Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

BRITISH CRISIS CUTS PRINT SUPPLY FOR REST OF YEAR Power Shortage Hits Lab Output, Production and Exhibition Equally by PETER BURNUP in London There is no shadow of a doubt that film programs this side will be affected throughout the present year because of the continuing coal and power shortages. The effect will be evident no matter how soon the Government lifts its present restrictions. It is reliably estimated that only 70 per cent of the normal year's supply of prints will be available for the remainder of 1947. Production has been hurt, raw stock manufacturers are close to closing, laboratories are in an equally sorry state, theatres cannot open before 4 P.M. each day. All-Industry Committee Given Plenary Powers Full appreciation of the grave circumstances came to the trade at large only when the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association convened its all-industry meeting on Thursday last and appointed a committee given plenary powers which practically amount to despotic control of the industry for the time being. At a Monday meeting, the committee was shown evidence that printing is assured for three weeks, but is doubtful for a fourth week. The committee has two lines of approach. It will bring every possible pressure to bear on the Government — inside and out of Parliament— to allow special fuel priorities to the laboratories and raw stock makers. It will also, in conjunction with the Kinematograph Renters Society, produce a revised release schedule which, it is hoped, will be met by a pooling of all printing resources. Exhibitors Face Reduction in Available Releases The latter proposal, at the best, will result in a radical reduction of releases on offer to exhibitors with a consequent considerable adjustment in distributor-exhibitor contracts. But all parties are agreed that in the present time of crisis revolutionary amendments of practice are needed if theatres are to be kept open. Feature release printing will have top priority. It is likely that, for the time being, printing of newsreels, shorts, trailers, and production rushes will cease completely. Crucial flash-point for the industry here will occur four or five weeks hence, unless the Government heeds the fervent and pronounced warnings already given it. Drastic overhauls of program arrangements are, as noted, now in process. But, without Governmental aid, it may well be BRITISH FILM REMITTANCE COMPARATIVELY SMALL Britain's import program for 1947 includes net film remittances of £18,000,000 ($72,000,000), the Reuters news agency reported from London Monday. Other items include tobacco, £50,000,000; petroleum production, £55,000,000; machinery and equipment (including ships), £60,000,000. The two largest items are £725,000,000 for food and supplies for agriculture and £525,000,000 for raw materials and supplies for industry. Only £35,000,000 is provided for consumer goods. The total imports program amounts to £1,450,000,000. that many theatres will be compelled to close for the sole reason that distributors no longer will be able to service them with films. Conditions at this reportiiig are: Motion picture theatres, so far as electric power and light are concerned, fall into the category of "domestic and non-industrial users." They are forbidden to open to the public until 4 P.M. Moreover, the use of power for such ancillary purposes as electrically-operated curtains or the illumination of advertising displays is forbidden. Theatres in Midlands Get No Electricity Priorities Electricity for industrial purposes was to be restored in the Midlands area Monday, but restrictions will continue on "domestic and .non-industrial users." Midlands theatres, accordingly, will continue to operate, for the period of the emergency, on conditions similar to those obtaining in other parts of the country. Studios, raw stock manufacturing plants and processing laboratories are all located in and around London, in what is known as the Southeastern region. It is extremely uncertain when the Government will allow electricity to be switched on in this area. All studios are carrying on with production; three of them, Denham, Pinewood and Ealing, with their own self-generating plants, the others with specially hired generators. But all production executives report that work is falling behind schedule. In regard to raw stock manufacturers, Eastman Kodak, which normally handles 80 per cent of the output, has been closed down for two weeks. Ilford is unable to produce negative stock due to lack of fuel. They have small supplies of material to meet their regular "positive" customers' demands, but say that without early fuel priority, all work in the plant shortly will be brought to an end. Laboratories are in a bad state. The largest plant, George Humphries, is closed down completely. The aggregate output of the laboratories is, at the moment, 40 per cent of normal. But continuance of output at this standard depends on the maintenance of the Diesel oil supply, now rapidly diminishing. Only Three to Four Weeks Stock Supply Available Close examination of stock resources reveal that present theatre operations can only continue for a further three to four weeks unless Government fuel priorities are issued to raw stock manufacturers and laboratory printers, or, alternatively, program arrangements are drastically revised. Interviews between the all-industry committee and Government officials already have occurred, with the former pressing the view that the maintenance of motion pictures should be regarded as an emergency operation. To date, there is no evidence of any relaxation of the official attitude. Heartening circumstance throughout the period of crisis has been the sturdy fashion in which motion picture securities maintained their stability on the London Stock Exchange. British industrial price-indices showed in many instances nigh-calamitous falls. Inevitably, motion picture stocks reacted to the general movement, but to nothing like the same degree. Extravagant estimates have been published in the newspapers of box office losses in these melancholy two weeks. By and large they are unrelated to reality. Analysis undertaken by this bureau shows that theatre attendances have been regulated strictly by local conditions. Computation reveals that throughout the 14 days the country's box office has fallen some 12 to 15 per cent. Top Pictures Draw Well Despite Storm's Wrath One odd characteristic appears in the attendance graph. People, it is clear, have been shopping for the better attractions. Crowded evening houses have been the rule for pictures like "Notorious" and "Odd Man Out," even in the midst of the blizzard's wrath. However, certain less meritorious films have died like dogs in the snow. The industry's trades unions have fallen decently into line in the emergency. On the second day of the crisis, Tom O'Brien, intransigent general secretary of the National Association of Theatrical and Kine Employees, sent out peremtory instructions to all his union's local branches that the brethren should do all they could to help the show go on. Union members have rallied around. It's a gesture much appreciated and one which will not soon be forgotten. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH I, 1947 21