American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1931)

Thirty-eight AMERICAN C I N E M A TOG R A P H E R March, 1931 Lacos Light "Cimarron AN ASSEMBLAGE of Laco incandescent lighting equipment which represented one of the largest batteries of lights ever to be used, recently was employed by Radio Pictures at the premiere of "Cimarron" at Orpheum theatre. It was a case of turning the proverbial "night into day," so effective was the lighting. Scores of folks from back east, eager to glimpse the "stars," had little difficulty from vantage points half a block away in distinguishing one player from another. Chief Electrician William Johnson of Radio Pictures, together with his staff of able technicians, are to be congratulated upon their ability to introduce something effective in modern outdoor illumination. Tanar Corporation Announces New Portable Double Sound-on-Film Recorder ANEW portable Double Sound-on-Film Recorder has just been announced by the Tanar Corporation of Hollywood, makers of the Tanar single system portable recorders. Many months of experiment were devoted to this system before Mr. Len H. Roos, vice-president and general manager of the company, gave it his approval. But now, he says, this unit is mechanically perfect. The new Tanar Portable Double Sound-on-Film Recorder is very light, compact and mounted complete, similar to the battery case in the regular Tanar Portable Single System. The Double System makes use of the same amplifier and battery supply as the Single System and the recorder itself takes standard Bell O Howell magazines of either four hundred or one thousand feet. Mechanical movement of the recorder is properly dampened and filtered so that perfect mechanical motion is received on the film. Recording is done on positive stock with the standard Tanar Light, and the slit block is interchangeable with the rails in the camera of the Single System. This means that owners of Tanar Single System may purchase the extra case with the recorder and control panel, slip the block out of their camera and push it in place in the double recorder which will give them the equivalent of two outfits. All castings are made of an aluminum alloy which is light and strong and which makes a beautiful machine finish. The D. C. Interlock Motors which run on three B batteries are built for Tanar by a large motor concern in the East which specializes in fractional horsepower motors. These motors were selected after an exhaustive search on several makes, and it was found that with a standard motor converted to an interlock D. C. system, the armature had a tendency to burn out when one motor had a heavier load than the other. In the new type motor, provision is made for over load with a proper compensator between the interlock connection and all danger of burning out the armature is eliminated. The recorder mounts the tachometer, speed control footage recorder and is a complete unit in itself. All moving parts run in an oil bath and power is transmitted by worm and wheel, both of these parts being capped and ground to a perfect fit. Tanar announces immediate delivery on these units and they carry the same guarantee as the Single System. World's Largest Studio Planned in Great Britain ERECTION of a studio, intended to be the largest in the world, on a 145 acre site at West Weybridge, is reported planned by a powerful British financial group headed by Lord St. John of Bletsoe. In connection with this gigantic project, for which a sum of $5,000,000 is said to be available, a hotel, theatre and a factory for the manufacture of phonograph records will be built. Negotiations are understood to be under way between the backers of the proposed studio and film interests in France and Germany for making the studio a center of multi-lingual production. First Australian All-Talker SYDNEY — After more than six months' in production, Norman Dawn's "Talkie Mad," first Australian all-dialogue picture has been finished 1,940 Wired in Germany BERLIN — Latest figures show that there are now 1 ,940 houses wired for sound in Germany. Of these theatres 752 are equipped with Tobis-Klangfilm, 309 Kinoton, 347 with homemade devices, and 532 for which the systems were not ascertained.