Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

Vol. XLII NEW YORK CITY, DECEMBER 6. 1930 No. 23 A TRIPLE BARRELED GUN, LOADED WITH WISDOM S AMUEL GOLDWYN on one side of a desk, the writer facing him and listening: "For ten years or more I have been arguing that production must be cut before motion pictures can expect to show improvements in quality. "Personalities are too rare, writers are too hard to get and good stories are not sufficient in number to make wholesale production a success. Business is bad enough. It will get worse unless this industry does something to break down picture-making founded on numbers rather than merit." An Argument, Open and Shut FACT-SEARCHING Bob Cochrane explaining his slant on merchandising across a different desk: "Good pictures deserve every boost they can get, regardless of who makes them. That explains why we are merchandising our film as never before. The public will come to patronize worthwhile product if it knows about it. Our job is to make the exhibitor conscious of that, or he can't be expected to pass on his convictions to the public. "The company that fails to advertise and merchandise is tacitly admitting it hasn't got the stuff to sell. We are returning to the cardinal principles of advertising and the results are demonstrating the idea to be correct." The Key to Chain Operation AROLD B. FRANKLIN, fired with enthusiasm over his proposed national circuit, at the breakfast table: "Local, decentralized operation with the H man who built his patronage at the helm wherever we can persuade him to stay. That's a highlight of the plan. Coupled with this will be the benefits of a national merchandising, national service and a high standard in operation which a plan like this makes possible for the first time in the history of the small, unattached exhibitor." Backing Up Several Authorities WE'RE chortling with delight. Not because Goldwyn, eminently successful producer, agrees with all we have said about production and its ills, but rather because a weighty opinion now backs up that stand. Fewer pictures, more carefully planned and more meticulously executed, produced by individual creators — not production czars — provide the one certain way out of the morass. It may happen. It may not, but if it doesn't, kiss the profits of the business a regretful farewell. Two Theories Turn Into Facts COCHRANE, film-wise and advertising smart, recognizes the emotional stimulus which pictures must have to make exhibitors get behind them. He admits and readily concedes that it is trade paper copy alone that can turn the trick. That's why Universal, doing exactly that, is attracting more exhibitor attention than has come its way in years. Franklin, showman de luxe, recognizes that the future of successful theatre operation depends on humanizing the system. That means the key factor is the local operator who grew up with his house. The idea cannot miss. Watch for the proof. K ANN Published wreklv by Motion Pictnre News. Inc. Founded in September, 1913. Publication. Editorial and General Offices. 729 Seventh Avenue, New York Citv. B. J. Hudson, President and Publisher; Maurice D. Kann, Editor: Charles F. Hvnes. Managing Editor; Robert Hage. Vews Editor; James P. Cunninoham, Technical Editor; Raymond E. Gallagher. Advertisinn Manager. Los Angeles Office, Hotel Roosevelt, Hollywood; William Crouch. Western Representative. Chicago Office. 910 So. Michigan Avenue. Harry E. Holauist. Central West Representative. Subscription Prices: $3.00 Per year in United States. Mexico, and all U. S. Possessions. Canada, $5.00. Foreign, $10.00. Copyright, 1930, fry Motion Picture News. Inc., United States and Great Britain. Title registered in United States Patent Office and Foreign. Entered as secondclass matter at the Post Office. Nnv Y-ork, April 22, 1926, under Act of March 3, 1879.