Boxoffice-October.27.1951

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JACKSONVILLE—Declaring
JNDUSTRY ARBITRATION URGED
AS CHECK TO RACKETEERING'
Distribution, Film Costs
Too High, Nat Williams
Tells Florida TOA
By HARRY HART
the time has
come to "call names and facts about industry
practices that are working hardships on exhibitors,"
Nat M. Williams of Thomasville.
Ga., regional vice-president of the Theatre
Owners of America, charged at the annual
Motion Picture Exhibitors of Florida convenhere
Monday (22), that distribution
charges were far too high.
"It is time some questions are asked by exhibitors,"
he asserted. "They are getting
tired of paying large prices for poor pictures
. . . pictures that sliould never have been
made in the first place."
He cited the 40 per cent asked for "Show
Boat" as a fair rate for a picture "as good as
this is," but that "there was nothing fair
about being asked to pay 70 per cent for
"David and Bathsheba."
PRAISES ONE COMPANY
Williams praised one company which he
said "has fired men who have been guilty of
malpractices against exhibitors," but declared
"other companies have delighted in hiring
such men to harass exhibitors and cause them
to pay out the profits made on good pictures
to keep their doors open by buying sorry
films at exorbitant rates."
Williams contended that voluntary arbitration
of industry disputes is needed to "stop
racketeering in the industry."
Mitchell Wolfson, head of the Wometco
circuit of Miami, who recently was elected
president of the TOA, also said he would like
to see a system of arbitration put into effect.
He emphasized the urgent need for overall
unity in the film industry, first because the
industry is vulnerable to the attacks of every
politician and tax-seeker and adverse legislation
that can be imagined, and second because
unity will bring about voluntary arbitration.
"Arbitration should solve 90 per cent of
the industry's lawsuits and injustices," he
said, "despite the fact that some chiselers still
would use the courts for selfish purposes.
Lawsuits camiot solve our problems, but
amicable compromise worked out through a
system of voluntary arbitration can."
CITES ADVISORY SYSTEM
Wolfson cited the regional advisory system
set up by TOA for the southeast, headed
E. D. Martin, and other capable men in
areas. He asserted this system should
reach the grassroots, from the large exhibitor
to the smallest because the man with
one theatre can make use of it as easily as
the largest.
"It is time to stop talking about big and
little men since no big man is big enough
to do the job alone," he said. "Unity is the
only answer . . . The industry must pull together
and work together and not waste its
energy on lawsuits.
Wolfson quoted from an article written by
Morton G. Thalhimer, head of Neighborhood
J. L. Cartwright Nat Williams
Theatres of Richmond, Va., in which he
pointed out that there is now one theatre seat
for every ten persons in the U.S. following
an increase of 38 per cent in the nation's
seating capacity in the last few years, but
that motion picture attendance had declined
20 per cent.
The TOA president reiterated his contention
that the motion picture exhibitor whose
job it is to provide visual entertainment and
who is familiar with local problems and public
tastes, is better qualified than any other
group to provide television entertainment.
"Theatre television will become a reality in
most every theatre in the country sooner or
later," he said. "Prices of TV equipment
will come down the same as sound installations
dropped after an introductory period.
He asserted that exhibitors,
through TOA,
do not want to take anything away from
operators of television stations in their request
to the FCC for six TV channels.
THEATRE FILMS NOT FOR TV
"Through these channels the theatres can
bring many events to the public that otherwise
would have no opportunity of receiving
general telecasting," he explained.
He also contended that films made for
theatre exhibition are not suitable for telecasting
over present video stations to small
home receivers, and these should use films
specially made for home sets.
The TOA leader urged all exhibitors to give
public service to their communities and always
be on the alert to aid any worthy
cause.
John Alsop, regarded as Florida's oldest
exhibitor, asserted the true showman always
places service to his community above service
to himself. Alsop opened the Grand Theatre
40 years ago in Jacksonville, and served
as mayor there for 18 years. He recounted
that he and the late Will Rogers inaugurated
the Community Chest 26 years ago and Jacksonville
oversubscribed the quota for the first
and only time in the city's history. Alsop
added, "It takes showmanship to do anything."
Jack Jackson declared exhibitors who spend
most of their time bemoaning the lack of business
would enjoy increased patronage if they
spent the same time trying to get customers.
He mentioned that the Coca-Cola company
solved the problem of higher costs by increasing
its volume of busine.ss, and the motion
picture industry could do the same.
Jack.son complained that the juvenile audience
between 6 and 10 years old and the grayhaired
group above 55 are being neglected by
theatremen despite the fact that census figures
show great gains in these segments of
the population.
Gael Sullivan, executive director of TOA,
assured that the TOA organization is 100 per
cent behind President Wolfson's plan to set
i.p six regional committees to enable TOA to
provide service right down to the grassroots
level. Howard Bryant of Winder, Ga., will
take over as coordinator of this .service October
29. Sullivan said problems referred to
the regional committees can be passed on
quickly to the national office where proper
presentation can be made to producers and
distributors to bring results.
MUST INCREASE PRODUCTION
Hollywood must increase its production
more than the 200 features now being made
yearly, Sullivan said, if the smaller exhibitor
is to survive.
He also made these points:
Theatre television has proved its worth.
TOA is compiling a national portfolio
on theatre tax problems.
Spending for entertainment should increase
as a result of the expansion of the
national income from 144 billion to 152
billion dollars in the next few months.
J. L. Cartwright, Florida Movietime chairman,
commended Richard Beck who assisted
in the campaign. He commented that the
Hollywood representative tours achieved marvelous
results in beneficial public relations,
and that if the motion picture story had been
carried to the country similarly in times past,
the industry would not now be carrying the
highest tax burden of any group in the world.
There were some faults in the planning, he
admitted, but the star groups covered 56
communities in the five days they were in
Florida.
UP TO EXHIBITORS
"The star tours constitute only one phase
of the campaign before us," he said, "and it
now is up to the exhibitors to keep the ball
rolling. Each exhibitor will benefit by Movietime
if he will get behind it and push. Unity,
however, must come from the heart, not by
lip service alone.
"All Movietime activities will be worthless
unless they are accepted and made use of by
the individual exhibitor."
He appealed to exhibitors not to permit
Movietime to die but to put forth every
effort to bring its message to every town.
To Open Next Month
STARKE, FLA.—The new Starke Drive-In,
barring delays caused by adverse weather, will
be completed early in November by the
Martin circuit. I. G. Harris, manager of the
Florida Theatre here, will manage the airer.
D. Lawrence Buzbee Named
DADEVILLE, ALA.—D. Lawrence Buzbee,
owner of the Ritz Theatre here, has been appointed
to serve on the committee on achievement
reports of Kiwanis International. The
appointment was made by the Kiwanis club
president, Claude B. Hellmann, of Baltimore.
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BOXOFFICE : : October 27, 1951 SE 63