Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Divided, thus Conquered: The Troubled History of Exhibitor Trade Organizations, 1907–1928

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 31; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10509208.2011.646570

1543-5326

Deron Overpeck,

Art History and Market Analysis

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. 1Douglas Gomery, Shared Pleasures: A History of Movie Presentation in the United States (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992), 57. 2. Paul Monaco, The Sixties (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001), 9–10. 3. See for example Mae Huettig, “Economic Control of the Motion Picture Industry,” in Tino Balio, ed. The American Film Industry (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985), 285; Barry Litman, The Motion Picture Mega-Industry (Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1998), 13; Tom Schatz, Boom and Bust: American Cinema in the 1940s (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999), 16; and Richard Maltby, American Cinema, 2nd ed. (Boston: Blackwell Publishing, 2003), 114. 4. Gregory Waller, Main Street Amusements: Movies and Commercial Entertainment in a Southern City (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995); Robert Headley, Motion Picture Exhibition in Washington D.C.: An Illustrated History of Parlors, Palaces and Multiplexes in the Metropolitan Area, 1894–1997 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland Press, 1999); Taso Lagos, “Film Exhibition in Seattle, 1897–1912: Leisure Activity in a Smelly, Scraggly Frontier Town,” Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 23:2 (June 2003): 101–115; American Cinema's Transitional Era: Audiences, Institutions, Practices, ed. Charlie Keil and Shelley Stamp (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003); Jon Burrows, “Penny Pleasures: Film Exhibition in London During the Nickelodeon Era, 1906–1914,” Film History 16:1 (2004): 160–191; Garth Jowett, “Apartheid and Socialization: Moviegoing in Cape Town, 1943–58,” Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 26:1 (March 2006): 1–20; Hollywood in the Neighborhood: Historical Case Studies of Local Moviegoing, ed. Kathryn Fuller-Seely (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); Explorations in New Cinema History: Approaches and Case Studies, eds. Richard Maltby, Daniel Biltereyst and Phillippe Meers (Boston: Blackwell Publishing, 2011). 5. Some examples of scholarship in this vein would include Charles Acland, Screen Traffic: Movies, Multiplexes and Global Culture (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003);Richard Abel, Americanizing the Movies and “Movie-Mad” Audiences, 1910–1914 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006); Susan Ohmer, “Speaking for the Audience: Double Features, Public Opinion and the Struggle for Control in 1930s Hollywood,” Quarterly Review of Film and Video 24:2 (March 2007): 143–169; Deron Overpeck, “Subversion, Desperation and Captivity: Pre-Film Advertising in American Film Exhibition Since 1977,” Film History: An International Journal 22:2 (June 2010): 219–234; Deron Overpeck, “Blindsiding: Theatre Owners, Political Action and Industrial Change, 1975–1985,” in Explorations in New Cinema History, op. cit., 185–196. 6. Gomery discusses the development of national chains, using Loews and Balaban & Katz as case studies, in Shared Pleasures, 34–56. 7. J.A. Lindstrom, “Almost Worse Than the Restrictive Measures.” Cinema Journal 39:1 (Fall 1999): 90–112; Mary P. Erickson, “‘In the Interest of the Moral Life of Our City’: The Beginning of Motion Picture Censorship in Portland, Oregon,” Film History: An International Journal 22:2 (2010): 148–169; Daniel Czitrom, “The Politics of Performance,” in Movie Censorship and American Culture, ed. Francis G. Couvares (Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996), 16–42. 