PICTURE THEATRES

Taranaki Daily News, 16 April 1935, Page 11

PICTURE THEATRES

CONTROL OF LICENSES RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED. EXPLANATION BY MINISTER. Regulations dealing with the issue of picture theatre licenses appear in the Gazette published on Thursday night. They are in practically the same form as those made in 1932, which restricted the building of picture theatres and which were subsequently upset by the Supreme Court and declared to be ultra vires of the Cinematograph Films Act,. 1928. Briefly, the new regulations ■ provide for an inquiry before a license is granted for a new theatre in districts already ’ served by one or more theatres, and for the refusal of a license only in cases where the existing conditions justify this course in the public interest. The regulations are as follow:— . Whenever the Minister of Industries and Commerce is satisfied:— (a) That any locality has within it one or more cinematograph theatres where public exhibi- ' tions of films are given by an exhibitor or exhibitors licensed under the Cinematograph Films Act, 1928, so as to provide adequately for the normal requirements of the locality, having regard to the entertainment svalue of the films exhibited, the theatre accommodation provided, the prices charged for admission, and any other relevant considerations; and either (b) That, in view of ■> the conditions existing in the industry and the limited number of films of reasonable exhibition value obtainable in the market, the opening of any additional cinematograph theatre or theatres in the locality would cause undue hardship to such licensed exhibitor or exhibi-i . tors; or (c) That the erection of an additional cinematograph theatre or theatres in the locality would be likely to ’ result in an unreasonable economic waste the Minister may direct the officers appointed to receive applications for and to issue such licenses that no exhibitor's license tinder the Cinematograph Films Act, 1928, shall be issued in respect of any theatre in such locality except the theatre or theatres in respect of which such licenses have been issued prior to the Minister’s direction. Any such direction may be at any time revoked by the Minister. No exhibitor’s license shall be issued in breach of any such direction of the Minister. . MINISTER EXPLAINS. Explaining the reasons for the reimposition of these regulations, the Minister of Industries and Commerce, Hon. R. Masters, stated that the previous regulations were imposed at the request of a considerable section of the picture theatre proprietors to overcome certain alleged unfair trading practices which had been adopted by some of the chain theatre concerns. The Parliamentary committee which held an inquiry into the motion picture industry during the 1934 recess, after hearing a considerable body of evidence on the question, expressed the opinion that the regulations were justified by the conditions existing in the industry, and recommended that the Cinematograph Filins Act should be amended to impose control on the licensing of theatres. * The Government was not anxious to do this if it could be avoided, and the amending Act which was passed last session did not make provision for this control, but as an alternative provided that nothing in the Cinematograph Films Act should be deemed : to restrict the making of regulations Under the Board of Trade Act. Very considerable pressure had since been brought on the Government both by the Motion Picture Exhibitors’ Association and individual theatre proprietors to reimpose the restrictions. •_ LOCAL BODY REPRESENTATIONS. “Strong representations have, also been made by a number of local authorities, who are concerned either as picture theatre proprietors or as the owners of town halls used as picture theatres,” added Mr. Masters. “These buildings have been erected under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act to provide entertainment for the public, and in many cases the erection of additional theatres W’ould have the effect of destroying the earning capacity of the hall and thereby throwing a considerable additional burden on the ratepayers. It was submitted to the Government that where additional theatres were not justified by conditions existing in the town, the restriction was justified in the public interest.

“The report of the committee of inquiry which was presented to Parliament during the recent session met with the general approval of member?,/ and the Bill amending the Cinematograph Films Act, which was based on this report, was also strongly endorsed from both sides of the House. The regulations now issued provide simply for an inquiry to be held before a license is granted for a new theatre in districts already served by one or more theatres, and for the refusal of license only in cases where the existing conditions justify this course in the public interest The evidence before the committee of inquiry showed that during the operation of the previous regulations in only two cases were licenses refused, and the ; action taken was definitely upheld by s the committee.”