Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher TERRY RAMSAYE Editor April 19, 1947 TAXES, TAXES, TAXES THE tax outlook for the motion picture theatre gets no better, fast. Unless a vigorous movement in defense of the screen develops and proceeds to victory — accompanied, perhaps, by a touch of miracle — there are to be more and bigger taxes all over the map. As all the governments, from the little town taxing districts up through and to Washington, engage in both extending and expanding social and political enterprises, the demand for money from the public grows and grows. The motion picture audience is conspicuously an opportunity. And always somebody is pushing the movement. An especially gratuitous manifestation was had last week in New York when The Times headlined an amusement page piece by Mr. Sam Zolotow "Rialto Tips Mayor to Revenue Boost". It said: "... A prominent showman, who prefers to remain anonymous, volunteers the suggestion: Increase the annual license fee for picture houses from $200 to $500, the sum paid by the so-called legitimate theatres. ..." The Rialto, you will note, is anonymous. However, we'll bet that "prominent showman" did not say "so-called legitimate", even if it is. Anyway, he is no help. Further, the functioning and social import of New York City's seven hundred motion picture theatres are not comparable with the stage houses of the Rialto. And the while consider again that, effective July I, the State of New York has a law which empowers counties and cities to levy and collect taxes on admissions. That blanket authorization is not only invitation within this state; it is precedent and precept to the whole country. Again, we observe that the marquee lights and the flow of admissions make the motion picture box office a shining mark for the hungry tax assessors. There is also that apparently inevitable and incurable impression so widely held that everywhere the films touch is a region flecked with gold and oozing money. Every big business has big figures, and the broader and deeper the service the bigger the figures are likely to be. Sharp reference to the motion picture tax situation is made in last week's bulletin from the Allied States Association in the observation: "Whoever heard of Congress or any state legislature putting a special excise tax on newspapers, magazines or books? If that were attempted, the cry would immediately arise that the communication of intelligence was being burdened; that the freedom of the press was in danger. Yet it has become the fashion to bracket admission taxes with excises on whiskey, cigarettes and other whipping boys of the tax collector." It is appropriate to recall here that pointed communication from Mr. Hugh G. Martin, circuit operator, in The Herald of December 21, 1946, urging that the exhibitor engage in making his patrons conscious of box office taxes, by a whole array of devices. He said: "As long as you make the tax easy to pay, the public will accept such taxation as fair, and forget about it." Taxes have a way of hiding. MR. CHAPLIN'S ADVENTURE EXAMINATION of the assorted and not so variant judgments of the reviewers of "Monsieur Verdoux" indicates that Mr. Charles Chaplin has arrived on the screen with a second ambitious endeavour at a picture with a message. His first was "The Great Dictator" if one excepts "Modern Times" which partook mostly of reminiscence of his slapstick days. In his press interviews preliminary to this New York premiere Mr. Chaplin has been quoted as considering that "things", meaning the world, "are in a mess"; also that Hollywood is falling "behind the times". We have heard all that before, with embellishments, from internal and external critics who would tell the picture makers what to do. With Mr. Chaplin one may have a bit more patience. He says pictures should be different and makes one — his script, his casting, his direction, his musical score — and at his own expense. He is quoted as saying that there is great need for "experimenting". His picture is a two million dollar experiment, fill BUYING COMFORT A NEAT ACCENT on the importance of physical aspects of the theatre appears in this year's report on the annual questionaire which Mr. Sidney L. Bernstein of the Grenada group in Britain presents to his patrons. The inquiry covers about fifty theatres in London and immediately adjacent regions. Thirty-one percent of the customers responding said that their choice of theatres was conditioned or controlled by the quest of the maximum comfort. One specialized plea, sixth in a list of recommended improvements, was a demand for "more leg space" in seats. Twenty-one percent of the respondents said that, having decided to attend the cinema, they then shopped for what promised to be the best picture in the area. ■ ■ ■ COLOUR COMING UP WHILE controversy still smolders among television interests over colour telecasting, and while colour on the screen continues to increase, there is a quietly pursued evolution of colour in the newspapers which only waits on presses and newsprint capacities. The Newspaper Advertising Association has reported on an analysis of five million responses to 3,500 advertisements showing that the colour presentations brought 53 per cent higher responses than black and white. The newspapers are intent on improving their competitive position against the radio and the ornate multi-coloured magazines. That will mean the flowering of new techniques in amusement advertising, too. For newspaper work it will mean copy prepared well in advance, and no lastminute cancellations or changes. — Terry Kamsaye