Showmen's Trade Review (Jan-Mar 1945)

January 20, 1945 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW 5 Man Bites Dog When a man with a picture finds himself in the mood to fight for the right to get his show into a theatre, that would seem to be news in this business; where, traditionally, it's the man with the picture who sits back and asks what the theatreman says is too-fancy prices in the off-hand manner of one whose attitude is: "take it that way, or leave it!" Well, there are men — lots of 'em — with pictures (and good, too) who today can't seem to get themselves a theatre in which to show them. Of course, the situation is not one of those general, over-all things. It's a matter of getting a certain kind of theatre — a first-run, key city theatre, to be exact. Nevertheless the situation is becoming a bit hot, and if it gets any more incandescent, so to say, there are people in this business who will bet you chat sparks will be flying — and not just undercover. We know a lot of exhibitors who are sitting on the sidelines enjoying this little show — and feeling that it's a bit of all right to have a man with a picture sample some of the pangs that go with needing a booking, but badly. Of course, some of these exhibitors of the sympatheticdisposition type feel, occasionally, a bond of sympathy with the men who can't get a theatre at prices they want to pay — but that is only a fleeting emotion, we notice. AAA Keep Your Eye On the Boll Reversal of things, such as are indicated in the firstrun theatre situation mentioned above, can happen in other phases of this business, and it will pay the theatreman to keep his eye on the ball, lest his field be reversed suddenly. At present it is the first-run situation that is top dog, with the subsequents and minor first runs on the workshift for customers. This condition will last for some time — as long as there is heavy demand for war industry output and consequent concentration of large numbers of people in city and war factory areas. But you don't need any crystal ball to show you a picture of how quickly that situation can change. In certain sections of the country (notably Ohio) there was a sample of how the play may change — and suddenly. The instance occurred when, last Fall, a wave of optimism about the end of the war swept the land, and unmistakable signs were apparent that a large number of people filtered back to less concentrated sections and reverted to old-time habits of seeing their pictures at the later-run theatres. The theatremen who should watch out are those who now are in the happy situation of opening up the doors of their first-run theatres and then getting out of the way of crowds of people who are ready, willing and able to pay the higher prices for a "downtown" showing of the picture. From all sections of the country come reports that there is a certain percentage of the theatremen in these situations who are paying little attention to showmanship— they don't need customers. These same theatremen find a further deterrent to energetic showmanship in the scarcity of space for publicity; in the smugness of merchants — who, also, don't need customers so much as they need merchandise to sell — and lack enthvisiasm for propositions covering tieups. At present, we think, the brand of showmanship being applied by the distributor advertising, publicity and exploitation outfits is at an all-time high for energy, aggressiveness and skill. As a result there is lots of good showmanship served up on a silver platter to the more important theatres through this distributor activity. However, there is danger in this situation for some theatremen — for all theatremen, as a matter of fact, who get smug about things and who fail to keep on selling their theatres and their entertainment attractions. If the tide turns and people start counting pennies on admission prices, or if people start drifting back home from war work centers (as a certain considerable percentage very likely will, when the war is won) it may take quite a while for the showmen who have been on easy street to strip down to working action, if and when they have to get out and dig for patronage. AAA Something to Sing About Columbia officials regard "A Song to Remember" as the greatest picture turned out by the company, and believe it will set a new trend in screen art. With those viewpoint a neutral observer cannot take issue, in our opinion. But aside from all considerations as to whether "A Song to Remember" may actually claim the distinction of moving boundary posts in the screen art, is the moie important point, from an immediate business standpoint of theatres, that Columbia has made a picture of magnificent scope as to dramatic content, craftsmanship in production and in directing and acting — as well as screen writing. For here is an entertainment that will win plaudits far and wide; one of such broad dimension that "A Song to Remember" probably will be shown again and again through the years. Columbia rates applause from the industry for so fine a job at the studio — and also for so excellent a job at the home office in the matter of plotting and executing advertising and exploitation material for the picture's merchandising at the theatres.