Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1942)

March 942 MOTION PICTURE HERALD 37 NEW ENGLAND'S $3,500,000 JUKE' INCOME DROPS Coin-in-Slot Pictures Are Seen Dying Out; New Tax to Be Considered Exhibitors throughout New England, who have tried vainly for over a year to have legislation enacted to curb the spread of coin-in-the-slot movies, are encouraged by word that the 'juke-box' movies are dying a natural death. Reports from all sections of the six-state area indicate that the coin movies, after enjoying a big run since December, 1940, are beginning to die off. At one time, the machines, some 200 of them in locations from the Canadian border to the ConnecticutNew York state line, were taking in an estimated S150 to $200 weekly each. During the 15 months they were in constant operation, a total of more than $3,450,000 was taken in through the slots by New England coin machine operators. The initial novelty is tapering off, however, and operators throughout the area are reported taking the machines off locations and in many cases, operators have discontinued using the machines entirely. It is estimated that the original 200 machines in the territory have dwindled to less than 50 and the average take per machine has dropped to around $25. Reason for Decrease This drop in revenue is generally attributed to the fact that, with the novelty dying out, the general public has realized the price was too steep on the machines. Each picture, lasting only three minutes, cost ten cents — and the pictures were not selective. With eight pictures on a spool, it was sometimes necessary to spend seventy cents before the customer got just the short he wanted to see. This high cost, coupled with the fact that in many sections of New England, theatres, particularly the neighborhood houses, cut their prices to some extent. There is little percentage, in the mind of the general public, in paying 10 cents for a three minute short while for an additional 7 cents (matinee price) they can see a double feature, news and at least one short, in the neighborhood movie house. Many of the locations where the juke box movies formerly were located have been abandoned as the operators tried various schemes to bolster their revenue. Most of them finally fixed upon a minimum revenue of $25 a week and locations which failed to yield this figure for more than three weeks were immediately dropped from their lists. No Queries Soted A random checkup of some of the supposedly more popular locations for the coin movies disclosed there have been practically no queries as to the reason for the removal of the machine or as to when it would be returned. In one spot, where the machine was first installed and where it did an aboveaverage business for several months, the proprietor reported he had had only one query as to the whereabouts of the machine. Exhibitors have been battling the machines since they were first brought into the territory and had attempted to have legislation enacted which would bring the machines under state supervision, much in the manner of regular movies. In Massachusetts, for example, the theatre interests presented the legislature with a bill calling for a $50 licensing fee on each machine and calling for certification provisions for the films. Under the terms of the measure, the films of the juke-box movies would be subject to a $2 certification fee per subject — amounting to $16 per film of eight subjects. Inasmuch as most machines were operated with a change of film once weekly, this would have meant a $16 weekly fee for certification of the subjects. Committee Studies Field The bill was turned over by the Massachusetts General Court to a special committee which was instructed to report before the end of September, 1942. The committee was given several taxation measures with instructions to investigate each field before reporting any new taxes in view of the increased defense effort taxes. There has been a general, but apparently authoritative rumor, for the past few weeks that the committee would report by the first of April and that the juke-box tax measure would be one of the measures favorably reported. Exhibitors expect that passage of such a measure would definitely sound the deathknell of the machines in Massachusetts, inasmuch as the weekly fee would make it practically impossible, io operate the machines in view of the greatly reduced revenue. At the time the machines were first introduced, a few theatres tried installing them in their lobbies for their novelty value, but these installations were soon removed. Since then the locations have been confined to bar-rooms and other places where music machines and amusement devices of this type are popular. New England exhibitors generally feel they will have little or no competition from the machines bv the end of this vear. Court Rules on "Jukes" Legalizing of free-play coin machines, by the City Council of Pittsburgh, at S50 per annual license per machine, seems doomed, as result of a Pennsylvania Superior Court ruling February 28th which declared that such machines are gambling devices and can be seized and destroyed by police. More than $115,000 in license fees was collected in 1941, at $25 per machine. This year, with the tariff doubled by council ordinance, assistant city treasurer Al Tronzo estimated that nearly $200,000 would be collected. Local licensing of the machines was on the strength of a Dauphin County court opinion, affirmed by the Superior Court Court without opinion some time ago, that the machines could be legally operated if no money was paid out. The current Superior Court ruling, written by Judge Jesse E. B. Cunningham, made in the appeal of a Philadelphia County Common Pleas Court case, affirmed a ruling by that court ordering destruction of all pinball machines taken by police in Philadelphia. City Solicitor William Alvah Stewart has withheld prediction on the ruling's effect on devices in Pittsburgh, until he studies the Appellate Court's ruling. "The opinion may restrict certain types of machines and allow others to continue," he said. More than $120,000 in license fees had been collected by the city up to Feb. 3rd, official report revealed. Several weeks ago in suburban Bridgeville, Burgess John H. Graham refused to issue new licenses after the borough council returned to their locations, machines that Graham had ordered confiscated. The Council of McKeesport, largest city in western Pennsylvania outside of Pittsburgh, plans to double the license fee from $25 to $50 annually on coin machines and from $10 to $20 on music boxes. 'Juke ' Films Unit in Chicago What may be the forerunner of more "juke-film" production in Chicago, is the announcement that Sam Coslow is moving his production unit to that city from Hollywood on April 1st and will go into extensive operation there. At least 20 three-minute subjects will be made in Chicago, using name-bands playing in and around that territory with the possibility that talent will also be brought on from New York. Those who will remain in Chicago for a while are Hayden Mills, one of the owners of the Mills Novelty Company, makers of the Panoram soundie projector, and partner in the RCM company ; Herman Webber, RCM production manager, and Josef Berne, who will direct the Chicago series. Subways Select "To Be" United Artists' "To Be or Not to Be," with Carole Lombard, has been selected as "the picture-of-the-month," by "Susan Lee," in the New York subways' car-card feature which each month gives gratis attention to a new picture. Also picked was Columbia's importation of "The Invaders." in the first dual selection to be made since the subways started the free publicity in all its cards, early in 1941. MGM Signs Vila Alberto Vila, Argentine star, has been signed by MGM, it announced in Hollywood last week. Mr. Vila is making a picture for RKO. His Paramount contract expired without his appearance in a film for that company. Bar+els+eins Take Ridge The Ridge Theatre, Chicago, operated for 13 years by the Devon Amusement Corporation, a unit of the Jacob Lasker & Sons circuit, has been sold to the Bartelstein Brothers.