Evening star., 1944-09-15
BY HAROLD HEFFERNAN.
TYNv NNxy00n

Latest turn in Hollywood's long
and unsuccessful battle against dou-
BILE featuring came today with q
charge by producers that exhibitors
in many sections are deliberately
pruning large chunks out of their
best (if long, features In order to
get an added feature into their
allotted running time.
During the past few months, the
producers say, they have been re-
ceiving reports from statesmen and
from fans that features have been
cut to such an extent that plot con-
tinuity has been ruined.
The producers claim this not only
is making them look extremely
silly but is violation of rental con-
tracts which state that exhibitors
must not cut anything from q pic
ture without consent of the dis
tributor.
Back of the current quarrel is a
behfnd-the-Scenes movement begun
several months ago by the produc-
ers in determined effort to break
the double-bill setup, which still
prevails in about so per cent Of the
Nations theaters. There is evidence
that the movie-makers got together
and agreed to make their pictures
so much longer in footage and run
ming time that the exhibitor would
be unable to run q second feature
without going far past his average
running time.
II there was no concerted under
standing on the part of HOLLYWOOD
to make its movies longer, then it
is a rather striking coincidence that
virtually all the more important re-
cent pictures have been OF unusual
length. Ia
Starting with For Whom the Bell
Tolls" which has 4 running time
Of more than three hours, long pic
lures have been the rule. David
0. Selznicks Since You Went
Away" approaches three hours, and
others that 60 two hours or more
are "Gaslight," white Cliffs Of
Dover" Wilson" Double Indem-
nity," "An American Romance. !"
Way"
In the past the average length of
"a feature was tabled at 80 Ia 10
minutes, which gave the exhibitor
a chance to book in q secondary
quickie of some sort to MI out the
quantity" type OF program he spon-
sored. But when his top feature
consumes two hours or more OF run
ming time, the Snowman is stopped
cold. If he does stick to policy and
book in a second feature his show
runs far over scheduled time, reduce
ing the number of shows he can
give in day and sharply curtailinR
receipts.
Several Hollywood studio heads
interviewed this week declared their
companies were taking drastic steps
to check up on those exhibitors ac-
cused OF cutting feature pictures. If
the charges are borne out they said
contracts would be Cancelled for
future product.
The head Of one major studio
which is now reaping the box once
rewards OF Hollywood's biggest
money-maker of the year, a film
running 2 hours and 20 minutes.
cited the case of 4 big Eastern first
run exhibitor who complained that
this picture was at least half an
hour too long.
But the irony of this complaint" /"
the studio head added, was that the
exhibitor double-featured this long
and unusually flne production with
anotner feature SO weak that his
protest became = joke. He COM
piained that our feature was 20
minutes too long and yet he added
65 minutes OF running time to make
his show still longer"
This studio chief made no secret
OF That fact that his company was