Motion Picture Reviews (1934)

Motion Picture Reviews Three MOTION * PICTURE * REVIEWS Published monthly by THE WOMEN’S UNIVERSITY CLUB LOS ANGELES BRANCH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN Mrs. Palmer Cook, General Co-Chairman Mrs. John Vruwink, General Co-Chairman Mrs. A. M. Marsh, Bus. Manager Mrs. Chester A. Ommanney, Preview Chairman Mrs. Charles Booth Assistant Preview Chairmen Mrs. Thomas B. Williamson Mrs. Lucile R. Eastham, Circulation Manager EDITORS Mrs. Palmer Cook Mrs. J. Allen Davis Mrs. George Ryall Mrs. Walter Van Dyke Mrs. John Vruwink Address all communications to The Women’s University Club, 943 South Hoover St., Los Angeles, Calif. Advance Supplement is published and mailed approximately the 15th of each month. 1 Oe Per Copy $1.00 Per Year Vol. VI JULY 1934 No. I EDITORIAL Popular sentiment is becoming more articulate daily with Regard to the type of motion picture entertainment given week by week. It has always been the contention of the women's groups that if the exhibitors could consistently offer a delightful family program weekly, much of the agitation for censorship and legal control of attendance would die down, or at least fail to have the wide backing which it is gradually gaining. Expressed public approval of the Catholic “Legion of Decency” shows the trend which needs only a little more momentum to become a concerted move toward legal control in many communities. Better Films Committees have labored for years to get either family night programs or junior matinees. Today they are farther from success than ever before and exhibitors give various reasons for failing to comply. An article in “Parents’ Magazine” by Marguerite Benson, offers the public the hope that because of the specifications of new Motion Picture Code, theatre managers can find it easier now to comply with community wishes. We believe that as far as children’s welfare is concerned the situation is as impossible as ever. Miss Benson says that a theatre manager is no longer “forced” to show a picture on any given day of the week. This is true in theory but not in effect. Why? Because most pictures are now sold on the percentage basis. This makes the distributor and the exhibitor virtual partners in the deal. They know that week-end dates are the best; they soon know what pictures sell best to the public. It is business instinct to draw the drowd while playing dates coincide with the availability of the film, whether the picture is suitable for family audiences or not. Exhibitors approve the percentage arrangement. It is fairer in that they do not take so great a chance on pictures. If the film fails they do not carry the load ; if it succeeds they are willing to pay to higher rental. But also the distributor, who is more closely connected with the producer, has more to say about playing dates. True, he cannot “force” or “coerce by threat” but he now has more interest in the theatre and he can make the film “available” on dates which are most prolific financially. The exhibitor has always had the right, we understand, to refuse to play any film which would be offensive to his community. But any better films committee must appreciate that no exhibitor will fail to play a paying film. It is only through the box office that he