Moving Picture News (Jul-Oct 1913)

Suggestions Invited, Questions Cheerfully Answered Address: Appearance Department, Exhibitors' Times I MET an exhibitor somewhat worried at the building of a new theatre close to his place. As this new theatre, according to the plans and advertisements, will be the most modern picture show in the neighborhood, there is good ground to fear serious competition. i have investigated matters, and I have found that while the owner of the new place is willing to be liberal with his money on the construction of the theatre, he has no experience in the show business and believes, like too many other exhibitors, that he can win by giving the quantity. My advice to our friend exhibitor, who for the past years has conducted a good, clean and decent show, is as follows : You need not fear the coming competition, unless the owner should decide to engage an experienced manager. There is really no danger of such a move as the owner, like so many of his class, has an idea that anyone can show motion pictures, like the Italian who hires an organ and goes along the streets turning the crank and collecting the pennies. Your new competitor is no more an enterprising young man and never had any experience in the show business. His life has been spent at his livery-stable, all the time near horses and keeping company with men who in general have not the manners and language of a parlor. That he will offer you a bitter competition there is no doubt, because he is just the man to offer an extra long program at the start, and to offer all sorts of inducements to get the patronage away from your theatre. If you know how to conduct yourself, if you pay no attention to his competition, if you do not try to follow him in his foolish policy, but remain dignified, you will win. The chances are that he will put himself out of business before he forces you to close. This is not the first case, and will not be the last one, as each day we find a horse-shoer, a livery stable man, a peddler, etc., anxious to invest his savings in a motion picture show, with the desire to close the theatres of his competitors and monopolize the business to himself. Thus far, you have conducted a clean, decent show, you have made a good name, you have a fine patron A WELL-UNIFORMED ATTENDANT age; it is up to you to continue in the same line and not vulgarize your theatre by giving a too long program or by offering all sorts of inducements. In this world we cannot get goods without paying for them. A long program costs more money and if you cannot afford to pay the difference, you have to lower the quality for the sake of the quantity and consequently displease your patrons and force them to go elsewhere. If to meet your competitor you increase your weekly expenses $50 for extra reels, extra posters and advertisements, extra singers and souvenirs, you increase your yearly expenses something like $3,500, and what do you get for this amount? Practically nothing, except a lot of worry. Your competitor will still increase his program to force you to go deeper and deeper into your bank account. Do not fight your new competitor on expenses because he has made much money in trading horses, and he may be financially the stronger man. Fight him on a ground strange to him, fight him on appearance and manners, on appropriate music and good projection, fight him on what the lovers of motion pictures expect from a manager — good, courteous manners and the quality in preference to the quantity. My advice is to remain dignified. Your new competitor, with his ideas of a livery stable, will not be particular on the selection of his pictures; he will be governed by the posters and to give a long program he will be satisfied with a mediocre pianist and cheap attendants. His long program of sensational films will bring him undoubtedly a good patronage of the undesirable element, noisy and boisterous fellows, who on account of incompetent ushers will have the place to themselves and keep the real lovers of motion pictures from visiting his place. Clean your house, give it a fresh coat of paint if necessary, show a moderate size picture, see that your projection is the best. Abandon the use of posters but purchase some neat brass frames for hand-painted signs. All that the patrons care to know is the title of the picture and the name of the maker. Such hand-painted signs do not cost much, yet they give an appearance of refinement to a theatre, they draw the best patronage and keep away the undesirable element. Complete the good appearance by