By P.S. Harrison (1928)
Jimmy Grainger, General Sales Manager of Fox Film Corporation, took exception to the statement that I made in last week's "Harrison's Reports" to the effect that the figures he gave on Sunrise were "padded. He thought that I have cast a reflection on his veracity. In making that assertion, I meant no personal on Jimmy; and lest there is some one else that may think that I meant it the way Jimmy, Grainger has interpreted it, I take this means of setting him straight.
This is what prompted me to make that assertion:
It has been the custom in this industry for the producers and distributors to exaggerate the drawing powers of pictures. So when I received reliable information that the actual receipts of Sunrise were lower by about $3,000 than the figures Jimmy gave me, I took it for granted that Jimmy simply followed the custom in this industry, of exaggerating. But I did not mean to question his personal veracity.
Why shouldn't I have taken it that way? Didn't the Fox organization make an exaggeration when it stated in its trade paper insert that Mother Knows Best and The Red Dance are Broadway hits when they have not even been shown on Broadway?
Here is another case: Jimmy Grainger is telling you through his branch managers that A Girl in Every Port is the same picture as Balaoo, when we know that Balaoo is The Wizard, because the author of The Wizard is given as Gaston Leroux, whereas the author of A Girl in Every Port is given as J. McGuinnes. Now. this is a misstatement; Jimmy himself must admit it. But, in telling you that this is a business untruth, I do not mean to cast any reflection on the veracity of Jimmy Grainger.
It is not necessary for me to call some one names in order to impress you with the accuracy of the information I give you on these pages. When, for example, I tell you that The Chaser is not The Butter and Egg Man, it is not necessary for me to curse some one in First National in order to make you take my statement seriously. The facts in themselves are so impressive that no other aid is needed. Nor is it necessary for me to make personal remarks about Jimmy Grainger in order to impress you with the fact that Love Hungry is not The Comedian; for the facts speak for themselves.
Jimmy Grainger is working for the Fox Film Corporation, and must necessarily do all he can to show results at the Fox box office. On the other hand, you are paving me to render you a certain service, and I must do all I can to render it to you, no matter whose feelings I may hurt in so doing. I like Jimmy Grainger personally. In fact I admire him. I admire any one that has the stuff in him to make the success that he has made. But my personal liking for him is not going to make me refrain from giving you information that may save you all hundreds of thousands of dollars. The difference of opinion between Jimmy Grainger and me about the box-office receipts of 'Sunrise is something like $3,000 weekly:
He says that the average in the 28 weeks has been $7,854; my information is to the effect that it is between $4,500 and $5,000. There is just one way to settle the matter: Let Jimmy Grainger show me the daily box-office statements, signed by the treasurer of the Times Square Theatre and countersigned by the Fox representative, as well as the bank book showing the daily deposits. Then if I find that Jimmy is right and I wrong, he may rest assured that I shall print the figures conspicuously.
P.S. Harrison, "About Sunrise," Harrison's Reports, June 16, 1928, page 95.
© 1997, David Pierce, on editing and revisions (if any)
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