Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

November S , 1 9 30 Mot, P i c t u r c X 55 MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE CLUB Charles E. Lewis Qhaibman. euid fjditat. in -» MOTION PICTURE NEWS tpeku Ql/eeA -~fot c^utual Sene/ii and iPtaateffs Conducted By An Exhibitor For Exhibitors SALARIES ! THE oft-heard expression, "The laborer is worthy of his hire," apparently never received much attention from theatre owners — if present day managers' salaries are any criterion. There was a time, in what now seems like the dim and distant past, when men entrusted with the management of a large and expensive theatre were paid a salary somewhat commensurate with the responsibilities of such a position. Then came — not the dawn — but chain theatre control and the none to gentle process of cutting overhead. And for some unknown reason that process always started with the manager's salary. Yet, if you stop to analyze the operating expense of a theatre you will soon find that the cost for the man who runs the house is one of the smallest items of all the essentials needed to properly operate the house. Aside from stimulating interest in the theatre and increasing its receipts, the manager must mix with the various organizations in the community and while the theatre may bear the dues for membership in those organizations, the manager, as a representative citizen in the community, is often put to the expense of those many items corn Table of Contents *t Six Months Club Index 'I Friedman Secured Police Help r Holden's Ticket Stunt " Glaser Received Picture Free r "The Showman's Calendar" 11 Patrons Aided Harrison 11 Hart's Showmanship Good r Brewer Boosted Business I Briant Engineered Campaign II C. J. Latta Is Promoted r Bernstecker Crashed Papers fl Palmer Is Patting It Over Big r Brewer Boosted Business H Sherred Ran a Minstrel Show " Phillips Had Some Ace Tie-Ups H "What Is Exploitation?" H Jean LaRoe Gave Her Impressions ^ "Spread a Little Sunshine" 1! Saxton Gathers Publicity I Jerabeck Sells Them 1! McKoy Passes Along a Couple r "Personalities" H Stores Helped Short II Morris Turns Out Great Campaigns ' Moon Clicks Again! 1! Weiss Hitting Them Out U "Benefit Performances" r Bevel's Displays Sell ' Craite Had a Great Kid Show H Perry Grabs More Space H Locomotive Was I'sed by LeKander 11 Smith Gave Away Football Schedules U Bcckerich Introduces New Type of Sign ' McCallon Featured Special Supplement J Bair Used Hill's Ad It Consolidated Circuit LTsing New Programs 1i Richardson's Atmospheric Front 11 Fourmet Had a Flashy Float r Bollin Doing Corking Work T Tate Tied-Up Legion Drum Corps ing under the heading of entertainment and goodwill. He must dress and look neat at all times and that costs plenty, too. Then he must be an able executive both in his contact with merchants and civic leaders as well as in his relations with the general public and his staff. He must keep an ever-watchful eye on every part of the theatre's equipment so as to avoid expensive breakdowns and replacements. Summing up in as brief a way as possible, he must carry the entire responsibility of an investment running from several hundred thousands to sometimes a million dollars. And for all of that work, all of that effort, all of that responsibility, they tell him that the house cannot afford to pay more than "just so much," which in many instances means fifty to seventy-five dollars a week. A man capable of looking after an investment involving so much money, a man who understands his job and looks after every detail of it as though it were his own personal investment, and, above all, a man who is, admittedly, the right man for the job, deserves a damned sight more than seventy-five dollars a week. We hope to see the day when a happier condition will exist between theatre-owners and managers on the salarv question. " •'Chick."