International photographer (Jan-Dec 1934)

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February, 1934 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Twenty-three "Wally's" First Job By Earl Theisen A description of "Wally" Clendenin, author of the article on page 12 of this magazine, would fit a mobile or animated encyclopedia. He is a character! His knowledge and experiences in Hollywood during the years the picture folk were migrating here is a thing apart. His anecdotes concerning the antics of the personages of those days are a barrel of fun ; but he won't tell them for print since he feels the past is where it is and besides they have learned better. However, he will tell one on himself which I have followed in spirit as closely as my ability permits. In 1('()8, he was one of the kid operators that were so common throughout the country at that time. His first job was cranking one of the old Edison exhibition machines, the model with the wooden front board. It had no safety shutter, but there was a small mica dowser hinged to the front end of the metal light cone. If the film broke, or for any other reason stopped in the gate, he was supposed to flip down the dowser in time to cheat the local firemen out of a ride. The mica was transparent enough to let a little light through, just enough to permit the audience to admire the scratches and dirt on the stationary film while he did a hasty repair job. He reminisces: "The cubbyhole in which I worked was only three feet wide, and was directly over the ticket office. The projector was mounted on a shelf along the left side of the booth, and it was possible to crank with the left hand while standing outside the door. This I sometimes did in an attempt to cool off. However, the rheostat — a large contraption consisting of iron wire coils wound on a metal frame — was directly in front of the door and, as the wire coils used to get red hot, I was, as it were, betw-een two fires. The booth got hot, the rheostat got hotter and I got hottest." The show bore the not unusual title of "THE NICKELODEON." The manager was a thrifty soul, being of Scotch extraction and saturation ; the program was, therefore, limited to one reel and an illustrated song. Wally was instructed to crank as slowly as possible in order to make the picture last longer, consequently, when Paul Panzer pursued the beauteous Florence Lawrence across the screen, the audience got a lasting impression that both principals were afflicted with stringhalt. The illustrated song consisted of a tattered "Professional Copy" and a bundle of colored slides. Most of the slides were cracked and so was the voice of our piano tickler. It was his job to space the slides out properly through the song, but up in the cubbyhole he could not hear the words and frequently the slides did not last long enough. The audience never cared ; the only thing that irked them was to have a slide put in right side up, as NEW H. C. E. COMBINATION LENS SHADE, FILTER HOLDER AND DISK HOLDER The technicians of the Hollywood Camera Exchange, specialists in the manufacture of lens shades and filter holders, have designed and manufactured a combination lens shade, three inch filter holder and standard disk holder for still cameras ranging from 5x7, 8x10 and up. This holder is so designed that one side holds the filter while the disk is held in the opposite side, enabling the operator to shoot through disk and filter at one time to secure special effects. The Combination Lens Shade, Filter Holder and Disk Holder is very light, being hand machined from high grade duraluminum, which will not bend or break and is considered by local studio still cameramen to be novel and practical for both professional and amateur. It is made to fit lenses of any diameter. this gave them upside down results. "The switches for the house wiring were on the wall directly over the front seats," said Wally, "and every time a fuse blew, the customers got a swell view of the fireworks. With the Iroquois theatre fire in Chicago still fresh in their memories, they were apt to be a bit coltish at such a time, often leaving me suddenly alone in the dark with the piano girl — which wasn't as much of a treat as it sounds. "Our only ballyhoo was a cylinder phonograph in the lobby, with a repeat mechanism on it for playing the same record as long as anybody could stand it. The manager bored a hole above the door, stuck the small end of the phonograph horn through it from the outside, and treated the passing pedestrian to the strains of 'I Got Mine,' filtered through six feet of rubber hose. It didn't seem to be much of a draw. "The films we ran were genuine antiques, the cheapest the manager could rent from the exchanges. They were nearly all minus a main title and were so scratched, torn, and full of bad splices that my left arm got musclebound from keeping them in frame. But what did I care? It was true that I got no money for my nightly roasting, but that bothered me not at all — I got to see all the 'movin' pitchers' for nothing." Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers.