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150 <^ ^> ^> The Motion Picture Industry
to be gained from the account. Over 5,000 of the 20,303 theaters are located in towns with a population of 2,500 or less. These theaters rent complete picture programs for as low as $5 a night, because by contracting for their programs in groups the selling costs of the distribution are so low that the pictures can be rented at this minimum figure. If the distributor had to sell each one of these small theaters each picture separately, the distribution cost would rise to at least $25 per picture or program, and in some cases it would reach $50. The producers and/or distributors, being compelled to sell their pictures separately with a resulting large increase in cost of distribution, would have to increase the prices of their pictures, and the exhibitors having to pay more for their pictures would have to increase their admission prices which the public, as is always the case, would have to pay. But when these admission prices are so greatly increased that they will become prohibitive — and that is what will occur — the public will refuse to go to the theaters and thousands of owners of the smaller theaters in the cities and towns throughout the country will be forced out of business. In my opinion one of the effects of this bill will be to eliminate automatically one-fifth of the motion picture theaters from the industry, and I submit that the abolition of the right of these distributors to wholesale their product and the imposition of these price-fixing provisions would be an unwarrantable interference with private business.
It was maintained also that block booking simplified the exhibitor's buying problem and enabled him to book an entire year's program in advance. Felix Feist,6 general sales manager of the Fox Film Corporation, testified that an exhibitor buying in blocks could ascertain early in the season just what his program for the season would be. Since he would know what stars especially popular with the public wrere to appear on his screen and when they were to appear, he would have the opportunity to arrange his program most effectively. Mr. Feist maintained that, if the exhibitor bought pictures individually, he would not know in advance what his program was to be.
That block booking guaranteed a definite income on all pictures was conceded to be of advantage to producers and
6 Federal Trade Commission v. Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, et al., record of testimony, pp. 173S4-17393.