The Exhibitor (1966)

I The Trade Paper Read by Choice— Not by Chance Founded in 1918. Published weekly except first issue in January and first issue in September by Jay Emanuel Publications, Incorporated. General offices at 317 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107. Publishing office at 10 McGovern Ave., Lancaster, Pa. 17604. New York field office: 1600 Broadway, Suite 604, New York 10019, West Coast field office: William M. Schary, 818 S. Curson Ave., Los Angeles, Calif., 90036, London Bureau: Jock MacGregor, 16 Leinster Mews, London, W. 2, England. Jay Emanuel, publisher and gen. mgr.: Albert Erlick, editor; Mel Konecoff, New York editor; Albert J. Martin, advertising manager; Max Cades, business manager. Subscrip¬ tions: $2 per year (50 issues); and outside of the United States, Canada and Pan-American coun¬ tries, $5 per year (50 issues). Special rates for two and three years on application. Single copy 25tf. Second class postage paid at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Address all official communications to the Philadelphia offices. Telephone: Area Code 215, WAInut 2-1860. CHANGING ADDRESS? Volume 76 • No. 20 Please send old and new address. If possible include address portion of old mailing wrapper. December 28, 1966 Our 48th Year RESOLUTIONS FOR A NEW YEAR An exhibitor s letter to Santa Claus (see last week’s is¬ sue of MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR) can logically be | followed up by an industry-wide list of New Year’s resolutions. It is true that such resolutions, while well meaning, are gone I and forgotten generally before the spring thaw, but they do provide short-lived balm for a troubled spirit. First, a few resolutions for exhibitors: I resolve to do the best selling job I can do on every picture that plays my theatre in 1967, realizing that no one knows my particular audience bet¬ ter than I, and tools provided by distributors are meaningless if I don’t use them. I resolve to participate actively in the affairs ; of my industry through membership and support of NxATO and through speaking out on issues that affect my livelihood. I | resolve to buy pictures as intelligently as I can under existing circumstances and to resist becoming involved in suicidal bid¬ ding wars with my competitors to the point where none of us can operate sanely or profitably. I resolve to make my theatre as attractive as I can and to make my customers feel as com¬ fortable and welcome as they feel in their own living rooms. I resolve to take an active interest in the affairs of my commun¬ ity and to make my theatre a meaningful force for the public good. I resolve to resist the temptation to play fast-buck pic[ tures which may turn a short-range profit but can result in a I loss of public respect and confidence. That’s a pretty good list, and it could be much longer. Chances are that circumstances will make it hard to keep all these resolutions, but it’s worth a try. How about distributors? Maybe they can keep a few of these points in mind during the New Year: I resolve to assess my product realistically and not to insist on terms from every the¬ atre that make it impossible for them to share in the rewards of a successful film. I resolve to consider the year-round needs of my exhibitor customers and not to provide a feast of fine films in a few peak periods and a famine throughout the rest of the year. I resolve to inform my customers of my product through a more intensive use of the trade press as an advertis¬ ing medium (after all, if we are making up a list of New Year’s resolutions, we may as well get into the act ourselves ) . I resolve to honestly seek a means to end the evils of blind bidding — a cause to which I have paid little more than lip service to this point. I resolve to assess exhibitor demands for moveups and clearance changes realistically to avoid a further slide toward a complete first-run “jungle.” I resolve to make necessary ad¬ justments in bidding techniques so that the atmosphere of sus¬ picion and distrust which pervades our industry today can be overcome. I resolve to support the new Production Code so that public confidence in the motion picture medium can be restored. I resolve to resist the unreasonable demands of inde¬ pendent producers for final say on the selling and advertising campaigns for their films which often make it impossible to present them to their best advantage. I resolve to join whole¬ heartedly in a dialogue with NATO leaders seeking solutions to some of the serious problems facing the industry. It’s an easy game to play — New Year’s Resolutions — and it could be a profitable game if anyone takes it seriously. Here are some resolutions for the Justice Department, where exhibitor complaints and requests for relief from more abusive trade practices disappear into a bureaucratic limbo and are never heard from again: We resolve to utilize our available manpower so as to permit at least a modest look into legitimate motion picture industry complaints. We resolve to ignore the fact that we may someday be moving to a lucrative legal post with a motion picture company and to look objectively at bid¬ ding procedures that could exist in no other industry. We re¬ solve to move with reasonable speed on matters brought to our attention and requiring action. Somehow, we feel that of all our fine resolutions, these have the least chance of being seri¬ ously considered. With all the discussion about trade practices and abuses, the industry still must rise or fall by the picutres made available to the nation’s theatre screens. For that reason, it seems fitting that we provide a few New Year’s resolutions for film-makers: I resolve not to pay out salaries to performers of questionable value that make it necessary to demand unreasonable terms from theatres. I resolve to try to protect my product in theatres by demanding the intelligent release of my older product to television outlets rather than the pell-mell dash to the small screen that puts the future of all theatres into jeopardy. I re¬ solve to exercise taste and legitimate restraint when filming delicate themes so that adult films can be made in an “adult” rather than a “dirty” manner. I resolve to produce films and leave the selling and merchandising of them to trained execu¬ tives who know far more about this end of the business than I do. Not to be left out entirely, here are some resolutions that we are making: We resolve to bring our readers all the news and services we can so that they can operate their theatres as truly informed exhibitors. We resolve to continue to report the truth and to editorialize on all matters of vital concern to our sub¬ scribers regardless of the consequences. We have a lot more resolutions, but we’ll save them for future editorials. To all of you from all of us — • A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.