8. Francis Couvares, “Hollywood, Main Street and the Church: Trying to Censor the Movies Before the Production Code,” American Quarterly 44:4 (December 1992): 595. 9. Erickson, “‘In the Interest of the Moral Life of Our City.’” 10. Couvares, 595. 11. “Say Picture Shows Corrupt Children,” New York Times, December 24, 1908, p. 24. See also Czitrom, “Politics of Performance,” esp. 28–31. 12. Max Alvarez, “The Origin of the Film Exchange,” Film History: An International Journal 17:4 (2005), 431–465. 13. “Facts and comments.” Moving Picture World, Saturday April 5, 1913: 23. See also Charles Musser, The Emergence of Cinema: American Screen to 1907 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1990), 433–435 and Eileen Bowser, The Transformation of Cinema, 1907–1915 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1990), 33–34. 14. Kathryn Fuller, At the Picture Show: Small Town Audiences and the Creation of Movie Fan Culture (Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1996), x. 15. Michael Quinn, “Distribution, the Transient Audience and the Development of the Feature Film,” Cinema Journal 40:2 (Winter 2001): 42. 16. “Moving Picture Combine,” Moving Picture World, June 8, 1907 223. 17. “Moving Picture Exhibitors Association,” Moving Picture World, June 22, 1907, 250. Until 1975, Staten Island was officially known as the Borough of Richmond. 18. “Moving Picture Combine,” op. cit. 19. “Sunday Opening of Nickelodeons,” Moving Picture World, December 28, 1907, 699. 20. “Moving Picture Exhibitors of America,” Moving Picture World, August 24, 1907, 394. 21. “More Observations,” Moving Picture World, October 12, 1907: 499. See also “Exchange and Theatre Ownership,” Moving Picture World, February 3, 1912, 374. 22. “MPEA Regular Meeting,” Moving Picture World, August 31, 1907: 400. 23. “Moving Picture Exhibitors’ Association,” Moving Picture World, September 21, 1907: 451. 24. “Moving Picture Association,” Moving Picture World, December 28, 1907: 700. This group was active in early 1908 but soon disappears from the pages of Moving Picture World, at the time the only trade journal covering exhibition extensively. In late November 1910, Moving Picture World reports on the formation and meeting of the Exhibitors Association of Greater New York. The meeting seems to have focused on local political issues, not intra-industrial affairs. See “Open Meeting of Exhibitors’ Association of New York,” Moving Picture World, December 10, 1910: 1341. 25. Articles regarding the formation of exhibitor organizations at this time include “Mutual Protective Association of the Motion Picture Exhibitors of Philadelphia,” Moving Picture World, April 4, 1908: 294–95; “Ohio Showmen Unite,” Moving Picture World February 20, 1909: 195; “Pittsburgh Exhibitors’ Protective Association,” “Ohio Exhibitors Unite,” untitled announcement of the formation of the Southwestern Motion Picture Exhibitors’ Association, all in Moving Picture World March 6, 1909: 273; and “New England Exhibitors Organize,” Moving Picture World October 24, 1909: 320. 26. “Mutual Protective Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors of Philadelphia,” Moving Picture World December 19, 1908: 504. 27. Richard V. Spencer, “The Southern California Exhibitors’ Convention,” Moving Picture World, February 25, 1911: 415. 28. “Doings at Los Angeles,” Moving Picture World, August 31, 1912: 870. 29. Neff recounted his struggles to form the OEL in “The Motion Picture Exhibitors League of America: How It Came into Being,” Motion Picture World, August 17, 1912: 621–623. The decision of the Ohio Film Protective Association to fold itself into the OEL was reported in “The Exhibitors League Meeting at Columbus, OH,” Moving Picture World, December 24, 1910: 1481. 