JANUARY

itors and distributors have reached a deadlock
on this point, with many houses dropping
or planning to drop PTA-sponsored
shows for the youngsters as a result. Reason
lies in the insistence of major distributors,
as indicated, for instance, in letters sent to
theatres by the local MGM exchange, that
their pictures cannot be shown on a triple
bill, and the strict interpretation that the
Saturday matinee must be cleared out, and
the house technically closed between matinee
and evening show's.
In practice, exhibitors contend, this will
not work out. Exhibitors object, for instance,
to keeping adult patrons who may
come early, waiting until perhaps 5:30 p. m.,
until the Saturday matinee is over, before
selling them a ticket. In effect, this would
mean closing down the boxoffice at about
1 p. m. on Saturdays, and result in driving
away a certain small percentage of adult attendance.
"Are the four and five adults who may
come to a children's matinee to govern the
policy?" Gealer asks. "Unless they came
with their youngsters, they are interested
in the regular show, not the children's features.
It is the regular featiu-es of the day
that are advertised out front, not the kids'
.show, and that it what brought these fewpatrons
in. You can't throw them out after
they've seen a western and a few shorts."
Gealer points out that his Trenton Theatre,
for instance, regularly kills the feature
of the day. sometimes both of them, if they
are not considered acceptable for children
by the Legion of Decency, for the Saturday
matinee .show, and may run only the PTAapproved
guest feature and shorts on the
matinee.
Entire
City Block Bought
For Theatre Parking Lot
ST. PETERSBURG. FLA. — Florida
State Theatres has acquired an entire
city block to provide parking facilities for
patrons at three of its theatres. The
acquisition of such an important piece of
property for parking by theatre customers
was interpreted as a step in the direction
of holding moviegoers.
Frank H. Bell, district manager for the
circuit, who announced the purchase said
that his company had long been thinking
in terms of providing parking facilities
for patrons, close enough to the theatres
.so that patrons would not have to walk
long distances.
The parking area will accommodate
300 cars. It will be open to the general
public in the daytime, but after 6 p. m.
will be available only to theatre patrons.
A compromise of this rigid home office
rule in the interest of industry goodwill
seems in order, which would allow the exhibitor
to cooperate with his local PTA and
other groups by playing. a special picture for
the youngsters on the Saturday matinee,
without requiring him to shut up the theatre
afterwards in order to legally terminate
the matinee.
A sensible way of programming to meet
the requirements of the situation was outlined
by Mitchell, which avoids emptying the
hou.se but takes advantage of the usual low
point of boxoffice business from 4 to 6 p. m.
In a typical Saturday show consisting of
film A. an adult feature, and a picture with
good general interest like "Rhubarb." plus
a children's guest feature like "The Wizard
of Oz." Mitchell proposes scheduling "Rhubarb."
followed by "Wizard of Oz." then
"Rhubarb" again. In that way. the youngsters
would actually have to sit through
"Rhubarb" twice before they'd even have a
chance to see the Film A. Their natural
restlessness, plus the necessity of getting
home for supper, should take care of the situation
with little difficulty.
Programming difficulties akin to the triple
bill issue are also plaguing the few 24-hour
houses here. Question at i.ssue is when a new
program should begin, and the basic rule
against allowing exhibition of a new film to
start before 8 a m. of the playdate presents difficulties.
These houses, such as the Loop, an
Associated circuit house, have a product
problem for the first eight hours of the day.
Inequity of the situation is dramatically
highliglited. according to Gealer. because
in the past distributors allowed percentage
pictures to be started at 9 p. m. of the preceding
day. and took their share of the boxoffice
from 9 p. m.
Upstate, the triple bill situation does not
seem to be affecting any Michigan towns to
any extent. Single bills prevail generally.
and the widespread dominance of the Butterfield
circuit is probably an important force
for conservative industry sanity in this respect.
In some areas, as at Saginaw and
surrounding towns, double bills are commonly
used on the Friday-Saturday change only,
with singles the rest of the week.
Proved Boxoffice Sensatton!
Wild Animal Pictures!
Jrcher, Hunting Big Game with Bow and Arrow!
Distributed by
R K O
RADIO