Newsday (Nassau Edition) from Hempstead, New York • 122

your Fewer dollar movies in a changing picture on LI By Bill Kaufman If you are over 40, you can remember a time when 25 cents bought two first-run, full-length movies and a couple of Popeye or Bugs Bunny cartoons and a Movietone newsreel. Now, a neighborhood movie can cost anywhere up to $5 for just one feature film. In recent years, however, the appearance of the $1 movie house has heartened some moviegoers. While everyone agrees that a double feature is a bargain and a single attraction is still a good deal et that price, the future of bargain-basement movie houses remains unclear. At present, there are at least six $1 theaters cn Long Island, a far different picture from that of two years ago, when there were about 25 such houses.

The rapid decline has been attributed to rising costs and decreasing profit margins for theater owners. Conrad Baker, the president of Associated Independent Theaters, based in Oceanside, generally is regarded as the man who pioneered the $1 movie theater on Long Island about 15 years ago. His firm no longer includes any $1 houses among its peaked out a couple of years ago, and now, any exhibitor running one is having a. touch-and-go time," Baker said. The discount theaters apparently fell victim not only to economics but also to a changing pattern of viewing habits.

"People have become highly selective as to what they want to see," Baker said. "They'd rather spend two, maybe three dollars or more to see a first-run big film than wait to catch it at a dollar house." As a rule, the $1 theaters usually feature movies on third runs when the film rental costs are less and the public's yen to see the movie has slackened. On its first run, a film plays on an average of two or three weeks, and a top admission, anywhere from $1.50 to $5, is charged, depending on the movie's popularity. A film distributor may realize as much as 35 per cent of the theater's gross for the engagement, which is booked through a highly competitive bidding system among exhibitors. Usually, only a small number of theaters are allowed to show a film on its initial run.

On its second run, which only a week, a movie gets its widest exposure. As many as 18 theaters on the Island can be playing the same four theaters on Long Island. "The dollar places film. Admission usually ranges from $1.50 to $2.50.. ALL SEAT 1.00 Newsdav Photo bv Jim Peppler A diminishing sign of the times? The distributor's cut usually runs about 25 per cent of the gross.

As a rough example, a typical 500-seat theater in that ticket price category may gross from $2,000 to $3,000 a week, depending on its location and the film that is being played. Finally, a third run, known in the industry as the underbelly, sees the feature going into. theaters that include the $1 houses. Often, less than 25 per cent. of the gross is the distributor's deal, and on this run, there is no bidding.

Movies usually are given a week's rest between runs, so by the time a film appears on the $1 circuit, at least seven or eight weeks may have passed since it was first shown locally. Kurt Brenner, who operates three Long Island theaters adopted a $1 policy this spring at the former Bellmore Theater, which he renamed The Movie. "It's too early to tell yet," Brenner said, conjecturing on the outcome of the new price policy, "but every exhibitor around is closely watching my grosses. "Business has been far better than I expected so far," Brenner said. "The recession may help because patrons just won't be able to afford a heavy price for first-run movies." The economic hazards that an exhibitor faces with $1 films were emphasized by Frank Calderone, a veteran theater-owner on Long Island.

Calderone said that he tried the policy last year at his large Rivoli Theater in Hempstead with such double bills AS "Blazing Saddles" and "Blume in Love," about seven weeks after first run. It failed and even a first-run- policy didn't work there. The theater now is closed. Calderone no longer operates any $1 houses because, he said, "it's an impossible situation-audiences are very fussy about the movies they want to see." As an example of the economics involved, Calderone said, the operating costs for the Rivoli, based on this year's projected overhead, would be about $200,000. He said that the average film rental costs for a first-run bill were about $1,000 per week, and that to function in the black at the Rivoli, he needed "a minimum of $5,000 per week." Calderone said that since the theater didn't attract anywhere near enough customers for first-run films, "it certainly wouldn't for $1 either, even with cheaper film rentals." Some perspective on the plight of the $1 theater was given by Marc Laffie, an executive of Creative Film Services, an East Meadow movie booking firm.

"Apparently, people are complaining about prices, but when they want to see a 'Young Frankenstein' or a 'Murder on the Orient they'll pay top dollar rather than wait to see it," he said. An example of what he is talking about can be seen in Syosset, where lines frequently form for night-time performances of "Earthquake" at the Cinema 150. The admission is $4, except for matinees, when it is $3. Charles Cohen, of United Artists, said that business "is absolutely great despite everything you hear about the recession going around." Mel Stein, the operator of a theater chain that Includes a $1 house, The Amity in South Farmingdale, said the policy is doing "fair as can be expected." Stein was another exhibitor expressing optimism that the economic crunch will induce moviegoers to await third runs. On A night that The Amity was showing "Macon County Line," the 575-seat theater had fewer than 100 persons at a midweek 7:15 PM show.

A random check of the patrons showed that they attended for a variety of reasons. Jan Marslander, 20, of Farmingdale, said she went there specifically to see that film "because I lived in Georgia during the 1950s, the time film is and I was curious." For Mitch Woestendick, an unemployed sheet metal worker, it was a matter of money. "I just can't spring for anything more," Woestendick said. "Even the two bucks we spent tonight are going to be impossible soon if things don't look up for me." And Seymour Waller of Massapequa said the movie simply meant a reasonably inexpensive outing for his wife and two children. "I can't see spending $3.50 a head." Waller said.

"This is it as far as our budget stretches.".