University of Virginia Library

Handsome Profits

Walton is turning a handsome
profit at each late night weekend
showing, though not as much as
you might think judging from the
length of the lines at the box office,
which usually extend down the
block and around the corner. The
film rentals on these skin flicks are
much higher than on regular films,
normally figuring out to about a
50-50 split between theatre
management and distributor. But
the Paramount is still coming out
well in the black, and manager
Walton no longer has the fears he
had when the series began.

On "opening night" four weeks
ago, Walton stopped me as I was
going in to see the 9 o'clock regular
feature.

"Gonna stick around for the
excitement tonight?" he asked a bit
nervously.

"What do you mean?"

"The two uniformed (but
off-duty) policemen who I
advertised would be at the door to
check I.D.'s Chief Durham phoned
me this afternoon and said he
wouldn't let them work for me,
that he didn't want his men to be
connected in any way with the
showing of such pornography. This
says one thing to me: he's setting
me up for a bust."

Walton was prepared to be
arrested, although he said, "I can't
believe they would do anything
that stupid." And they didn't. The
only busts were on the screen.

This non-action on the part of
the Charlottesville Police
Department is to be commended.
Had they arrested Walton and
confiscated the film, they probably
would have defeated their own
purpose (which presumably is to
deter people from seeing porno
films), wasted their time and
inconvenienced a lot of people.

One, Walton would never have
been convicted-theatre managers,
when prosecuted for showing skin
flicks to those of age, virtually
always beat the rap.