30. Indeed, Moving Picture World self-aggrandized some credit for the convention. It had endorsed the SCEA resolution, and had published several editorials calling for a national exhibitors body; see, for example, its untitled editorial on page 123 of the January 21, 1911 issue, and “Work for the Convention,” April 1, 1911: 693. Once the convention was announced, the paper crowed that “judging from returns on the subject, our point has been well taken, for there has been increased activity in many quarters in the past fortnight, and the spirit of organization is much alive” (“Local Organization Necessary to a National Convention,” May 20, 1911: 1114–1115). The editors also took it upon themselves to advise exhibitors on proper decorum at professional conventions. It informed its readers that saloons were not acceptable sites for business meetings, and hoped that exhibitors could avoid the rancor of previous exhibitor gatherings which “generally ended in disputes or disruption, which were sometimes fiascos and sometimes ended in orgies not to the credit of the participants” (“Work for the Convention,” op. cit.). 31. “First National Convention of Exhibitors,” Motography, August 1911: 62. 32. “Exhibitors Form National League,” Moving Picture World, August 19, 1911: 446. The convention also officially adopted the name National League of Exhibitors but MPELA is the name most used. 33. “The First National Convention,” op. cit. 34. “The First National Convention,” Motography, August 1911: 55. 35. “A moving-picture league,” New York Times, June 20, 1912: 10. 36. See, for example, “The Independent Film Protective Association,” Moving Picture World, January 30, 1909: 116. “A Response to Duty,” Moving Picture World, February 6, 1909: 141; “An Exhibitor's Protest,” Moving Picture World, February 6, 1909: 149; “Letter to Exhibitors,” Moving Picture World, March 27, 1909: 373; 37. “Exhibitors’ League Convention,” New York Dramatic Mirror, August 21, 1912: 27. 38. Charles Musser, Before the Nickelodeon: Edwin S. Porter and the Edison Manufacturing Company (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991), 443–444. 39. W. Stephen Bush, “The Campaign for a Modern Sunday,” Moving Picture World, February 24, 1912: 658. 40. “Indiana Exhibitors’ League Meeting,” Moving Picture World, February 17, 1912: 569. 41. A sample of articles about the fight to remain open on Sundays includes: “Bans ‘Movies’ on Sundays,” New York Times, January 14, 1915: 1 “Maryland ‘Get Together’ Meeting,” Moving Picture World December 11, 1915: 1989; “City Fathers Take Up Sunday fight,” Moving Picture World, January 6, 1917: 56; “Sunday Closing in California?” Moving Picture World, February 3, 1917: 73; “Indiana Favors Sunday pictures,” Moving Picture World, March 17, 1917: 175; “Indiana Citizens Riot When Police Prevent Sunday Opening,” Exhibitors Herald, November 1, 1919: 55. 42. W. Stephen Bush, “George Kleine Talks,” Moving Picture World, November 20, 1915: 1456–57. 43. John Freuler, “The Old Year and the New: A Resume and a Forecast,” Exhibitors Herald, December 30, 1916: 11. 44. Walter W. Irwin, “Thorough Co-operation is Industry's Vital Need,” Exhibitors Herald, December 30, 1916: 13–14. 45. “Denounces Foes of Films,” New York Times, July 14, 1916: 9. 46. “Chicago Gets Exhibitors Convention for 1916,” Moving Picture World, January 15, 1916: 38–39; “Film Hosts in Battle Array,” Exhibitors World, January 22, 1916: 566. 47. “Wants to Hear from Indiana,” Moving Picture World, November 6, 1915: 1118. 48. “See Dawn of New Film Era,” New York Times, July 12, 1916: 9. “Motion Picture Men Elect Officers.” New York Times, July 15, 1916: 7. 49. “Universal Exposes Ochs Plot to Compel Support,” Exhibitors Herald, February 3, 1917: 10. See also “President Ochs vs. Universal Company,” Moving Picture World, February 3, 1917: 663. 