Showmen's Trade Review (1939)

July 22, 1939 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW Page 3 to r i ci a a c Reduce Film Costs Agitation over film rental prices and terms only re volves around the independently operated theatres because the circuits and the important independents are protected by playing everything on straight percentage. Good common business sense certainly indicates that no increases should be asked of the independent houses unless the distributor is certain that there is justification for such an increase. Lacking such justification they should not even send out their sales force to open negotiations based on any higher prices or terms. All arguments to the contrary notwithstanding, the independently operated theatres will always be the backbone of this industry. The big circuits may return negative costs on most pictures but it will be the independent who will return the profit over those negative costs. Close contact with the field reveals that most of the resentment against new season selling has to do almost entirely with preliminary talks starting off industry-old practice of asking for increases, in flat rentals or additional percentage pictures. The current season is winding up far from a blaze of glory or profit. Many theatres will manage to pull through without actual losses but in the independent class there will be mighty little on the profit side to crow about. A return to better grosses or normal profits for next season can hardly be called justification for increases in film rentals. The exhibitor has as much right to a profit from his investment and work as the distributors. Any company having fair deals with its independent accounts should be more than happy to continue those deals without stirring up resentment and antagonism by letting salesmen open negotiations with ridiculous requests for more money or tougher terms. Good will and friendly relations between exhibitor and distributor are vitally important at this time and must be encouraged or created anew. with the Increases A A Neely Bill Stymied It might be a relief to all of us if the House of Representatives would take a vote on the Neely Bill and settle, once and for all, the question as to whether or not it will ever become the law of the land. For the second consecutive year the Bill passed the Senate only to reach the House too late for action during the remainder of the current session. Which means that it must be put through all of its paces again next year, and for as many more years as it is introduced. The suspense is growing tiresome while the bill assumes the appearance of a football. Strictly The Up-and-Up We invite the attention of the few critics of our recent editorials about the Minneapolis convention to note the "open and above board" tactics of the Northwest Unit of Allied when at its recent regional convention it barred the doors to the trade press. We might also call our critics1 attention to the repeated declarations of retirement by Al Steffes who, for a mere pittance of $15,000 for his three years of "leadership," did an about face and decided not to retire. It is a remarkable coincidence that Steffes1 sympathies are always on the opposite side of his organization's actions despite the fact that he probably has more to do with what happens than anyone else. And of course it also adds up to unity and harmony when the Steffes-led unit announces that it is going after back-dues even if it must be done through the courts. Which indicates, what? A A A No Tarnished Cold Let us hope that the gold of the Golden Jubilee will not tarnish before it has a chance of reflecting some interest and respect on the industry. To say nothing about attracting some additional patronage to the box office. The wherewithal to start the Jubilee rolling suddenly turned up in the form of a balance left over from the late lamented Greatest Year, and, as it turns out, the wherewithal comes close to a hundred grand. A hundred grand can go a long way. The question is: what's to be done about it? What kind of a campaign or celebration? How is the money to be spent? What kind of instructions were issued to the committees and who is going to head the activities? There undoubtedly will be an endless array of special editions among the trade papers but after last year's fireworks we must confess that most of the special issues were not predicated upon any plan to aid the campaign or the exhibitors as much as to increase the advertising revenue for the papers. STR was proud of the material it carried last fall for exhibitor-aid and we expect to do as much for the Jubilee Celebration. But this time the Jubilee and the guiding spirits behind it, should do something for the trade papers too. Let's not make this another one-sided proposition and throw all the money to newspapers or other forms of activity that do so little for national campaigns as compared to what the trade papers contribute to the success of these drives and events. —"CHICK" LEWIS