The Exhibitor (1965)

Canadian Circuit Looks To Future 20th Century Theatres Marks 30th Anniversary; Taylor Urges All-Industry Research; PR Program TORONTO — “Color tv may not pack the wallop of its black and white original insofar as motion picture exhibitors are concerned, but its effect is bound to be felt. Theatre operators should cope with it not in panic but as resourceful showmen with a coherent battle plan,” N. A. Taylor, president of 20th Century Theatres, told his company’s recent annual convention in Toronto’s Park Plaza Hotel. The two-day event also marked the company’s 30th anniversary. “As seasoned showmen, we must not lose our heads but should continue to act as en¬ trepreneurs in serving the public and selling our attractions on a more desirable basis,” said Taylor, making the keynote address within the convention's theme, “Zooming Into a Bright New Era.” “If asked to select one word as representing the most essential element for success in our business,” he said, “I would choose the word fluidity, meaning we must at all times be able to and expect to change our ideas and type of thinking in conformity with conditions which themselves are always changing. What may have been valid thinking a year or two ago or even last week may be passe or useless today. This encompasses the type of enter¬ tainment we sell, the way we sell it, and the way we buy it.” Referring to his circuit’s progress, Taylor said: “As I told you last year', grosses and attendances, in common with theatres througout the country, hit bottom in 1962. The year 1963 showed an improvement, and 1964 was still better. Again this year, the chart points upwards, and this would appear to be the trend in the immediate years ahead.” He submitted a three-point formula for the coming era: 1. Give the public good enter¬ tainment of the kind it wants to see. 2. Give them comfortable and inviting theatres. 3. Find new and ingenious ways to sell the available attractions. Distributors, Taylor said, would appear to have done “a splendid job” of adjusting to the tv era. “I think in this past year, there have been more important and desirable at¬ tractions released than in any year in the history of our business.” Describing the evolution of tv in the last 10 years as a “jig-saw puzzle,” Taylor told his audience, representing head-office execu¬ tives and managers from company theatres throughout Ontario and from as far west as Vancouver and Victoria: “It starts to take full shape when we realize that the motion picture business and tv have been merged to a point where they are today practically one business. The economy of making feature films is now usually based on the anticipa¬ tion of final-end selling to tv. Distributors no longer seek to hide behind a facade but openly admit that selling old and not so old films to tv is legitimately part of their business and sometimes employ the same salesmen to do just that.” Taylor also cited increased automobile ownership as a contributing factor to ex N. A. Taylor, 20th Century Theatres’ president, is congratulated by veteran manager and Ottawa City supervisor Ernie Warren, who made presenta¬ tion to Taylor and associates on behalf of the circuit’s managers at the 30th anniversary conven¬ tion at the Park Plaza Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The presentation took the form of a dona¬ tion to Toronto Variety Club, Tent 28, for the Variety Village for Handicapped Children. hibitor malaise in the 50’s and early 60’s. Firstly, there was the actual expenditure, draining entertainment budgets. Secondly, there were the more distant horizons made attainable by transportation. Thirdly, the growing reluctance to walk and consequent preference only for those places where there was convenient and, preferably, free parking. “Thus,” he said, “we are able to note the rise of the shopping centre theatre, usually located close to heavily trafficked highways and with plenty of free parking; a classic example being Yorkdale Shopping Centre right here in Toronto. When we met some 18 months ago we had just opened a dual auditorium in Yorkdale, and I’m pleased to report the operation has been eminently suc¬ cessful. Visitors from all over the United States and from England have marveled not only at the physical properties of the theatres — the dual operation, but also at the concept of actually locating in the basement. This is truly a theatre of the future.” Downtown locations are not excluded form contemporary building plans, Taylor said, but the concept has changed. “A combination of high land values and building costs now makes it almost impossible to build a free standing theatre in such locations today,” he said. “However, there is a trend to locat¬ ing theatres in new downtown high-rise build¬ ings, even in the basements, a fine example of this being the dual Cinemas located in Place Ville Marie in Montreal, in which we are partners. These are really basement theatres, but entry is off a shopping mall. They are extremely successful. We are presently negotiating for this type of dual basement theatre in another large city. The dual auditorium idea, poineered by 20th Century Theatres in 1948 with the Elgin and Little Theatres in Ottawa was, in Taylor’s opinion, the “ideal answer” to contemporary theatre operation. “Suffice it to say that in the future we shall avoid building anything less than a dual, if at all possible,” he said. He amplified this statement by confirming that the circuit would build a “triple-aud” in a (Continued On Page 17) Clark Transfer Sold To Louis & Matthew Molitch PHILDELPHIA— Clark Transfer, Inc., the nation’s largest film carrier and theatrical transfer company, has been sold by the estate of the late James P. Clark, its founder, to Louis (Whitey) Molitch, who has been in the film transportation business since 1918, and his son, Matthew T. Molitch. Instrumen¬ tal in the sale was Margaret (Peggy) Clark, widow of the founder. Louis Molitch got his start in this business while still in grammar school by bicycling reels for Jake Wolf between the Empress and Ideal Theatres in south Philadelphia. In 1919, he went to work for Fred Sulzbach, who operated the first film messenger service be¬ tween the Bethlehem-Allentown-Easton area and Philadelphia. Molitch later worked for Max Brueckman and Harry Blackman, known as B & B Messengers, operating between Philadelphia and Atlantic City. In 1925, Louis Molitch joined Horlacher Delivery Service (later known as Highway Express Lines, Inc., predecessor of Clark Transfer, Inc.) as a salesman, and remained with the organization, becoming its president earlier this year. One of his first jobs with the company was to open the Washington branch — whose film delivery routes still serve the theatres in the Maryland-Virginia ter¬ ritory. Back in 1927, Jim Clark became partners with John Horlacher, and out of this evolved Highway Express Lines, Inc., which became one of the largest film, newpaper, and general freight carriers in the east. Their film and newspapers routes now operate from New York City south to Norfolk, Va., and west to Staunton, Va., Cumberland, Md., and Wil¬ liamsport, Pa. Clark Transfer, Inc,, serves both the Philadelphia and Washington, D. C., exchange areas. In 1948, Clark started to handle legitimate shows between the baggage cars and the theatres in Philadelphia and Washington, D. C. Two years later, the company started to transport legitimate theatre attractions by tractor-trailer along the entire east coast. The Interstate Commerce Commission issued au¬ thority to Clark to transport these shows all over the United States upon showing that rail service could no longer satisfy the needs of the theatrical producers. Fourteen tractor-trailers will be on tour this season, and the list of touring shows grows each season. Matthew T. Molitch, 30, a graduate of Central High School and New York Univers¬ ity, received his L.L.B. from George Washing¬ ton University Scheol of Law and is a mem¬ ber of the bars of the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He joined the company in 1957 and served as the southern division manager in the Wash¬ ington, D. C., zone. In 1964, Matthew Molitch came to Phildelphia as the company’s gen¬ eral manager. He has served as executive secretary of the Film Carriers Conference of the American Trucking Associations and as vice-president of the American Trucking As¬ sociations in Washington, D. C. 6 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR October 6, 1965