The Moving picture world (January 1922)

January 7, 1922 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 39 mitted to unkind fate, but have gritted their teeth and held on through it all. As a result there is not on record a single notable managerial collapse. His Company Prosperous "Taking courage from this meritorious example, the public has responded nobly and business is rapidly approaching the normal. I am happy to admit that the Stanley Company of America is flourish- ing and enjoying an unprecedented pros- perity; that there is a constantly grow- ing clientele for the photoplay whose de- mands for the best films are increasingly exacting. This fine discrimination is the hope of the industry, and it will act alike as a stimulus to the producer and the men and women devoting themselves to the pic- ture creation of the best type. The pic- ture theatre can only flourish by its attractiveness and its satisfying the re- quirements of the public, as is true in all fields of public entertainment." Mr. Mastbaum keeps in close touch with the business conditions generally and he feels that the picture theatre is a barometer of general conditions. Such being the case, he feels that there is a most encouraging improvement in the business through the country, for attend- ance at the picture theatres has been im- proving greatly since the summer slump, he says, and it is to be anticipated that the new year will see a great boom in the industry. Kline Confident George Kline, representative for George Bennethum, who operates a chain of the- atres throughout the state, has the utmost confidence for an unusually prosperous New Year during 1922. At a meeting of prominent bankers and financiers held in Philadelphia recently, where the discussions were about the future of the business conditions for the United States, it was said that there is a larger reserve of gold in this country than anywhere else in the world. It was at this conference that Mr. Kline became convinced that the future for the exhibi- tor is brighter than ever before. There- fore, under the present stated conditions, this country becomes the most powerful factor in restoring the equilibrium of the world. Furthermore, money will be available to every foreign country for loans, providing that it shall be used to purchase American manufactured goods. Under this plan Mr. Kline foresees the reopening of idle mills in this country and the reinstatement of thousands of unem- ployed. "Motion pictures, being the leading en- tertainment and recreation for millions of Americans, will certainly benefit during the course of events just as sure as the sun rises and sets," said Mr. Kline. Michigan Awaits Return of Prosperity in 1922 with the Fullest Confidence WHEN Old Father Time writes his summary of conditions in Mich- igan he will have to say: "The ;^ear of 1921 was undoubtedly the poorest for the exhibitors in the history of the motion picture industry." However, he will also state that the year of 1922 is certain to show great improvement. During the previous years, Michigan enjoyed great prosperity due to the fact that this is the center of the world for motor car manufacturing. Practically every one of the larger cities has "motor manufacturing" for its leading industry. This is true of Detroit, Pontiac, Lansing, Saginaw, Flint, Jackson and Kalamazoo. In Grand Rapids, the second largest city in Michigan, we have the furniture indus- try as the main employer of labor; in Bat- tle Creek, Bay City and Port Huron, the leading industry is not motors. Previous Prosperity - During the years 1919 and 1920, fol- lowing the Armistice, the demand for motor cars was so great that the motor factories were paying unheard prices for labor, skilled and unskilled. This nat- urally brought to Michigan a great many single men and they spent their money "like water." Almost any kind of amuse- ment proved highly profitable, and exhibi- tors themselves became careless in their manner of presentation, neither were they very particular about the class of pictures they booked. The- slogan in Michigan seemed to be "easy come—easy go" and the exhibitors "coined" money. But the motor industry hit a terrible slump the latter part of 1920 which was really not seriously felt until January of 1921. The slump continued until the early part of the summer; then conditions improved and they have been improving steadily. While at the present time none of the factories are busy, the outlook for the New Year is exceedingly good. Manu- facturers are planning on almost normal production and men who are authorities in the industry predict that 1922 will be one of the best years the motor industry has ever had, and they are preparing ac- cordingly. In fact, already there is great activity at many of the accessory manu- facturing plants, which is indeed a healthy sign. Prices Stable Admission prices in Michigan seem to be about where they were for the past few years. In a few instances, there have been reductions, but on the whole, prices are about where they have been right along. Exhibitors contend that it is al- most impossible to lower their admission prices with the present high film rentals on good productions, the high wages to musicians, operators and high overhead costs. They do not believe that a few cents ofiF the admission price is going to stimulate new business. In fact, they be- lieve that if conditions were normal the present scale of prices would not be con- sidered out of reason. The public expects more today when they go into a picture house and the exhibitors seem to be "giv- ing the public what it demands." We believe that we would be "hitting the tack on the head" if we were to say that business the past year has been fully 50 per cent, oflf as a general average. Some say it is only one-third oflf, while others say it is sixty per cent. oflF, all depending upon the city, the class of industries there and the location of the house. In Detroit and other large cities in the state, competition is much keener than it was formerly. With increased seating capacity and less people employed, it could hardly be expected that theatres would be doing their normal business, and when conditions do improve the industry will have to face keen competition. And it's the old story that every time a new the- atre goes up in a city "somebody must get hurt." This applies particularly to De- troit, Flint and a number of other large cities where new theatres have been erect- ed the past year. When all is said and done, one feature of the present situation stands out forci- bly—the public is waiting for the big special productions and they are spending the money to see them. The proof of the pudding is the success of the big pictures released this year and the fact that exhi- bitors are booking them readily and for longer runs than usual. Kunsky Optimistic John H. Kunsky, who operates a chain of ten theatres in Detroit and who is just completing the New Capitol, seating 4,250, which is to be an exclusive picture house in the downtown section, says: "We have suffered like everybody else, although we have tried in every way to keep up the quality of our shows week in and week out. We believe that the pic- ture business will show great improve- ment just as soon as things in general open up, which is bound to be the early part of 1922. We had good times before 1921 and if we just have patience we will have them again." Phil Gleickman, managing director of the Broadway-Strand Theatre, Detroit, said: "Business has been oflF since the early part of the year and the summer was the worst in the history of the house, owing to the long period of hot weather. However, business has shown great im- provement since September and we have had some mighty big weeks on our big