Letter: Broader pictures?

Sir: You report ('Cinemas to give audiences more choice of films', 7 October) the finding of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission that some film distributors and cinema chains are unfairly restricting the supply of films, and also that the growth in cinema-going in recent years can be attributed to the multiplexes.

It seems to me that the multiplexes could themselves, if they wished, easily widen the variety of films available. At present, a typical multiplex screens simultaneously perhaps a dozen movies all appealing to the same type of viewer (twentysomething fans of the latest Hollywood blockbuster), along with the odd children's film. Surely one or two of the screens could be set aside for offerings of more minority interest, say, foreign-language ones or revivals of old movies. Although these would probably not be as profitable, at least in the short term, they would attract a very different type of customer, who at present is not catered for in most parts of the country.

Yours faithfully,

ALAN PAVELIN

Chislehurst, Kent

7 October