The Exhibitor (1963)

The Trade Paper Read by Choice— Not ly Chance Founded in 1918. Published weekly except first issue in January and first issue in September by lay Emanuel Publications, incorporated. Ceneral offices at 317 North Broad Street, Philadelphia 7, Pennsylvania. Publishing office at 32nd Street and Elm Avenue, Baltimore 11, Md. New York field office: 1600 Broadway, Suite 604, New York 19. West Coast field office: William M. Schary, 818 S. Curson Ave., Los Angeles 36, Calif. London Bureau: Jock MacCregor, 16 Leinster Mews, Lon¬ don, W. 2, England. Jay Emanuel, publisher and general manager: Albert Erlick, editor; George Frees Nonamaker, feature editor; Mel Konecoff, New York editor; Albert J. Martin, advertising man¬ ager; Max Cades, business manager. Subscription: $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. Single copy 25£. Second class postage paid at Baltimore. Maryland Address all official communications to the Philadelphia offices. Tedephone: Area Code 215 WAInut 2-1860. Volume 70 • No. 1 JULY 3, 1963 "IT'S A CRAZY BUSINESS'" ALL OF us at MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR take piide at the number of letters we receive from subscribers— giipes as well as pats on the back. All are completely un¬ solicited, and we are glad readers have enough confidence in this publication to tell us what is on their minds. We would like to publish every one. In one three year peiiod, we printed well over 1,200 letters. Lack of advertising recently in all trade papers, however, has forced a cutback in space. Still, many letters deserve the industry’s attention, and occasionally we turn our editorial page over to a man with something on his mind. Such a gentleman is veteran exhibitor Larry Woodin, well respected operator of the ‘Y’ Drive-In, Wellsboro, Pa., and a former conventional theatre operator there. Mr. Woodin has something to say and he says it well. You may not agree with everything in his letter, but it should stimulate considerable thought and discussion. Here goes: After spending one normal lifetime in this business and embarking on a second, I cant help but look back and come to, but one conclusion . . . ‘It’s a crazy business .’ At least, its crazy when its actions and operations are compared to the other fields of business endeavor. "I’ve always marveled at the fact that, as long as I can remember, this is the only business where the manufacturer (producer) always has seemed to be doing his very best to put the retailer (exhibitor) of his product out of business. First it was the old Trust pictures; then the era of ‘ buy our product or we’ll build across the street ’; next the percentage rental system that has never gone in any direction but up; then the saturation booking era with the customer denied a choice; and now saturation of movies on free TV, the one real competitor of both the retailer who sells his product and the manufacturer ivho makes it. (Can you imagine General Motors giving the public their choice of a new car now for $4,000 or a used car in a few years for free? And given away by a detergent or cigarette company?) THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY KNOWS THE SECRET . . . JUNK THE OLD PRODUCT AND THUS KEEP A FRESH MARKET ALIVE. “ So many things prove our business is a crazy one. For many years, the trailer shots were nothing but sweepings off the studio cutting room floor. Whoever heard of selling apples by giving the customer a taste of one of the apples to be thrown out? “Do you know of any other industry that keeps its new product a secret as far as its retailers are concerned? Ever hear of a Trade Show and Trade Papers? We have the Trade Papers, but where are the producers’ announcements of the upcoming product? Trade Shows? Our industry hasn’t learned the meaning of the word. “ Radio and TV give their awards on Radio and TV. Where does the motion picture industry give its awards? Not even in a theatre anymore, but rather in an auditorium over TV, dur¬ ing prime theatre time, to advertise tooth paste. “ How stupid can we get? “We’re over 50 years old. It’s time we grew up as an indus¬ try. Let’s bury the hatchet between all factions, get together, and start a new lifetime for the motion picture industry de¬ voted to filling our screens with pre-announced, sought-after attractions, presold to an eager awaiting public. “Let’s quit fighting each other over our business and get together and start fighting all of our competitors for our business. “P.S. A guy can dream, can’t he?” As we said, not everyone will agree with Mr. Woodin. For instance, a distribution representative might point out that the analogy between General Motors and the sale of films to television was unfair since the film companies were well paid for the product. The answer could be that the public still gets it for free, and that is the important factor. At any rate, it is something to think about, and we thank Mr. Woodin for sharing his thoughts with MOTION PIC¬ TURE EXHIBITOR. DILEMMA OF A HORN-BLOWER WE WERE AMUSED recently by a house ad in a com¬ petitive publication entitled “Advertising Reality in the Mo¬ tion Picture Industry.” Paramount is currently cleaning up with a film entitled “COME BLOW YOUR HORN,” and the ad indicates that some people are taking the advice literally. The crux of the ad seems to be that only this particular publication “has changed with its industry— no competitive paper has! At the risk of being unkind, we feel compelled to point out that the major change by the paper in question has been a cutback to every-other-week publication. We may be naive, but we still believe the motion picture industry wants and needs weekly service. The ad also claims subscribers in 106 foreign countries, impressive until one realizes that total foreign circulation amounts to an average of about 18 copies per foreign coun¬ try. Not exactly blanket coverage. All in all, it seems that he who blows his own horn oc¬ casionally hits a sour note. COOPERATION IN ACTION JUST A NOTE about a gentleman who understands the real meaning of the word “cooperation” defined in the dic¬ tionary as “ The act of working or acting together, as for a common purpose ; helpfulness.” In the lobby of the Fox Theatre, Philadelphia, a David Milgram operation, stands a 40 x 60 on “Cleopatra,” current attraction at the Stanley Warner Stanley Theatre. On the Fox screen is a brief trailer announcing “Cleopatra,” with playdate and theatre information. On the way out of the Fox, patrons are handed blank forms to the Stanley for re¬ served seat tickets to be purchased in advance. Here is a good lesson for the entire industry, and we salute David Milgram for his constructive attitude. Incidentally, Mr. Milgram lost the picture on a bid. If this experience could be repeated throughout the industry, it would be a far healthier, happier business.