Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

6 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, October 1, 1949 Under-Skyers Help UnderRoofers By Building Audiences— Braunagle Drive-ins develop movie-going habits and new movie patrons who can be lured into the under-roofers during the winter season, if the brick-and-mortar houses adopt some of the family trade appeal policies indulged in by the outdoorers. Jack Braunagle declared last week. Speaking in Columbus, Braunagle, who is general manager of the Commonwealth Drive-in Corporation of Kansas City, Mo., suggested that a family trade appeal could be procured by installing nurseries, play rooms, laundry service, free rides for the kids and adequate parking space. Repeating previous remarks, he said that drive-ins should be run by experienced exhibitors, such as those who had under-roof background. He foresaw 5,000 underskyers by 1950 doing a gross of $120 million. 3rd Quarter Finds 256 Films On Market, 223 in Backlog The end of this year's third quarter and the beginning of the fall season found distributors with 256 films in release or four more than they had on the market last year at the same time, according to the Booking Guide of Showmen's Trade Review. Other facts shown by the Booking Guide are : Pictures in production or completed but unreleased at the end of this quarter amounted to 223 compared to the 247 held in inventory as of Sept. 30, 1948. The number of pictures put into production since Jan. 1, 1949, reached 215, which is seven per cent off the pace of last year when 230 had gone before the cameras by this time. The breakdown by companies follows : Allied — 1949: Released 6, Unreleased 2, Started 1; 1948: Released 5, Unreleased 3, Started 4. Columbia — 1949: Released 34, Unreleased 37, Started 31: 1948: Released 30, Unreleased 38, Started 34. Eagle Lion — 1949: Released 30, Unreleased 16, Started 3; 1948: Released 25, Unreleased 22. Started 18. MGM — 1949: Released 25. Unreleased 28, Started 28; 1948: Released 18, Unreleased 20, Started 13. Canadian Houses Set New Records Canadian theatres set new gross and attendance records in 1948, according to a government statistical report of the film industry released this week. The report revealed that 222,307,140 customers paid $83,241,506, of which $13,622,459 went for amusement taxation. The resultant net gross of $69,619,047 shattered the previous mark, set in 1947, by $7,340,474. The 1947 attendance high was topped by some 1,600,000 and the grosswith-tax record of the same year was bettered by more than $4,000,000. The revelations indicate that price scales were higher in 1948. In fact, some of the Dominion's 10 provinces showed higher net grosses in spite of reduced attendance. This was true in Ontario, the leader with $29,504,602 net gross on 92,787,781 admissions, where the figures in 1947 had been $26,483,044 and 93,137,140 tickets. It was true also in British Columbia, the third province, and in Manitoba and Nova Scotia. The B. C. gross was $7,532,221 for 23,572,587 admissions, compared with $7,055,066 for 24,062,010 admissions a year earlier. In the second-placing Province of Quebec, however, attendance jumped from 48,864,876 to 51,558,330, carrying gross up from $13,919,917 to $16,253,353. The number of film theatres in the Dominion, not including drive-ins, legitimate houses or itinerant shows, increased by 224. Ontario went up 36 to 508, Quebec 39 to 358 and B. C. 3 to 175. Monogram — 1949: Released 18, Unreleased 3. Started 10; 1948; Released 19, Unreleased 9, Started 18. Paramount — 1949; Released 15, Unreleased 21, Started 16; 1948: Released 20, Unreleased 22, Started 16. RKO— 1949: Released 26. Unreleased 18, Started 15; 1948: Released 16, Unreleased 24. Started 12. Republic — 1949: Released 18, Unreleased 12, Started 17; 1948: Released 23. Unreleased 10, Started 19. Twentieth Century-Fox — 1949: Released 23, Unreleased 24, Started 20; 1948: Released 33, Unreleased 28, Started 27. United Artists — 1949: Released 13, Unreleased 19, Started 12; 1948: Released 18, Unreleased 16, Started 11. Universal-International — 1949: Released 23, Unreleased 25, Started 25; 1948; Released 26, Unreleased 25. Started 17. Warner Bros. — 1949: Released 25. Unreleased 18, Started 13; 1948; Released 18, Unreleased 30, Started 26. Broidy Budgets 3 Million for 16 In anticipation of what he thinks will be the heaviest spurt in production within the history of his company. Monogram Allied Artists President Steve Broidy this week earmarked a $3,000,000 fund, to be spent on 16 pictures which he said would go before the cameras during the last quarter of 1949. "I feel that we are heading into the most optimistic period since the wartime market," Broidy stated. "Every producer on the Monogram roster will swing into activity and not only will the full capacity of Monogram stages be utilized, but additional space off the lot will be rented. The 16 pictures which will face the cameras include five westerns to be made on the company's Newhall ranch and at other locations. Off Again, On Again Cinema Circuit this week was reported to have relinquished the Albermarle Theatre in Brooklyn to Century Theatres. The house had originally been turned over to Cinema by Century and the switch was reported to be based over a iproduct situation. Not So Bad July box-office receipts zoomed almost $6,000,000 over the June returns, the Treasury Department report on the federal admission tax revealed in Washington, D. C, this week. Collections for the month of August, which reflect the box-office business for July were $34,326,269 as compared with $28,661,712 for the collections which reflect the month of June. They were also slightly above the $34,141,295 collected for the July box-office returns last year. Martin Smith ITO Will Seek Myers^ Opinion On Kids-for-Free Members of the Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio (Allied) were this week scheduled to present at least one of their debatable problems — that of free admission for children at drive-ins — to the national Allied Convention when it meets in Minneapolis Oct. 24-26. This 'became known as the convention concluded its sessions at the Deshler-Wallick , Hotel in Columbus last week with Vice-President Henry Greenberger announcing he would ask national Allied General Counsel -A.bram F. Myers to rule on the kids-for-free question at the convention. Defends For-Free The Ohio exhibitors heard Mrs. Ethel Niles, who owns 10 under-roofers and three underskyers, defend the practice on the grounds that it developed a taste for movies which carried over into adulthood. This was disputed by Exhibitor Al Sugarman of Columbus who termed it unfair competition. . Exhibitors present decided there was a print shortage and that they had to resort to bicycling to alleviate it, but thought the circumstance arose as a result of more exhibitor accounts and not because of fewer prints in the exchanges. They also heard Trueman Rembusch declare that television offered no immediate competition, but warned them to be wary. The convention re-elected the following officers: Reelects Smith President Martin G. Smith, who now enters his 20th term and what he declared would be his last : Vice-President F. W. Huss and Henry Greenberger ; Treasurer Leo Kessel, Secretary P. J. Wood. Horace Abrams, who replaced Herbert Ochs, was the only chan"r" made. Ochs now has interests outside of the ITO area. Fiank Rogeis Dies at 74; Was Florida States Chief Frank Rogers, 74, president of Florida State Theatres, Inc., and one of the toughest film buyers in the business, died at his home Sunday, following a heart attack. Rogers, who had been in ill health during the last three years, was born in Frankfort, Ky. He entered show business via the amusement park route, eventually becoming associated with Sparks and later becoming president of the 105-h'ouse Florida State circuit. He was a member of the Variety Club, interested in its crippled children's hospital and the heart fund clinic at Miami, as well as the Elks 'Crippled Children's Hospital at Marian and other humanitarian activities. Carolinians to Meet At Charlotte Oct. 23-24 The Theatre Owners of North and South Carolina will hold its convention at the Hotel Charlotte, Charlotte, N. C, Oct. 23-24, President J. B. Harvey and Executive Secretary Mrs. Walter Griffith announced Thursday.