50. “Joseph Hopp Elected to Presidency of M.P.E.L. Local” and “Ochs Gang Rule Unseated Henry, Charge of Exhibitors,” Exhibitors Herald, February 17, 1917: 13–16; “Rise and Fall of the Philadelphia League,” Exhibitors Herald, February 3, 1917: 13–14. 51. “The Autocratic Few,” Exhibitors Herald, January 6, 1917: 7. Emphasis in original. 52. “Methods of President Ochs,” Moving Picture World, April 14, 1917: 241. 53. “Gerson Protests at Ochs Action,” Moving Picture World, June 23, 1917: 617. 54. George Blaisdell, “Ochs is Re-elected President of the Exhibitors League,” Moving Picture World, August 4, 1917: 772, 797–98. 55. Ibid., 797. 56. Ibid. 57. “Exhibitors Form New Association.” Moving Picture World, August 4, 1917: 798. “Principles of American League Stated.” Moving Picture World, August 11, 1917: 917. 58. “Predicts Downfall of League,” Moving Picture World, August 11, 1917: 917. “Pettijohn Enthused,” Moving Picture World, September 22, 1917: 1825. 59. James S. McQuade, “Factions Get Together in Chicago,” Moving Picture World, September 21, 1918: 1691–95. 60. “Exhibitors at St. Louis Convention Elect Black National President.” Moving Picture World, July 12, 1919: 183. 61. “President Black of National Organization Expresses Regret at Action of New York,” Moving Picture World, July 19, 1919: 341; “New York Exhibitors Taking Steps to Form Second National Organization,” Moving Picture World, July 26, 1919: 485. 62. “Exhibitors League of America Fights for Repeal of War Time Tax,” Moving Picture World, August 9, 1919: 798. “No Immediate Chance to Repeal Film Taxes Declares S.I. Berman,” Exhibitors Herald, October 18, 1919: 51. 63. “‘Forget All Differences’—Rembusch Writes Cohen on Tax Revision Urging That All Stand Together,” Moving Picture World, October 4, 1919: 63; “Rembusch Opens Way for New York Exhibs to Return to M.P.E.A.,” Exhibitors Herald, October 4, 1919: 51; “Frank Rembusch Calls Exhibitors’ ‘Peace’ Meeting,” Exhibitors Herald, January 24, 1920: 50. “M.P.E.A. Opens Active Fight on New York Exhibitors’ League,” Exhibitors Herald, February 28, 1920: 58. 64. “Calls Exhibitors to Unite in Fight against Producer-owned Theatres,” Exhibitors Herald, April 24, 1920: 35. See also “Show Down is Here.” Wid's Daily, April 13, 1920: 1. 65. Tino Balio, “Struggles for Control, 1908–1930,” The American Film Industry, ed. Tino Balio (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985), 121. 66. “National Meets,” Wid's Daily, April 9, 1920: 1. 67. “Five Hundred Exhibitors Heed Patterson's Call for Defense,” Exhibitors Herald, May 8, 1920: 43. 68. “Rembusch Opposing Cohen Organization,” Exhibitors Herald, May 8, 1920: 50; “Cohen Statement Brings New Hope of Exhibitors Uniting,” Exhibitors Herald, June 5, 1920: 33–35, 40. 69. “Rembusch Opposing Cohen Organization.” 70. “‘Landslide’ Declares Frank J. Rembusch,” Exhibitors Herald, May 21, 1920: 35. 71. “Blumenthal Predicts Split in Industry,” Exhibitors Herald, May 21, 1920: 35. 72. “Exhibitors United to Battle Paramount Theatre Menace,” Exhibitors Herald, June 19, 1920: 31. 73. “Where Does Alfred S. Black stand? Is He with F.P.-L. Co., or with Exhibitors?” Exhibitors Herald, June 12, 1920: 38; see also “Exhibitors United to Battle Paramount,” op. cit. 74. “Marcus Loew Claims Percentage Booking Drove Him into Production,” Exhibitors Herald, June 26, 1920: 40. 75. “Victory over Paramount Looms as Exhibitors Complete Organization; Sidney S. Cohen Named President,” Exhibitors Herald, June 26, 1920: 33-5, 38–40. The name “Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America” first begins to appear as the name of Cohen's new exhibitor group as early as December 1919 in some news reports, but only on occasion and never as an actual organization working towards any goal. More often than not, Cohen's activities between the MPELNY's rejection of the MPEA and the June 1920 conference are identified as MPELNY actions. No exhibitor organization officially takes on the name until the new group is created at the June 1920 convention. 