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22 NATHAN D. GOLDEN [j. s. M. P. E.
reproduction sets. All of these are in Prague. Two of these theaters have American apparatus, two have German "Klangfilm" equipment, and the fifth has installed a Dutch reproduction set. There are some 40 theaters in this country seating over 750, and 368 theaters seating from 500 to 750, which could be wired for sound pictures.
The distribution of talking films will be very limited, since the Czechoslovak theater goers will come two or three times out of curiosity to see and hear a talking film whose language they do not understand, but are unlikely to attend regularly. German dialog pictures might find a fair distribution in the territory close to the German and Austrian frontiers inhabited by German speaking people, provided theater owners equip their houses with reproducing equipment.
It seems improbable that dialog films could be produced in this country under present circumstances, since domestic production of motion pictures suffers from lack of capital and will not be able to afford the purchase of expensive recording apparatus. In addition, the domestic market is rather small, and there are no export possibilities for Czech talkies.
The sound film proper has better prospects, according to leaders in the industry. It is reported that motion picture producers of Czechoslovakia contemplate making sound films with the cooperation of foreign producers, whose sound recording studios could be used for this purpose. The Blekta Film Company is now taking Czech sound pictures in a studio in Vienna for a film which is partly sound synchronized.
Czechoslovakian film distributors are rather skeptical as to the lucrativeness of the distribution of sound films in their country, maintaining that the expensiveness of the reproducing equipment will permit only a limited number of theaters to install the necessary apparatus. Thus the circulation of sound films will be very restricted and their price very high.
POLAND
No theaters as yet have been wired for the reproduction of sound films in Poland. The situation is causing considerable perplexity among cinema owners. They have been experiencing poor business for the past six months and are reported to be in a very poor financial state. Their ability to go into the sound film field, therefore, depends chiefly on the willingness of the banks or other financiers to aid in the