The world film encyclopedia (1933)

458 Film Showing .are usually content with " second runs." and often score on that account, the " first run " having served as a wonderful advertising medium. The tussle, therefore, between the " firstrun ' theatres and cinemas becomes a stern struggle when there is a muchwanted film. Competition is often so keen that the renter has an enormous job to preserve a spirit of equality and maintain his business relations with all his customers. He is eager, of course, to maintain the business rivalry between the bidders, but, at the same time, he has to hold a fair balance, and this is often done by arranging a " split " — i.e. a division of the " big films," between competing cinemas ; as there is a large number of renters, this system works fairly well. Films, as you will realize, are unlike articles of merchandize. It is impossible to buy, or, rather, hire them by the gross or dozen. Each one has to be bargained for and booked separately. The prices paid for the period of exhibition— three days, or a week, as the case may be — are now fixed on a " percentage of the takings " basis. This system came into force with the arrival of the talkies ; previously, payment had been on a cash basis only. Why did the talkies lead to this change ? Because neither renter nor exhibitor had any data on which he could fix amounts. So now the bargaining that goes on between renter and exhibitor is to fix the rate of the percentage. After the trade show, and during the period between that event and the date of the general release (which is usually some three or four months later), it has become customary to have a pre-release run in the West End of London. This serves two purposes. It helps to advertise the film, and also it gives the exhibitor outside London an opportunity to judge what sort of a rece])tion it is given. After all, an audience of cinema-goers is vastly different from an ivudience consisting of members of the trade and their i'riends. An exhibitor can therefore get some idea of the way the public leoeives this film, although he knows f-jll well, of course, that if he has a cinema in a small provincial town, the reaction to the production is likely to be totally different from that of the London audience. Sometimes, of course, provincial audiences do care for the most unexpected productions. That " glorious uncertainty " is one of the great attractions of a film exhibitor's life. After the bargaining for the film has been completed, there is an enormous amount of work still to be done. The dates of the release have to be decided on ; the prints of a film have to be ordered, and the number is governed, of course, by the popularity of the production. For a Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell film, for instance, there is always a terrific demand, and in consequence there have to be a large number of copies of the fibn printed. " Bars " are another ticklish problem. Let me explain this. An exhibitor, possibly, has paid a high price for a film which he thinks will make a lot of money. This high price covers protection for him, in that he is guaranteed that the film will not be sold to the owner of another cinema within a certain radius — at least, until he has shown the film. When these many intricate problems have been satisfactorily solved, and a contract between the parties entered into, there comes a breathing spell. Posters are booked ; publicity plans are decided on ; all sorts of ideas to ensure the success of the production are thrashed out. Eventually, a few days betore the general release date, the dozens of brand new copies of the film arrive from the printers, ready for distribution to the exhibitor. Each " reel " of film is of one thousaiid feet or so, and is carefully packed in its own tin. Most feature films run into six to eight thousand feet, and so the separate reel tins are in turn enclosed in a wood and metal " transport case," ready for despatch by road or rail to the various cinemas that have booked the film. As a general rule, the release date in London is two weeks ahead of that in the country, and, on a popular booking, as many as 150 prints of the film are nee led.