Motion Picture News (Apr-Jun 1919)

May 10, 1 9 1 9 3015 nyway : Hot Shot from Fred Warren — Statement from Pathe — Who's Next? PAUL BRUNET, vice-president of Pathe, goes goes back to matters of record in his statement of the booking policy of his company. Advertisements appearing in Mottox Picture News are the evidence he presents. The statement follows : With the strong possibility that open booking will be practically universal in the industry with this coming fall, it is interesting to note that one of the large companies, Pathe, announced an open booking policy in a series of advertisements in the Motion Picture Xews in March and April of 1918. To Pathe, therefore, goes the credit for the foresight that enabled it to put into practice, so many months ago. a policy which, now events have proven, is based on sound logic and business common sense. Paul Brunet vice-president and general manager of Pathe Exchange, last March made a careful investigation of conditions throughout the trade and by letter and telegrams communicated with representative exhibitors in all parts of the country. Among the men who replied to Mr. -Brunei's questioner at length, were S. Barrett McCormack, William Sievers, Harold Franklin, Turner and Dahnken, E. Mandelbaum, Ernest Boehringer, Thomas Saxe. Nathan Gordon, Howard S. Clemmer, Ralph Ruffner, Thomas Soriero, and many others. The demand for open booking as expressed by the opinion of the majority oi those questioned, was so apparent that Pathe puts its productions upon the Open Booking Plan on April 15, 1918. Mr. Brunet summed up the reasons for this radical move in a statement issued at that time as follows: "All exhibitors who have contracts for Pathe plays will on April 15 and thereafter, be allowed to select Pathe plays in accordance with the policy referred to above, beginning with the next feature they are to run, while exhibitors whose contracts with Pathe plays do not go into effect until April 15, will be permitted to select their pictures from the beginning. On the other hand, all exhibitors will be sure of a Pathe feature every two weeks if they want it, thus eliminating the uncertainty of the so-called 'wild cat' plan of booking. The natural result of this liberal policy should be an increase in quality of productions, and the playing of each picture by exhibitors on a basis of merit means that the best pictures will earn the money they deserve without being handicapped by the weaker ones; while the latter will be placed upon the market at a price commensurate with their value." The Pathe Open Booking System has now been running for over a year. The best evidence of its success is the fact that Mr. Brunet plans to continue it. At the time that it was inaugurated, it was fully appreciated it meant that the weaker pictures would suffer by being thrown into direct competition with the best pictures put out through the same organization, but it was thought, and events have justified the belief, that the strong pictures would do a business sufficiently above the normal to more than make up for the difference. It is interesting to note that during the last twelve months Pathe has done with " Common Clay " and other pictures of the class, a much larger business than was ever possible under the old program system. It is evident, then, that with cold business figures as the basis for comparison, the tendency most inevitably would be to eliminate weaker pictures entirely and thus to advance the quality of every picture released, and this is what has happened with Pathe. The good pictures have not been compelled to bear the burden of putting over an inferior product. The exhibitor has been pleased with this system because he has been enabled to take as many or as few pictures as he wanted, and to pay what the picture was worth. He has not been buying " a pig in a poke ; " he has been able to select his pictures for himself, and thus, in turn, has given his audiences, in many instances, better shows. When Mr. Brunet was seen at his office and questioned regarding this Open Booking Plan, of which he was a true pioneer, he said, in part, as follows : " We are offering to the exhibitors to-day, pictures singly or in blocks, as few or as man} as they want We have many customers who prefer the program system, and we cater to their wishes and needs by furnishing to them a complete program. Conditions in various parts of the country vary so that it is obvious a booking system which would be very desirable in one town would be undesirable in another, and our Selective Service Plan is sufficiently broad and First Unit Program to Be Given Premiere Showing at io O'clock Morning of May 9 SAMUEL L. ROTHAPFEL'S first Unit Programme is slated to be given its premiere showing to the trade and press Friday morning, Ma}' 9, at 10:00 o'clock, at the Rialto Theatre, according to an announcement made by Frank G. Hall, vicepresident, Rothapfel Picture Corporation, whose interests, Independent Sales Corporation and Film Clearing House, Inc., are handling the distribution of the Rothapfel Unit With the premiere of Mr. Rothapfel's production, members of the trade and press will witness the debut of the most distinctive and novel programme of pantornimic performance ever presented in any theatre at any time or place for its presentation gives to the screen the first unified conception of completeness in a motion picture theatre's programme, created by the same hand, emanating from and produced under the supervision of the same creator — Samuel L. Rothapfel. exhibitor, producer, musical director and the elastic to enable us to adequately supply the needs oi any exhibitor anywhere." We are doing business with many exhibitors to-day on features whom we found it impossible to interest in the days when we adhered to the program plan of booking. Such exhibitors are now playing our features of the class of " Common Clay,51 paying us good prices for them, and doing splendidly with them. The Open Booking Plan, then, has been of direct and decided help to our Feature Department. Personally, I am strongly of the belief that it is the only fair way of doing business — to sell a man just what he wants and no more than he wants, and to allow him the privilege of selection and rejection. That the system has had a very excellent effect upon the quality of the Pathe releases is very apparent to us. When we changed our booking policy, we -felt that exhibitors who were being compelled to sign long-term contracts — were being made to "hold the bag." We knew that it would only be a question of time before conditions would have to change, and we deter^ mined to anticipate that time. We made many friends by so doing, and we lost none of our old ones. It has interested me greatly to learn that competing organizations have at last either come around to our way of thinking, or at least given ample evidence that the}" are considering doing so. " The Pathe policy of to-day may be summed up in a few words; have something to interest ever} exhibitor, give io him what he wants and that at prices which he can afford to pay. We can think of no fairer policy." first to put into actual practice and to create a complete programme of motion pictures with musical accompaniment In presenting the Rothapfel Programme for the first time to any audience, Mr. Hall and Harry P. Diggs, exploitation manager for the Hall interests, have considered, not only the Metropolitan trade and press but arrangements have been made whereby a representative of ever}' important newspaper and motion picture periodical in the United States will be present so that the press of the entire country can give its own opinion of Mr. Rothapfel's first efforts in the production field. Special night letters were sent, this week, to the exhibitors throughout the country, inviting them to be present at the showing and it is expected that the representation of exhibitors of the country will show a big percentage. The invited guests, including the press and exihibitors who have booked week stands on the Programme will rema-n in New York as Mr. Rothapfel's and Mr. Hall's guests and everything will be done to place the wel(Continued on page 3018) Rothapfel Shows First Program