Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Aug 1943)

July 3, 1943 MOTION PICTURE HERALD 17 CIRCUIT HEADS & WAC SEE MANPOWER CRISIS PAST Trade Functions Smoothly ; Problem Is Met Despite Shifting of Personnel Manpower, viewed a few months ago as the most serious obstacle to the continued exhibition and distribution of motion pictures in wartime, is proving less acute a problem than was anticipated. No theatres have closed for lack of personnel. The processes of distribution continue with comparative efficiency, despite occasional delays. There has been less relative interruption in the screen's services of entertainment and information than has taken place in many other lines of business, including such vital fields as food distribution, transportation and the manufacture of consumer goods, industry leaders concerned with manpower problems report. There is little danger that theatres will be forced out of business by manpower shortages, according to the concensus of circuit and distribution executives and members of the War Activities Committee at New York. Manpower problems, they admit, have kept many exhibitors and executives awake at night. Not a few managers have had to sweep out their theatres, sell tickets or otherwise double for departed workers. Problem Is Not Acute , Executives Say Nevertheless, the problem is not acute, they said. Circuits, home offices and independent theatre men expressed confidence that they could adjust to all predictable drains on their staffs. The motion picture industry will continue to supply a full quota of workers to the armed forces and essential war industry without interrupting its own wartime services, they said. Adjustments to wartime staff changes and the maintenance of high quality motion picture service require careful study by every exhibitor, WAC advisers said. Operators must expect continuing replacements and changes, and be prepared to carry them out. "Ingenuity and a lot of everyday common sense" is needed to solve particular theatre manpower problems, according to a WAC theatres division leader. Both independents, and circuits, must plan for their future needs, he said. Replacements for drafted workers, or transfers to war plants, have been recruited by theatres from women, older men and those with dependents. Extra duties, and the shifting of remaining staffs have covered many vacancies. This must be continued, executives said. No Need to Prepare Manning Tables There is no need for theatres to prepare complicated Manning Tables or Replacement Schedules to submit to the War Manpower Commission and Selective Service officials, in the opinion of executives of the major affiliated circuits. None of the major affiliated circuits have prepared Manning Tables or Replacement Schedules in the pattern of the WMC's manpower plan. Neither have the operating heads of the distributing companies filed these lists for home office or exchange staffs. A few companies, led by MGM, RKO and Paramount, have prepared preliminary analyses of their staffs in the WMC pattern. But these are for STATE RELAXES BOOTH CODE Changes in regulations governing projectionists and apprentices were granted by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry Tuesday to help meet the growing shortage of booth manpower, particularly in small towns. Objections of the IATSE and local operators' unions were overruled. Apprentices now may obtain projectionist licenses after serving 300 hours in the booth in not less than three months. The age limit for apprentices was also lowered to 17 from 18. Previously, six months' apprenticeship was required. The regulations do not apply in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Scranton, which have municipal codes. their own guidance, spokesmen said, and not for filing with the WMC in an attempt to gain official designation of replacement times. The manning table plan and replacement schedules of the War Manpower Commission are aimed primarily at aiding the large employer to appraise his labor supply problems and gauge the extent and rate of training programs required to secure replacements, according to spokesmen at the WMC offices in New York. They serve as official guides for deferment by draft boards only in the case of some 35 industries designated as essential to the war effort. Other employers, as long as they are not in the non-essential group of services and businesses, may also prepare manning and replacement studies if they desire, the WMC spokesman said. They may ask permission of the WMC regional office to submit them as guides to draft boards. This is not generally granted unless the business is engaged directly in war manufacture or essential civilian service. Urged to Stand by Local Draft Board Decisions In the New York area no theatres or motion picture distributors have filed, or asked to file, these tables, according to Bernard Sless, regional manning tables chief. He expressed doubt that there would be any advantage in their doing so. Exhibitor leaders and circuit officials expressed some doubt as to the desirability of circuits or independent operators filing manning tables. To do so, they said, would set definite time limits within which replacement personnel would have to be trained. Six months is the maximum training period allowed under the present regulations, and in many instances the replacement schedules must be retroactive, the WMC presuming that industries filing them have permanent training programs in operation. They urged exhibitors to stand by local draft board decisions in specific cases, appealing only where there is an obvious injustice or misinterpretation of rules. In cases where theatre operations are dependent on a particular worker, manpower advisers pointed out, that it is possible to ask draft boards for a temporary deferment on the grounds that the particular worker is essential to the business. In many cases occupational deferments up to six months are granted to permit training of a replacement or the shifting of the job's responsibilities. This makes it unnecessary to file manning and replacement schedules for the entire staff. It is still the policy of all major circuits, distributors, and the War Activities Committee not to ask for draft deferments for any individual workers. Spokesmen for the affiliated circuits, home offices and WAC all said that there were no plans to change this policy. No Compulsion for Workers To Change Positions "Use the well known ingenuity of your industry," was the advice of Paul McNutt, War Manpower Director, to industry representatives, one circuit executive recalled. He said that this had been the guiding policy for his organization and predicted that the entire film industry would stand by the policy of adjusting itself to any demands on its manpower. S. H. Fabian, chairman of the theatres division of the WAC, said that there was no change in the committee's belief that every theatre employee capable of bearing arms should go into service when called. He reminded theatre men that the exhibition and distribution of motion pictures, while not designated as essential, has also been declared not a non-essential occupation. Unless drafted, there is no compulsion for theatre workers to shift to jobs in war plants or other industries, he said. The WAC was instrumental recently in obtaining directives from national and state manpower officials directing draft boards in New Haven and elsewhere to rescind letters to film workers which had ordered them to transfer to war jobs. John F. Robinson, Connecticut selective service director, last week said that the problem had been cleared up and that state boards were acting in conformity with national regulations. Newsreel Deferments Up To Local Boards At New York last week newsreel companies were advised by Colonel Arthur McDermott, New York City selective service director, that deferment of key cameramen and editors would remain in the autonomous jurisdiction of local draft boards. The reels are not eligible to file manning tables or replacement schedules under the WMC plan, he said. In New York City the plan is limited to companies with 100 or more employes. Designation by the War Manpower Commission of the San Francisco area as a "critical labor shortage" district, with a resultant compulsory 48-hour week, has brought hopes to exhibitors in the region that the critical theatre manpower problem may be eased. Theatremen are hopeful the 48-hour week may create a somewhat larger labor supply from which they can draw, and that the extra money employees will receive on the 48-hour basis may halt some of the turnover in personnel. The Canadian Government last week included 16 to 18 and 40 to 65-year-old workers in the Dominion's compulsory wartime labor regulations. The action by Humphrey Mitchell, mobilization director, subjects young ushers and other theatre and exchange employees to transfer to farm or war factory work. Previously the war labor draft covered men from 19 to 40 years of age.