76. Rembusch was appointed to the MPTOA's executive committee; see “Cleveland Convention News.” Vid's Daily, June 11, 1920: 4. However, shortly thereafter, he was ousted from both the MPTOA and the Indiana exhibitor's league over allegations that he had slandered Cohen in statements to Black, who still hoped to the make the MPE a viable trade group. See “Black Busy,” Vid's Daily, September 10, 1920: 1–2; “Correspondence Passes Between Frank Rembusch and Sydney S. Cohen,” Vid's Daily, September 23, 1920: 1; and “Rembusch Hit,” Vid's Daily, October 1, 1920: 1, 3. Rembusch returned to the MPTOA fold sometime thereafter, and then apparently left again. In 1928, he claims to be the National Secretary, “elected under the supervision of the Government of the United States,” of the Unaffiliated Independent Motion Picture Exhibitors of America; see March 31, 1928 letter from Frank Rembusch to Martin Quigley, Record #420 of Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America Digital Archive (hereafter MMPDA Digital Archive), accessed September 2, 2011. He also spoke at the 1929 Motion Picture Association of Ohio convention, claiming to have a formula to end disputes between production–distribution and exhibition; see Record #639 of MPPDA Digital Archive, accessed September 2, 2011. His son, Trueman Rembusch, would be president of Allied States in the 1950s. 77. “Marcus Loew Claims Percentage Booking Drove Him into Production,” op. cit. 78. “Zukor Talks,” Vid's Daily, June 9, 1920: 1. 79. “Exhibitors United to Battle Paramount,” op. cit. 80. “Zukor's Pledge,” Exhibitors Herald, August 14, 1920: 31. 81. “No Agreement Reached Between Cohen and Abrams on Advanced Payment,” Exhibitors Herald, July 31, 1920: 32. 82. “Exhibitor Organization—Cleveland to Toronto,” Exhibitors Herald, October 13, 1928: 20. 83. Roger Ferri, “Sydney Cohen Re-elected; Opponents Withdraw,” Moving Picture World, June 2, 1923: 571. 84. Ibid. 85. According to a press release contained in the MPPDA Digital Archive, the negotiations began on June 12, 1922. See Record #124, MPPDA Digital Archive, Flinders University Library Special Collections, accessed September 2, 2011. 86. May 27, 1922 letter from Sidney R. Kent to Will Hays. Record #122, MPPDA Digital Archive, Flinders University Library Special Collections, accessed September 2, 2011. 87. June 17, 1922 from Lewis Selznick to Will Hays. Record #125, MPPDA Digital Archive, Flinders University Library Special Collections, accessed September 2, 2011. 88. The standard contract is included in Record #130, MPPDA Digital Archive, Flinders University Library Special Collections, accessed September 2, 2011. 89. October 20, 1922 letter from H.R. Varner of Motion Picture Theatre Owners of North Carolina to Will Hays. Record #130, MPPDA Digital Archives, Flinders University Library Special Collections, accessed September 2, 2011. 90. June 7, 1923 letter from Sydney Cohen to Will Hays. Record #130, MPPDA Digital Archive, Flinders University Special Collections, accessed September 2, 2011. 91. Copy of Report of Conferences with Will H. Hays Relative to Uniform Contract, Submitted by Board of Directors of Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America at Annual Convention—Chicago—May 23, 1923. Record #130, MPPDA Digital Archives, Flinders University Special Collections, accessed September 2, 2011. 92. August 16, 1922 letter from Sydney Cohen to Will Hays. Record #130, MPPDA Digital Archives, Flinders University Library Special Collections, accessed September 2, 2011. 93. Report of Conferences, op. cit. 94. April 25, 1923 letter from Karl Kirchway to Courtland Smith, Esq. Record #130, MPPDA Digital Archives, Flinders University Library Special Collections, accessed September 2, 2011. 