20th Century-Fox Dynamo (April 18, 1953)

Clevelander Sees Hollywood's New 3-D Processes and Says CinemaScope Seems to Be 'It' The following illuminating article was written by one of the nation’s most influential and better informed motion picture editors, W. Ward Marsh, and appeared in the widely circu- lated Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer. It is an interview with Moe B. Horwitz, an important and nationally well-known circuit operator from that area, BY W. WARD MARSH L ATE LAST WEEK Hollywood tossed a whopping party for any and all exhibitors, distributors and all others financially interested in the motion picture, including the press. It paraded its new 3-D and “new dimen- sion” wares for all to see. One Cleveland exhibitor, M. B. Horwitz of the Wash- ington Theater Circuit, "dug down,” as he puts it, and paid his own fare to Hollywood "to see what this new dimensional stuff is going to cost me.” Horwitz has returned and made his first report yesterday. It is most interesting. “To tell you the truth, Ward, he began, ‘‘I’m more confused than ever.” This isn’t exactly true, however, for Horwitz adds that he is sure it's going to cost him some $25,000 to put each of his major theaters into the 3-D procession. Cinemascope "I SAW ALL there was to see,” Horwitz continued. "I went to 20th Century to see Cinemascope. I looked at Paravision at Para- mount. I looked at pieces of 3-D pictures at Warners through Polaroid glasses. I want to tell you that all of the new processes are good. “I saw shots from ‘The Robe’ on CinemaScope and they stood out like $1,000,000, but just re- member that this was viewed on a curved screen 25 feet high and 65 feet wide. "The most impressive shot—and I’ll never forget it—was of a man on the left side of the screen shooting an arrow at a human target clear over on the right side. “You could follow the flight of that arrow straight across the screen, and it may not sound so much to tell, but, believe me, I can't get that sight out of my mind. “House of Wax” "I was on the Warner lot and saw scenes from ‘House of Wax’ in true third dimension, but here it was necessary to use polaroid glasses,” Horwitz said. “Jack Warner stood before our group and insisted that people who wear glasses don’t mind them and that, consequently, the use of Pola- roid glasses will be popular. "Certainly the effects are tre- mendous. Warner’s ‘House of Wax’ was fine and the Pine-Thomas pic- ture, ‘Singaree,’ which will be re- leased by Paramount and w’hich is Aftermath To CinemaScope Demonstration In two weeks following the studio demonstrations of CinemaScope, the Home Office, studio and domestic and over- seas branches received many hundreds of letters and telegrams. These came from exhibitors who applied for early installation of Cinema- Scope equipment, and pro- ducers. London trade papers gave major prominence to the favor- able reaction of producers to CinemaScope. London will be one of the first cities abroad to utilize CinemaScope, with present plans calling for a showing of “The Kobe’’ there next fall. Morgan Hearty, who for our money is by far the greatest news commentator on the air waves, broadcast to the millions of Coast-to- Coast listeners of his NBC "News Of The World, that "CinemaScope completely revolutionizes motion picture entertainment and, undoubt- edly tremendously brightens its future." Judging from personal com- ments made tb this writer at the demonstrations, many a major exhibitor is being spurred to build larger tliea- tres. . .so vast is their con- fidence in the future of motion pictures, thanks to Cinema- scope. Page 16 President Spyros P. Skouras (left) is explaining the potentialities of CinemaScope to Harry M. Warner, head of Warner Brothers, after a demonstration of our new process to executives of other producing and distributing companies, in one of our large stages at our Western Avenue studios in Hollywood. in third dimension and requires glasses, is marvelous. “My own opinion is that the public won’t always accept glasses and that eventually we’ll settle out on CinemaScope or something like that where no glasses are required. “Paramount has Paravision which is related to the Cinema- Scope idea but is not so big. It has a screen ratio of 1 high by 2.67 wide while Paravision is 1 to 1.66 in width. “Paramount showed us scenes from ‘Shane’ and ’Here Come the Girls,’ a musical, and some other shots, of Fort Ticonderoga and some scenes from its’new 3-D film, ’Man After Dark.’ “But the biggest effect was with CinemaScope with its shots from 'The Robe,’ scenes of the New York skyline, winter sports at Sun Valley and more excerpts from « new musical, 'How To Marry a Millionaire.’ Standardise "It seems to me that Y. Frank Freeman, head of Paramount, had the right idea when he told us that the best thing about our visit to the studios was the opportunity to see and discuss the various methods offered the exhibitor. “He didn’t tell us his method was best. He didn’t tell us to buy his and avoid the other fellow’s. His word was the wisest of all when he said, ‘I’m not telling you this (Paravision) is best. We’re all displaying our wares. When we get through we've all got to get together and decide what is best and then standardize the process so we can all go forward with the same kind of film just as we have been doing.' "I think Freeman has the right idea. We’ll have to standardize and we’ll have to have the new ideas in our theaters* when they’re perfected and standardized, but all I know now is that it’s going to cost me plenty but there’ll be no alternative.” Another’s Opinion I WAS INTERESTED in Hor- witz’s report of his visit and his leaning toward CinemaScope. He also told me that he had not as yet seen Cinerama but that he is going to Detroit to catch it there. And here is a process which cost plenty more than CinemaScope! The day after the big showings of the “new dimension” and 3-D in Hollywood, Editor W. R. Wilker- son of the Hollywood Reporter, a trade paper, took half of his front page to editorialize on Cinema- scope. Under the heading of "Throw Away the Glasses,” he began: "We’ve seen CinemaScope. “We've heard the new Stereo- phonic Sound. "We've viewed the new crystal- clear Eastman color stock. “The combination of the three, as shown at yesterday’s test press showing of CinemaScope, is the answer to every exhibitor’s prayer. "This is it, boys. You can toss away the polaroids . . . .” ALL THIS AFTER Jack War- ner had been telling his visitors that Warners were the first with sound and that the general public won’t mind putting on polaroid glasses. I’ll side with Horwitz, Wilkerson and others, remembering that while' Warners were first with sound the kind of sound they had didn’t last. The old and cumbersome Vita- phone records, too often and too easily out of “sync," had to give way very early to Fox Movietone which was sound on film. Twentieth - Century Fox has CinemaScope this time, and while it’s not true 3-D it is a new dimen- sion and so complete is the illu- sion of third dimension that this method does seem very like to be "it.”