Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Mar 1954)

'tie Outyrmn the Old Picture ” fcaifJ AROUND the country, attending exhibitor conventions, we have occasionally ■ encountered the type of theatre manager who told us — "We have a little old picture show down the street" — and usually, it s just that — an old-fashioned store show, with swinging lobby doors that had once been painted white. Inside, you got an impression of what the movies were like in 1915. Back home in Pennsylvania, we started in that type of theatre, and we can grow nostalgic, just inhaling deeply when we enter such a place. It smells the same — and the “picture show’’ atmosphere continues, just as it was in the beginning. There are too many theatres of that kind, across the country, for the good of motion picture industry, in this year of 1954. If we can’t meet and match the new competition of today with reasonably modern exhibition and showmanship standards, then we carry a burden which will result in the gradual loss of loyal patronage. The "lost audience" simply spends more of its amusement and recreational dollar elsewhere — we get a far smaller share, because we fail to deliver in comparison with new dimensions in entertainment. We are reminded of these new standards by the fact that some exhibitor groups are fighting both state authority and local influence in their communites, to restore “bank nght” as a theatre give-away. “Bank night” should have gone out with the distribution of free dishes, years ago. There are many reasons why “bank night” is degrading and diminishing to motion picture prestige, and those who defend it are neglecting the business we are in, for another sales approach, which is the pitch of the carnival, the midway and the shooting-gallery. Our current film programs don’t require a crutch as an aid for lame showmanship. We can be proud of our real audience attractions. The Attorney General in Iowa has ruled that “bank night” is a lottery if it consists of three elements: (1) a consideration, (2) for a chance, (3) to win a prize. Reluctantly, he grants approval if the drawing STATE OF THE UNION There's not only more money to spend, but more people are spending it than ever before. 1953 will go down as the best business year in our history.. Output of goods is higher; individuals are getting more income; people, generally, are better off. There are sixty-six million more Americans , since the turn of the century, according to FORTUNE for January. Population has grown more in the past three and a half years than it did in a whole decade of the 1 930's., In this brief space, the American market has been enlarged by the size of Texas and Nebraska. Postwar babies have changed the U. S. market as much as they have changed the lives of their parents, says the magazine. "The Baby Boom" has one market ingredient more basic than money — people. Government figures released last August 10th showed a population of 161 millions, and since that August day, there has been a net gain of another million and a quarter! But film industry is losing its young audience on its own grounds! Have we failed to keep faith with the families who are our strength and support for the future? takes place at a time when the theatre is not open, or if the theatre is open, then any person may participate, without paying admission. Theatre patrons may “register" as members of a pool, if clearly established that there is no tie-in sale of theatre tickets and that anybody is eligible as a -contender. In other words, you can’t charge admission to a lottery — as “bank night” has been defined — so how do you figure this can be a victory for exhibitors and their lawyers? Far better to work with local merchants along lines that have never been questioned, for the logical and desirable sponsorship of many things that can be given away in theatres, as cooperative advertising. <J DID YOU KNOW you can buy cigarettes for less than 8c a package? That a case of 100 packages of “Lucky Strikes” or other brands, may be bought for $7.86 — for direct shipment to Veterans Administration Hospitals — Army, Air Force, Navy or Marine Hospitals, or the Armed Forces in Korea. This is manufacturer’s cost, tax-free. We point it out on this page to show you what a whale of a difference the tax makes. Cigarettes around here are considered cheap at 20c a package, by the carton. The service men got their cigarettes tax-free, through several World Wars, but the manufacturers always got their price — the price they get in this instance. Nobody pays more than this figure at the factory. So, there is no sacrifice or public service, involved — they are glad to sell just as many as possible to service men, as they are to distributors and jobbers, alike. It was only true of motion picture industry, and no others , that we gave the boys overseas of our film product, cost-free, as a generous and patriotic action. There were no free magazines or newspapers, no free articles of any sort, except films. <1 THE OTHER DAY we read one of those apparently innocuous little items in the papers that seems all right at the time, but when you think it over, you realize that real injustice has been done. The item reported that theatre building in Canada was down as compared with two previous years in the recent past. Any layman, reading it as written, would assume that motion picture business was “off" again. But the truth is, this misleading item failed to report that theatre income is at an all-time high in Canada, or the fact that in the previous years, Canadian circuits have built new theatres across Canada, the newest and finest theatres in North America — and quite naturally they can’t be expected to do it again right away. Motion picture business is good in Canada because they’ve made it good by their own efforts. — Walter Brooks MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JANUARY 9, 1954 37