Evening star., 1925-11-04
DOING AWAY WITH SMALL FRY
in PICTURE INDUSTRY RELATED
What Trade Commission Counsel Calls ''Unscrupu-
lous Methods Alleged to Have Been Employed
to Eliminate Competition

| country. A man named Watson was
| operating one of these tent shows
| presenting Paramount pictures. but
! he did not go into any town where
the local theater was using Paramount
| 100 per cent.
Watson is said to have wired Boyd
| that he was coming to Adel with his
tent show and run Boyd out or close
him up" Boyd wired Atlanta to keep
| Watson out, agreeing to give Para
| mount pictures one day q week. The
| next day 0. l.. Freeman, a salesman,
is said to have arrived in Adel and
found Boyd considerably alarmed and
| upset"
Freeman is alleged to have demand.
| ed that Boyd run Paramount six days
a week, but as Boyd was only operat-
ing his theater from one to three days
a week he could not agree to the
proposition. The salesman is said to
have told Boyd that il he did not buy
! the pictures Watson would come to
Adel and stay there with his tent show
until he broke" Boyd, and that after
this threat Boyd agreed to take three
| pictures 4 week, providing Southern
Enterprises would keep Watson away.
RemOnstrance i'm Vain.
The average price of the pictures
1t IS alleged that high-priced pictures
| were forced upon him during the hot
August in Georgia. when there was
no business, entailing heavy financial
loss to him. Also that when the pic
lures arrived there was not the usual
advertising matter accompanying
| them.
When Boyd demonstrated. 1t is re-
| lated, threats We're made to sell the
nj N g q
! postscript OF a letter sent to Boyd.
which is part of the commissions eX-
| hibit, reads:
Wonder whether it would meet
with your approval for Mr.. Watson
to return to your town? Please ad-
wise us in reference to this"
1t is stated the same tactics We're
pursued in Nashville, Ga, and that
the tent show was sent there, the local
theater afterward using Paramount
pictures.
Defense counsel deny that Southern
Enterprises had any connection with
a tent show that they merely sold
some pictures to be exhibited; that
when Boyd sent to buy Paramount
pictures they actually paid the owner
of the tent show to move away from
Adel. They contend that if the
alleged threats were made by the
salesman. they We're in a moment Of
evaporation after Boyd refused to
Southern Enterprises ever had any
thing to do with the sending of the
tent show to Nashville, Ga.
Z. l.. Hackworth Of Huntsville,
Ala, owned a large first-class picture
house there and tirst-run and second
houses in Florence, Ala. He had run
paramount pictures 100 per cent for
four years, and Southern Enterprises
is said to have doubled the price of
them, but he signed the contract.
Price Forced Up.
Two men, it is stated, went to
Huntsville to buy his theaters. He
understood they We're buying for
Southern Enterprises. He didn't want
to sell, but was alarmed, believing that
If he did not sell a rival theater would
be bought or a new one built. He
went to Atlanta and begged Lynch
to stay out Of Huntsville and Flor
ence," explaining he had lost an arm,
gone broke in the lumber business in
1907, and was just getting on his feet.
Lynch was Stephen a. Lynch. who
was manager of Southern Enterprises
1t is stated that after listening to
Hackworth's story Lynch told him he
would not be bothered, called in a
young woman and dictated a letter to
his organization that Hackworth was
not to be molested for five years,
Hackworth agreeing to run Para
mount pictures 100 per cent.
Then, it is stated, Southern Enter
prises demanded from him twice or
three times as much for the picture
service as ever before. Also. it is
added, Hackworth made the contract
all in vain. as only a short time after
ward Southern Enterprises bought an
interest in a rival theater in Hunts
Vile, spending more than $4,000 in
enlarging and remodeling it. The
agreement with Hackworth was can
celed, it is said, Paramount pictures
We're taken away from him, not only
in Huntsville, but in Florence. and he
lost between s75, 900 and 100000.
Attorneys for Famous Players as
sert Southern Enterprises had no
intention of acquiring a theater in
Huntsville until Hackworth Joined an
exhibitors organization, the purpose
of which was to boycott Paramount
Pictures.
Numerous instances OF such tactics
are woven through the testimony
taken in the investigation.
A paragraph from an extract of a
sales manual, which is a respondent
There are also a great many ex-
hibitors who are Of the belief that our
company desires to enter the exhibi-
ton field in opposition to them
These exhibitors must be informed of
our real attitude, which is that we
have no desire to enter the exhibition
business unless we are forced to do so
because of lack of proper theaters in
a particular community, or because Of
our inability to obtain proper repre-
sentation Of our product. To dis
prove the belief that we desire to en-
ter into the exhibition field, you can
state to any exhibitor that we are
willing to enter into a long time ar
rangement with him, provided he has
the proper theaters of quality suffi-
cient to give our pictures a proper
representation in the future, upon any
terms that are equitable"
The contention of Famous Players
is that while this was it's policy, it
had legal right to acquire theaters
wherever it chose to, in order to sell
its pictures direct to the public.
Copyright. 1920