Showmen's Trade Review (Apr-Jun 1945)

May 5, 1945 S H O W A'l E N ' S TRADE R E \^ I E W 9 Strand Penalized for Admitting 4 Minors For the first time in the 2S-year history of Warners' Strand Theatre, a penalty was imposed Monday (April .30) by License Commissioner Paul Moss for admitting four minors to the theatre, one of whom bought the tickets, although it was admitted at a hearing in the Commissioner's office that the boy appeared older than draft age and that it was difficult, under the circumstances, to establish he was a minor. Commissioner Moss ordered the theatre closed from midnight Monday to 3 :0S p.m. Tuesday, and from midnight Tuesday to 3 :05 p.m. Wednesday. According to a statement from the Commissioner's office a person telephoned the Board of Education office that a long line of school children were in front of the Strand. Attendance officers proceeded to the theatre where they observed four boys at the sidewalk curb pooling their money to gain admission. With one boy buying the tickets, all four entered the lobby and presented the tickets to the doorman who accepted them, tore them in half, and presented the stubs to one of the boys. The officers then identified themselves, the statement continues, and requested the stubs, but were refused. The officers, learning that the boys were unlawful absentees from school, escorted them into the office of Assistant Manager Manuel Meyers and in his presence established the age of each child, the fact that they were unlawful absentees from their respective schools, that tickets had been sold to them, and that they had been admitted to the theatre by Strand employes at a time their schools were in session. The statement pointed out that the boys were passed by the attendant in front of the box-office, sold tickets by the cashier, and admitted by the doorman. One boy was 13, the others 15 years of age each. It was also pointed out that on Dec. 6, 1943, Mayor La Guardia sent a letter to all theatre owners calling their attention to Section 484 of the penal law that no children under 16 years of age may be admitted into any theatre unaccompanied by an adult before 3 p.m., and no ticket can be sold to a child after 6 p.m. During the closed hours the following statement was placed in front of the Strand as notice to the public : "This theatre will not open until 3 :0S p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. This is an arbitrary penalty imposed by Commissioner Moss after he found an accidental violation of the law concerning admitting minors to theatres. "The Strand Theatre makes a special effort to comply with this ordinance. It has always successfully eliminated from its ticket lines children obviously under 16 years of age. "Considering the circumstances involved in attempting to judge the age of individuals, the Management feels it has been consistently successful in upholding this law. It believes that the Commissioner's decision to shut down a theatre because of his finding of an accidental and technical violation is unjust. "The Management sets forth these facts so that the public will understand why the Strand Theatre will be closed today and tomorrow until 3 :05 p.m." Griffith Amusement Co. to Produce Own News Weekly With the establishment of a complete film laboratory, Griffith Amusement Co. will produce a news weekly for the circuit. Under the direction of Lew Chatham, Griffith district manager, Melton Barker has set up the organization and will produce the reel. Deal includes all screen rights on the Tulsa, Okla., screens. Visit of British Ambassador Halifax in Oklahoma and the Oklahoma A & M team playing in the Cotton Bowl were among the tests for the project. Tryouts of the films over the circuit proved substantially profitable. Cowdin Recovering From Operation Recuperating from an operation at Roosevelt Hospital, J. Cheever Cowdin, chairman of the board of Universal Pictures Company, Inc., is reported in excellent condition. Hundred Million Goal Aiming to shatter all previous records, theatremen in the Southern California area at a meeting in Los Angeles on Thursday set the unprecedented quota of $100 million as the goal for E Bond sales during the Seventh War Loan campaign. The quota, proposed by Charles P. Skouras, honorary national chairman for the iildustry's campaign, and Gus Metzger, Southern California exhibitor chairman, tops the $49 million realized in the Fifth War Loan and the $72 million for the Sixth in that territory. The meeting was attended by 500 exhibitors. Included among those, in addition to Skouras and Metzger, who addressed the meeting, were Dave Bershon, Harry Cohen, O. N. Srere, Mort Goodman and Sherrill Corwin. End to Price Discrimination Is Sought by the SCTOA Where price discrimination is found to exist against members of the Southern California Theatre Owners Association as a result of contracts entered into with distributors which have no reasonable relationship to difference in cost of sales between independent operator and circuit buyer, whether affiliated or independent, an effort will be made to eliminate such price discrimination in conferences with distributors, it was declared by Paul Williams, SCTOA counsel, at a dinner given in his honor this week by the SCTOA in Hollywood. "When discriminations of this character which involve sale of product upon the same or in an inferior run in the same territory are thoroughly analyzed and fairly understood," said Williams, formerly Assistant United States Attorney General, "I am sure that all will agree that such price discrimination amongst a distributor's own customers has no place in an industry which has attained the high position of motion pictures, both nationally and internationally. Indeed, if unjustified price discrimination is not voluntarily corrected by the industry itself, it will furnish one of the