as co-stars, would be accorded full welcoming honors in a first-run center city theatre. “But the influx of new films, coupled tvith the number of holdovers and reserved seat engagements, made this impos¬ sible. ‘THE SUNDOWNERS,’ a warm and appecding tale of life in Australia in the 1920s, had to forego the customary buildup and seek ho.spitality in neighborhood theatres.” (Mr. Seiner could not be e.xpected to understand the peculiarities of film selling that resulted in what seemed to be a generous bid by a first-rnn house being ignored so this slight departure from the facts is understandable. ) Here, as you see, is the real danger. When established play¬ off patterns are destroyed for no apparent reason, good films are easily overlooked by a confused public. Yet it is a matter of record that films have amassed as much as 25 per cent of their total area gross from a first-run engagement. And that ain’t hay. THE CASE OF THE NEARSIGHTED BUSINESS “We live and we leakn,” a wise man once said. That wise man should have spent a httle time in the film industry on the exhibition side of the fence. He would have said, “We live and we learn and we are amazed.” Some of the strange twists and turns of exhibitor-distributor relations are indeed amazing. Not satisfied with dictating percentage terms and specifying the days of the week a picture is to be played, one distributor has added a new wrinkle brought to our attention by a theatre subscriber. This concerns situations in which exhibitor and distributor have always played pictures on a sliding scale. The distributor now insists before the contract is signed that a high percentage floor be established. In this way, the scale becomes meaning¬ less. If the picture fails to live up to expectations, the element of loss rests squarely with the theatre. This is despite the fact that the record of this company’s films has not been dis¬ tinguished of late. We admit that the movie business is a gamble, but let it be an equal gamble for all concerned. When one party can’t win and one party can’t lose, you are no longer gamblingyon are playing Russian roulette. Such stories as this one conjure up fantastic notions. The next thing we know, a new clause will be put into effect in film contracts prohibiting an exhibitor who has been suffering heavy losses from closing his theatre. In this way, theatres will remain open so as to be available to distributors as con¬ venient comfort stations. Don’t laugh, it is not as far fetched as it sounds. Not too long ago, a ruling was handed down in a labor dispute involv¬ ing an employer who wished to close up shop and his workers who insisted on being paid whether he remained in business or not. The ruling said that it was inconceivable that an em¬ ployer faced with bankruptcy should be forced to remain open or to pay laid-off workers indefinitely just to satisfy union demands (demands that in many instances are a major factor in business failure). This ruling has not yet been upheld. Sometimes we get the feeling that too many people in this business are nearsighted. They just can’t see far enough into the future to know that the quick extra buck they chase today may well eliminate their customers tomorrow. So we live and we learn and we are amazed. At least it keeps us on our toes. GRIN OF THE WEEK A friend of ours, who operates a theatre and can’t remem¬ ber the last time a film salesman called on him personally, is handing cards around to his cronies that prove at least he hasn’t lost his sense of humor. Headed “TO MY CUS¬ TOMERS,” the cards read as follows, discussing conditions from a salesman’s point of view. “Due to my independent position as a scdesman and because of the product shortage, I have decided to limit my time as best suited to my own convenience. “At the present moment, it pleases me to call on you on Thursdays between the hours of 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. Probably by phone. This will allow me to start and extend my weekends without interruption. “NOTE: The above regulations apply only as long as busine.ss is good. After that, 1 will be around kissing your hand as usual.” As you can tell, there is more than a little bitterness behind this grin of the week.