The Moving picture world (January 1922)

January 7, 1922 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 45 provement. The outlook for 1922 is very bright. The results attained at the dis- armament conference will have a wonder- fully stabilizing eflPect on industry. There will be released money for new enter- prises. The mechanics skilled in war work may suffer, but generally conditions will benefit. Theatres are in the midst of a slump due to the holidays and industrial conditions. It takes greater effort to get orders, but our business is almost normal. The theatre man of the future will be a better business man because of the experi- ences of the present times." Charles T. Sears, Grand Theatre, Brookfield, Mo., president Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Missouri: "The new year will see many exhibitors benefit. The exhibitors will no longer be burdened with the 5 per cent, film rental tax which was passed on by the producers, and those exhibitors who have 10-cent ad- missions will be relieved of the war tax. Our organization has been most success- ful in defeating attempts to inflict cen- sorship and the blue laws on the exhibitors. I feel 1922 will be a big year for the industry in general." Pacific Northwest Conditions Generally Bad But Improving GENERALLY speaking, business conditions in the Pacific North- west are bad. In some parts of the territory, however, they are better than in others. Seattle and Tacoma, robbed of their shipbuilding payrolls, are dead. Portland, with some shipbuilding still going on and with preparations al- ready under way for the World's Fair in 1925, is looking up, but this does not apply to the surrounding territory. Wenatchee and the Okanogan country, on account of good fruit crops, is fairly prosperous. There is room for improve- ment, however, which higher fruit prices might bring. Yakima is another center favorably affected by the fruit industry. Aberdeen and the Grays Harbor country has been slow up to the last few weeks, when the lumber mills began to operate on full time and to full capacity. Now the picture theatres are feeling the in- crease in business very noticeably.' Spo- kane, which draws on a large agricultural community, is better than the coast cities. On the other hand, Montana, which for two years after the armistice was cited by film salesmen as the best part of the territory, is now worse than the rest, as is shown by the frequency of the closings of theatres through the state. Idaho is not quite so bad. Closings are rather frequent through the entire territory, although the closing of two or three small theatres in a com- munity has often been counterbalanced by the building of a larger, more modern house, and this is proof of a decided ten- dency towards optimism for the future. Such optimism was voiced by several rep- resentative exhibitors. Exhibitor Statements J. G. Von Herberg of the firm of Jen- sen & Von Herberg, said: "Business in general has turned the cor- ner of depression and has begun a very gradual rise. The picture business, since it does not accompany but follows gen- eral business conditions, has hardly had time to feel the improvement, but it is coming just as certainly. It will be a long time, I fear, before we can count on the usual program picture bringing in S.R.O. business. But the new prosperity will be founded on sound economics and so will last." John Hamrick, manager of the Blue Mouse Theatres in Seattle and Portland, said: "The people will come in paying num- bers to see only the biggest, best pro- ductions, so it's up to the producers to give us fewer, bigger and better pictures all the time. I think the day is perma- nently past when the public will pay to see mediocre films indifferently presented, but I expect a gradual improvement dur- ing the coming year." Donald Geddes, manager of three the- atres in residential districts, said: "The raising of the street car fares in Seattle helped the neighborhood theatres to weather a depression that otherwise might have been dangerous for even the strongest of us. We hope that before they are lowered next July business will have improved sufficiently to enable us to get by. We expect the improvement to begin soon after the New Year or by spring at the latest." L. H. Walton, manager of the Ameri- can Theatre, Bellingham, said: "Bellingham has been hard hit lately, but business men think that with the weeding out of the weaker firms trade will settle down to a firm foundation soon after the New Year. As soon as general business is operating on a sound basis the picture business will begin to improve. We hardly expect anything like satisfactory business before next fall, but once it comes it will continue to im- prove steadily." Fred Mercy of Yakima, owner of a string of houses in that city, said: "Business is not what it has been, but we have little to complain about. We are making money, which is rnore than can be said in some communities, and every indication is for a steady improve- ment after the New Year and next fall." Canada Pro.spects Are Reported as Highly Encouraging THE general status of the picture the- atre in Canada during the past year has been materially raised through various developments along the line of general improvement in theatre structures as a whole, advancement in the art of moving picture and musical presentation, standardization of theatre operation and knowledge gained through general experi- ence. The actual number of theatres in the Dominion has been little changed, but there is scarcely a city or town of any importance in the whole country that does not boast a handsome picture playhouse which has displaced at least one dingy and outgrown theatre. Many Long Runs One of the outstanding developments in Canada during the past year has been the tendency toward prolonged special en- gagements for film successes. First runs of from three to nine weeks in many of the key cities of the Dominion have been seen with frequency during the past twelve months. "The Four Horsemen" played nine weeks in Toronto without a jjreak for its first run; "Way Down East" had four weeks in Toronto, as did the "Three Musketeers," "Over the Hill," "The Better 'Ole" and others. A consid- erable number of pictures have played two weeks at one house in Toronto and in various other cities, unusual attractions have enjoyed extended runs up to three and four weeks. Another sign of the recent times has been the move on the part of a number of exhibitors in scattered sections of the Dominion to standardize admission prices. In numerous houses, a former scale of prices, representing a spread of perhaps 15 or 25 cents has been concentrated into a straight fee for any part of the theatre for either afternoons or evenings. Thus, there base become a flat price for any seat in the house. Building Ceasing The "building age" in the picture the- atre field in Canada apparently came to an end during the fall of 1921. For about two years previous to this last autumn, prominent picture theatre interests were literally chasing around the country to open great houses. The building program of the l;.rge corporations has evidently come to a close, however, and the com- panies now seem to be satisfied to operate present chains of houses. With particularly hot weather last July and because of general transitional mar- ket conditions, along with a desire on the part of exhibitors to modernize their houses, more than the average number of theatres in Canada closed for varying pe- riods last summer. Since that time, wages have been revised, admission prices have been slightly reduced and patronage soon climbed back to normal. Therefore, pros- pects are highly encouraging. Gibbons Renews Contract Goldwyti announces that its art director at the Culver City studios. Cedric Gibbons, has renewed his contract and will remain with the corporation as head of the art department for a term of years. Mr. Gibbons has constructed for the firm many unusual and artistic settings, such as those for "Bunty Pulls the Strings."