95. See June 22, 1922 letter from Bernard Edelhertz to Will Hays and July 14, 1922 letters from Will Hays to Charles O’Reilly and Bernard Edelhertz, all contained in Record #130, MPPDA Digital Archives, Flinders University Library Special Collections, accessed September 2, 2011. 96. “Exhibitor Views on Uniform Contract,” Exhibitors Trade Review, March 3, 1923, p 687. 97. February 15, 1923 Memo to Courtland Smith. Record #130, MPPDA Digital Archives, Flinders University Library Special Collections, accessed September 2, 2011. According to an article in Exhibitors Trade Review, the WNYMPTOA “exist[ed] largely on paper and represents a political effort by Sydney S. Cohen to disrupt the recognized New York State organization,” O’Reilly's group. See “Exhibitor Views on Uniform Contract.” 98. “Exhibitor Views on Uniform Contract.” 99. “Cohen and O’Reilly issue opposing statements after Cohen meets with T.O.C.C.” 100. “Exhibitor organization—Cleveland to Toronto,” op cit. 101. Douglas Gomery, Shared Pleasures, 39–43. 102. Ibid., 43.; Balio, “Struggles for Control,” 121. 103. “Universal Continues Activity in South,” Film Daily, December 13, 1926: 1, 4. “Woodhull Elected M.P.T.O.A. President as Collins resigns,” Film Daily, March 24, 1927: 1. 104. “Exhibitor Organization—Cleveland to Toronto,” op cit. 105. “Independent Exhibitors Vote to Continue as Organization,” Exhibitors Herald and Motion Picture World, September 22, 1928: 27; “Sapiro Organization Will Disband Dec. 1; Fox Closing for 50,” Exhibitors Herald and Motion Picture World, September 29, 1928: 20. 106. Ernest A. Rovestad, “Exhibitors Bring Home Wealth of Ideas from Toronto Session,” Exhibitors Herald and Motion Picture World, October 20, 1928: 27–28, 32–33. 107. “Expect Fireworks at Toronto with Renewal of Allied States,” Exhibitors Herald and Motion Picture World, October 20, 1928: 21, 32. 108. Ibid. 109. “Texas Joins new Allied States; Dallas Convention Elects Cole,” Exhibitors Herald and Motion Picture World, November 24, 1928: 35. 110. “Allied Seeks $75,000 Year's War Fund, Says Cole,” Exhibitors Herald and Motion Picture World, December 1, 1928: 25. By now retired from MPTOA, Cohen had testified about his and other exhibitors’ negative experiences with Paramount in October 1927. See “An Address by Sydney S. Cohen Delivered upon the Occasion of the Conference Called by the Federal Trade Commission to Discuss Trade Practices within the Motion Picture Industry, October 10–15, 1927. Record #2066, MPPDA Digital Files, Flinders University Library Special Collections, accessed September 2, 2011. 111. Tino Balio, Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business Enterprise, 1930–1939 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996), 19 and 66–67. 112. Thomas Schatz, Boom and Bust: American Cinema in the 1940s (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999), 16. 113. MMPDA Inter-Office Memo from C.C.P. to Mr. Hess, dated March 25, 1930, about formation of Allied States organization. Record #1567, MPPDA Digital Archives, Flinders University Library Special Collections, accessed September 2, 2011. 114. William J. Formby, “Exhibitor at Crossroads: Three Signposts Beckon,” Motion Picture Herald, May 4, 1946: 14–15, 18. 115. Tino Balio, Grand Design, 19, 46, 66–67. The history of Allied States and its role in perpetuating divisions within film exhibition before and after the studio system has yet to be written, and is outside the scope of this article. On the continuing schism between the chains and independents in the 1970s and 1980s see Deron Overpeck, “Out of the Dark: American Film Exhibition, Political Action and Industrial Change, 1966–1986,” unpublished dissertation (University of California Los Angeles, 2007).