Business screen magazine (1939-1940)

May HO. I'Ull • Last si.ndav. I ivoiil out lo Fhisliiiig Meadows to see what changes had taken place in Mr. Gibson's Fair of 1940. For the past weeks it had appeared that Mr. Jupe Pluvius was settling down to the status of a permanent exhibit. In view of this constant inclement weather, however, it would seem that the attendance has not been too bad; to date (17th day), the attendance has been over 1 .300.000 : last year at this time it was 1,600.000. With brighter weather admissions should pick up considerably in the next month. The Chrysler Theatre was the first stop on my tour. They have the much heralded new Stereoscopic Technicolor film depicting the building of a Plymouth in stop-motion. Aptly titled. Neiv Dimensions, it is a worthy successor to last year's smash hit. in fact, it was one of the very few places in the Fair Grounds on this drizzly day where I saw anyone waiting in line. The new Chrysler picture is pretty much the same as last year's attraction except that it is in color. You still hear the bowls of delight when a cam shaft seems to hit you in the eye. Across the street, the Ford exhibit has a new theatre featuring a ballet, a clever fashion show, and the beautiful new Technicolor movie. Symphony in F. The Ford Exhibit seemed to lack an entertainment quality last year, that one quality which prevents Elmer from wandering tbrough an exhibit in five minutes flat. The new theatre should solve the problem; the motion picture seems to tie-up the message of the whole exhibit into a concrete theme. I know that in my case it had that effect ; I went back to see some of the other features of the exhibit that I had hurried over before. There was a rumor several weeks ago that both Westinghouse and DuPont would be represented with films this year. I found none at either place. Two of the guides at the Westinghouse Exhibit told me that there just was not enough room for a film theatre. I .should think an ideal place would be the little theatre where the Battle of Housewives takes place. The film might Editor's Note: Since the above was written, word has reached the editorial offices of Business Screen that specially prepared animated subjects based on the Westinghouse ultra-violet lamp are ready for showin/i at the Company's New York Fair exhibit. A review «/ these will be contained in our forthcoming Fair Survey pages. RIJ'S FillR LETTER iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiih This year's edition of the Neiv ) ork W orld's Fair presents another outstanding illu.slrution of the teide and varied uses for the business film. Here Business Screen's Eastern editor tells about them. be shown between each demonstration. DnPont guides told me that there had been some talk of using a movie in the hall at the end of the circular chemistry exhibit, but that is just a rumor. Petroleum is back again with another puppet picture. It seemed but little different from the 1939 film. Men Make Steel is being shown in a small theatre on the second floor of the U. S. Steel Exhibit. This Technicolor picture is well known and needs no additional praise. I did think, however, that a newer print might have been used. At the showing I witnessed, the film was badly scratched. Coca-Cola has taken over an enlire building this year and is showing Refreshment Through the Years, the new Technicolor film which shows the part Coca-Cola plays in American Industry. I thought it was a fine clean-cut presentation. Continuous showings might be a Exterior aud interior zneivs of the U. S. Steel exhibit and theatre. Steel's New York Fair Theatre IIIIIMIIfllllllllllllMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIMIIMIIMIIllllMIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIlltlllllllllllllllllllllMIIMIItllirilllllltlinrillMIIIMItnilMnMIIIMIinilMIIMnrinUIIIIIIIIMIIIM ♦ An air-conditioned moving picture theatre has been added to the United States Steel Subsidiaries Exhibit at the New York World's Fair in order to make possible the presentation of the technicolor movie. Men Make Steel. Men Make Steel was filmed by a Hollywood crew. The equipment, direction and technique are the same as are used in making a Hollywood feature production. the actors, however, are the men who make steel and the scenes are scenes of actual operations photographed at the ore mines and inside the great mills where steel is made and rolled into finished forms. The picture, in a{ldili()n to telling a story of steelmaking, presents .scenes of extraordinary beauty as the technicolor camera records the brilliant colors peculiar to flashing, molten metal. The narrative accompanying Men Make Steel is presented by Edwin C. Hill, and the musical score, especially prepared for the picture, was recorded under the direction of Robert Armbnister. Along with the moving picture theatre on the second floor of the exhibit are a series of dioramas forecasting how steel may serve in the future. These dioramas include a forecast of possible future developments in pre-fabricaled steel housing; an imaginative representation of a hydrophonic tomato farm, where all activities from irrigation lo reaping are controlled by radio: and a working model for the (!ily of the Future, where all traffic runs smoothly when regulated by central grouping. V P *'! good idea: there was a long wait between performances Sunday and some people left the theatre rather than wait. The feature allraction in the Food Building is National Biscuits Mickey's Surprise Party. and Around the Clock with the Cues. These are hold-overs from last year, and I am told they will be shown again throughout the season. At the session I attended the hou.se was just as full of happy, shrieking kids as ever. The Story of Lucky Strike is again on view for American Toliacco. I was told that there were plans afoot to bring in a new film shortly. The MacFadden Theatre of 1939 has been taken over by Household Finance who again have Edgar Guest. Coty has a new Kodachrome. Living Color, which should be a delightful surprise to doubters of that process. If the projectionist would focus the film and turn down the speaker just a little it would hel|i. The feature of the film is the beautiful optical work, showing the blending of face powder and rouge and the remarkable color accuracy attained. Johns-Manville. who displayed pictures in large quantities last year, have turned over their theatre lo Vi MCA for broadcasts emanating from the Fair Grounds. Frankly, considering last year's films at this exhibit. I think it was a wise move. Motion pictures at an exposition such as this must keep the holiday spirit to some extent: they must be colorful and dramatic. The ordinary expository film simply will not do. The value of good colorful and dramatic pictures has been borne out by the major exhibitors who are u.sing them this year lo a much greater extent than last year. \\ hereas two of last year's major exhibitors have drojiped the motion picture media (MacFadden and .lohns-Manville I. three new theatres have been built (Ford, Steel, and Coca-Cola). And where last year only three of the majors used color, this year there are eight. It all seems to bear out the premi.se we discovered last year: the job of the motion picture is to attract the largest possible percentage of visitors attending the Fair, and then to hold their attentive interest for the longest possible time. Using ordinary expository pictures with no particular "sock ", Elmer will walk out in a hurry, but with especially desigtu'd colorful films his attentive interest can be attracted and held with a surety. — Bob .Seymour. [10] Business Screen