Evening star., 1925-11-05
''DYNAMITE SQUAD'S' ROUNDUP
OF REBEL OPERATORS CHARGED
''Shock Advertising Alleged to Have Been Used to
Force Theater Owners to Buy Films at
Exorbitantly High Prices.

My Wife" and Forbidden Fruit")?
Mr.. the local exhibitor) will show
them II you tell him you want them" :"
If these postals did not produce a
contract. 1t is said, advertisements
were published in local papers, such
as
- is a good town. But-yes;
that's the way visitors talk about -
It's good town, but
why the but Business is good
the people who live here are all right:
the town is well laid out; good roads:
the new y. NJ. c. A. building would
be an ornament in any town twice the
size. The new normal school might
well grace another town. And the old
courthouse tells us a historic back
ground that many city would be
proud of.
Then followed. it is stated, the as
sertion that the town was about the
only one left in the state where Para
mount Pictures were not shown. such
as could be seen in the big cities like
New York and Chicago.
Why not in -" the advertise
ment is said to have continued.
Lack OF appreciation? Hardly
likely"
Give Glowing Details.
us it your theater manager who Is
at fault? Maybe he doesn't quite get
your viewpoint in this matter of bet
ter motion pictures. Maybe you have
not made it clear how you feel about
it. Suppose you talk to your theater
manager about it."
This "ad" Is said to have been fol-
lowed by another with glowing details
Of some Paramount picture shown in
| a rival town.
why not in -? 1t is a good
town. certainly as good as -" 1t Is
said to have read.
Look at your railway station for
instance. and the new post office!
You hear about Paramount pic
lures; you read about them. Why not
see them in -?
Whose fault is 1t that you dont?"
At Cortland, n. Y, these postal
cards are stated to have been sent to
patrons Of two theaterS and followed
by advertisements in local news
papers. At Olean. N. Y. 5000 let
ters are said to have been mailed
weekly to patrons Of an exhibitor
| who could not afford to pay increased
| prices for films without raising ad-
| mission prices. which he was reticent
to do. Similar instances are cited by
exhibitors in Brooklyn, N. Y; Glen
dale, Iowa; Waitsburg, Ore; Winder,
Ca, and Midland, Ontario, Canada.
Respondents counsel point out that
the Federal Trade examiner who took
testimony struck out the last named
instances.
The respondent" Government
counsel say. attempted to explain
and excuse this advertising matter by
saying that its purpose was to 'stim-
ulate' local interest in Paramount
Dict,res
Patrons Incited.
The insnuation is that the local
exhibitor is at fault and is lacking in
good showmanship and Is not dealing
fairly with his patrons" they say
further. Nowhere in the advertis-
ing matter Is the truth as to the ex-
hibitors reasons for refusing to play
the pictures stated, and 1t was never
fairly set out that this refusal was
because the prices were so high that
the exhibitor believed he could not
run the pictures without losing
money. The purpose OF using such
advertising was to force and compel
the exhibitor to take the pictures by
| arousing the indignation of his pa
irons and melting public opinion
against him."
How the money theater was
anu ny lLldl TIC value VI
property. was ascertained by what is
known in the industry as "clocking,"
which means the placing Of a spy at
an exhibitors theater to count the
number of patrons attending a per-
formance and thereby estimating the
amount Of the box office receipts.
This information is all important to
the producer, who does not sell his
pictures for one price. He finds out
how much the theater owner can pay
and charges that much. That is why
a new picture is seen for the first time
on Broadway, New York, for instance,
at price of more than 81 and for 80
cents at the same time in a nearby
city. The great majority of New
Yorkers for this reason. see pictures
at their neighborhood theaters long
after they have been shown elsewhere.
"CIocking," defense contends. docs
not contain any element Of espionage
and is information open to the public
on the highway. They also class it
as a legitimate trade practice, which
chain store corporations engage in be-
fore establishing stores.
NikitaS Dipson, an exhibitor for
nine years at Batavia, n. Y, govern
ment counsel state. testified he had
bought Paramount pictures and was
approached by a salesman who tried
to sell him a block of Al films, which