principal causes for eventually bringing the industry under public control and regulation as a public utility. This I assume is a thing that nobody in the industry desires." Pointing out that SCTOA will not be a buying agency of film for its members, Williams said that the association would try to solve disputes of its members by round-table conference. Should this fail, the association will offer a form of arbitration in which the arbitrators may be selected from men familiar with the industry. Formation of such organizations as SCTOA throughout the country was urged by Charles P. Skouras. Marco Wolff presided at the luncheon meeting. Leserman, Buchanan Leave for Conferences With UA Producers Carl Leserman, United Artists general sales manager, and Barry Buchanan, director of advertising and publicity, were scheduled to leave New York for Hollywood Thursday (3) for conferences with various compay producers on forthcoming releases. Buchanan, making his first trip to the company's studios, will meet with producers to formulate complete advertising and publicity campaigns on pictures shortly to be released through UA. He will discuss merchandising plans on "Spellbound" with David O. Selznick ; "Blood on the Sun" with William Cagney; "Guest Wife" with Jack H. Skirball ; Ernie Pyle's "Story of GI Joe" with Lester Cowan ; "Bedside Manner" with Andrew Stone ; and "The Outlaw" with Howard Hughes representatives. Silverstones Arrive in England Murray Silverstone, president of 20th CenturyFox International Corp., has arrived in England accompanied by Arthur Silverstone, the corporation's home office representative in Great Britain. Clarify State Labor Law For Exhibitor The nettlesome problem of child labor and violations of the law by exhibitors in Great New York City was thrown wide open for discussion at a meeting in the Riverside Theatre here last Tuesday (1) conducted by Edward Corsi, Industrial Commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor, augmented by representatives of the broad of education and the state's legal department. Over 100 exhibitors were present. Louis M. Weber, Skouras Theatres attorney, arranged the meeting. Commissioner Corsi revealed that the violations by movie theatres as a group placed them categorically in an in-between bracket compared with flagrant violations by other industries. A survey of 234 movie theatres in the greater New York area made between October, 1944, through March, 1945, revealed that 76 theatres had violated the law. It affected 103 children of which 80, between 16 and 17 years of age, could have been legally employed if they had working papers. Pointing to the serious aspect of the situation, the commissioner said that 22 children between the ages of 14 and 15 who were employed without working papers were, in addition, working illegal hours — usually late hours or after 6 p.m., which is forbidden by law. Further investigation revealed that 20 out of 22 such minors under 16 were found to be working during unlawful hours. The most serious violation of all included one boy under 14. Commissioner Corsi also pointed out that the labor department receives complaints regarding illegal employment, and the preponderance of complaints are that children under 16 years of age are employed after 6 p.m. In many instances, he added, investigation of such complaints not only sustained the complaint as reported, but it was also found that additional violations existed. "Although this is more in lieu of complaints than child labor," said Corsi, "I think that it might be mentioned that we have also received complaints that operators in the projection room do not receive their full meal period. One probleih confronting employers is the altered permit — a 14 or 15-year-old child will change his date of birth thus leading the employer to believe he is 16 and may work after 6 p.m. It is the responsibility of the employer to check each certificate carefully. "Although minors are usually employed as ushers, ticket collectors, and cashiers, they are sometimes assigned other duties. For example, they are asked to change the overhead lights and signs. This work re(luires ladders and scaffolds, and in many instances is quite dangerous. The investigator found a 15-year-old boy on a high scaffold in the street changing signs at 10 p.m. In another instance during an investigation it was found that 16 and 17-year-old boys were employed to change the signs on the marquee. A reinspection was made a few days later to ascertain whether the employer had discontinued employment of these boys until working papers were secured. Upon second visit it was found that one of the boys was still employed without papers and an additional boy, 15, was doing the same work without papers at 10:30 p.m. During both visits the investigator had not only made every effort to explain the law, but had also pointed out that since it was hazardous work, the employer would be subject to double compensation in the event an accident occurred. The employer, however, instead of appreciating the seriousness of his position, turned on the investigator and accused him of 'persecuting and picking on me'." Commissioner Corsi commended W. B. England of the RKO Theatres, Philip Harding of Fabian Theatres, the Randforce Amusement Corp., Morris Sher of Loew's, John Slattery of the Prudential Circuit and Morton Sunshine of the ITOA for their cooperation in clarifying the legal aspects of the law with the managers of their theatres respectively. Raymond Schmertz Promoted Raymond Schmertz, 20th Century-Fox salesman in the Cleveland territory for the past five years, has been promoted to city sales manager, succeeding Edwin R. Bergman who resigned to become manager of the local PRC exchange. Bergman had been connected with 20th-Fox and the old Fox Film Corp. for nearly a quarter of a century.