GRADING OF ADMISSION PRICES TO N.Z. CINEMAS ADVOCATED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22666, 17 June 1948, Page 5

GRADING OF ADMISSION PRICES TO N.Z. CINEMAS ADVOCATED

(RA> ) WELLINGTON, June 16. The grading of the prices of admission to picture theatres in New Zealand was advocated by Edwin Ross Greenfield, managing director of Modern Theatres (Provincial), Limited, a company controlling- four Auckland suburban theatres, in evidence before the Parliamentary committee inquiring into the motion picture industry.

Witness said the running costs of all * theatres had gone up yet they were still i screening at pre-war prices which were the lowest in the world. d The following minimum under his , grading scheme were suggested by wit- | ness:—City theatres: A grade, 3s evening, 2s day; B grade, 2s, Is 6d; C grade, 1 Is 6d, Is 6d. Suburban theatres: D > grade, Is 6d evening, Is day; E grade, ( Is 3d, Is; F grade, Is, Is. Country theatres, said witness, would c be worked into the grading between f city and suburban prices according to £ their situation and other conditions. I Film Appeal Tribunal’s Powers | The appointment of a film appeal tri- r bunal to deal with all trade matters, r including the question of appeals regarding film supplies, was also urged ; by witness. Fie said there were in New r Zealand on a population basis nearly three times as many theatres as in the i United States and three times more c than in Britain or Canada. There was i no other industry or business that pro- t vided so much for so little, and received i such a small return for so much in- c vested capital with the exceptionally heavy risk run by a theatre vvner. He was entitled to a much larger profit than a small shopkeeper who c was not affected by weather, strikes, £ epidemics and other things over which - he had no control. ( Witness said film hire on the present j basis of charges worked out at a higher £ percentage for the smaller man than it v did in the case of the larger theatre. Flc predicted that some of the small t concerns that did not actually go bank- | rupt would possibly sell out and be t swallowed up by the larger concerns. £ The prices under the grading system e he had suggested would give all theatres t a chance to cope with the increased t running costs with which they were all faced. r Witness suggested that the amuse- t ment tax should be imposed on prices c above 2s only, instead of as at present c above Is 6d, so as to give the working a man every opportunity to take advan- s tage of the cheaper seats. j “Licensing Very Necessary” Witness claimed that the licensing of theatres was very necessary to control the building or opening of new theatres s and that this licensing was even more t necessary today than when first intro- a duced. t New Zealand had long passed the 1 saturation point regarding the number £ of theatres. There was a need for c special protection to be given to the ( independent exhibitor regarding his * supply of films. Resuming his evidence which had s been interrupted by the adjournment c on May 27, J. Fleming, secretary of the j Theatrical and Places of Amusement s Employees’ Union, said no inquiry into j any industry would be complete without t an investigation into the rates of remuneration of workers in that industry. s The workers in the picture business t were in an unfortunate position of a having probably the lowest paid condi- t tions of any industry, ]t