Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Feb 1945)

XHIBITORS TO FEEL PINCH NEW WAR RESTRICTIONS m Stock, Transportation and Manpower Curbs Now \Are Going to Hurt BILL FORMBY Jew and stringent war restrictions, promuled from Washington within the last ten s by the President, the War Production ird. Selective Service, the Office of Defense insportation, and the War Manpower Comsion have a critical bearing on the motion ture industry and directly on theatre operais. They will be felt the more because they le after the nation, and the industry, had un to think comtortably of reconversion. I'ewer films, fewer prints for those films reSed, serious manpower shortages and more |ays in the receipt of equipment and prints | indicated. bie new regulations include : 1. Reduction by the War Production jard of film raw stock allotments to pro.cers and distributors, which, distributors irn, may mean less product for release. 2. The President's call for "work or fight" jislation and subsequent stiffening of War anpower Commission regulations and the classification of 4-F's by Selective Service. 3. Critical deterioration of film carrier uipment, now irreplaceable under WPB 3;ulations. Unaffected by the new regulations is the lited relaxation of WPB restrictions on the nufacture of projectors and booth equipnt, announced in Washington early in Denber. The distributors currently are wrestling th the problem of how to cut 27,247,004 feet ■ the first quarter of 1945 from the 326,000,3 feet of film consumed in the last quarter 1944. This is more of a task than the bare ures indicate because earlier cuts have reived the "cushion" and stripped the supply rilously close to the .danger mark. The pre.r consumption of raw stock was close to 3,000,000 feet per quarter. ay Be Necessary ) Cut Releases A.lthough distribution executives are vigor3 in their avowed intention to avoid a de;ase in the number of releases, competent servers are predicting that this may become :essary. They point out that the only other momies would relate to production, prints, ivsreels and short subjects. Producers already are complaining about the Tservation program in the studios, contendl that it is cramping the full development of eduction potentials. The talent charged vvith ! manufacture of the screen supply grow :her heated in their argument that there is )oint in film conservation where the creative 3cess sufifers. Furthermore, they say, that int is being nudged sharply right now. They npare the editing of motion pictures and the isumption of footage in retakes to the preparan of a story. This footage they refuse consider as "waste," and home office execues are quite aware of impending opposition further conservation efforts in that direction, rhe supply of prints has long been a seri5 obstacle to full realization of distribution Freon Emergency Is Past^ Says WPB, But Flasks Are Scarce Exhibitors wil! be able to worry about wartime restrictions and other problems in comfort this summer. War Production Officials last week announced that the Freon emergency was over and that theatre showmen would be able to get supplies of the refrigerant within a short time. This means that theatres, in addition to those considered as "hardship cases", can get the gas in quantity for the first time since the start of the war. The largest civilian user, the motion picture house, probably will need no more than 250,000 pounds of the refrigerant to fill cooling plants to capacity. The War Production Board, operating on a geographical basis, has taken care of some 50 theatres which were on the verge of closing, starting with the Southern states first. With the completion of its construction program designed to more than double the 1942-43 output of Freon, production now is running about 5,000,000 pounds a month from establishments with potential capacities totaling 5,500,000 pounds. It was disclosed. An amendment to the Freon-control order Is being prepared, under which civilian consumers of the gas for comfort cooling will be enabled to secure supplies, to be placed in their own systems or their own storage containers, provided they return the empty flasks immediately. The current bottleneck In the picture Is not the refrigerant Itself, but containers for it. Only in the event that military demand for Freon or the chemicals from which It Is made takes a sudden upward spurt will It be necessary to hold any restrictions on its use this summer. It was said. revenue. Despite the fact that fewer pictures are being released, the supply currently is scarcely enough to meet the demand. Delays in transportation, caused by overloaded railroads and inadequate film carrier truck equipment aggravate the difficulty. Prints are deteriorating more rapidly because they can be inspected less frequently, must be run through the projectors a greater number of times and in many instances are subjected to less efficient handling in all departments. It is estimated in distribution circles that there has been a general reduction in print supply of approximately 10 per cent sincethe institution of the 25 per cent cut in 1942 from the base figure of roughly 350,000,000 feet per quarter in 1941. Very few of the heavy backlog of films in company vaults have been release printed. The companies for the most part now are operating on release prints taken from the allotment for the last quarter of 1944, and it is considered unlikely a backlog of prints can be built up under present conditions. Hits Pulled Before Full Gross Potential Taken Hit productions are being pulled from territories before their full gross potentials are realized in the later runs to build up the supply of prints in other areas where they are blazing a warmer trail of records. The demand for prints of smaller productions is increasing as extended runs and fewer releases tighten the product supply. Interchange of prints among exchanges at an accelerated pace has become the new routine. Playdates are being constantly shifted, and clearance schedules are bowing regularly to print supply. It is the consensus that there can be no substantial cut in prints without dislocation of operation. The theatre showmen undoubtedly will have plenty to say if the reduction is achieved by a decrease in the number of releases. Complaints of product shortage are general, and decidedly articulate. They are chiefly from the subsequentrun field, keyed to protests against extended runs that are largely blamed for the situation. Blast or no blast, however, it is generally believed the greatest amount of footage deficiency will be made up by longer spacing of releases. Proponents of this approach suggest it as the only definite, concrete saving that can be accurately pegged in advance. Calculations range from 30 to 44 fewer releases in 1945 if the cut extends through the year on the firstquarter basis. The informed impression, however, is that releases finally may be whittled by not more than 20 features. Newsreels Figure Importantly In Raw Stock Situation The newsreels figure importantly in the raw stock situation. Under the terms of an agreement announced in February, 1942, by the War Production Board on the recommendation of distributor members of the Industry Advisory Committee, the newsreel releases were cut from more than 900 feet down to 750 feet, from a total consumption of 60,000,000 feet per quarter to 52,000,000. The WPB sugsrested in conference with the distributors last week that newsreels be reduced still another 20 per cent, down to 600 feet per reel, or a total of 41,600,000 feet for the quarter. In their struggle to spread the new over-all cut,_the distributors, especially those with news affiliates, are opposing any further whittling in this direction. They point out that if the reels are cut any further, there will no longer be any newsreels worthy of the name; that with the most important story in their history to tell, the newsreels have the smallest amount of footage in which to tell it. The situation resolves itself into a picture (.Continued on foUowinq parte, column 1) )TION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 13, 1945 13