The Exhibitor (1953)

18 EXHIBITOR What’s New In 3-D and Wide-Screens A new “moving” sound process for motion pictures which utilizes standard projection equipment and which it is claimed can operate a four-channel stereophonic effect system from a single sound track has been developed by Fine Sound, Inc., Tompkins Cove, N. Y., it was announced by C. Robert Fine, president. Called Perspecta-sound, the new process operates from a standard 35mm. film track and equipment, and requires only the addition of a Perspect-sound inte¬ grating unit and additional loudspeakers, Fine said. Among the advantages claimed for the new system, he added, are that the problem of synchronization of sound and picture has been eliminated, and that with the Perspecta-sound equipment it is possible to use standard recording methods to achieve stereophonic sound effects. Fine said also that his newlydeveloped system makes it possible to take the sound track of an old film, and re-record it to the Perspecta-sound system by utilizing the original sound track. More¬ over, he added, the compatibility to exist¬ ing sound systems is such that should a Perspecta-sound sound track be played in conventional single-speaker theatres, no adjustment or adaptation of the standard equipment is necessary. The system is also equipped to control screen size elec¬ tronically. Fine, chief engineer in charge of recording at Mercury Records and formerly chief of the records division, Reeves Sound Studios, has spent the past eight months developing the new sound system. He is presently giving demon¬ strations of the new technique at the Fine Sound, Inc., laboratories in Tomp¬ kins Cove. In London, The J. Arthur Rank Organi¬ zation unveiled its wide-screen with the European opening at the Leicester Square Odeon of 20th-Fox’s “Tonight We Sing.” The picture ratio is 1.6 to 1, but the screen is adaptable to other ratios. Dimen¬ sions of the Leicester Square version are 44 feet by 25 feet, with a curvature depth of two feet. The screens will soon be in¬ stalled in all key Rank theatres. John L. Stableford, a member of Rank’s equipment making group, developed the screen in conjunction with Sidney Swingler and others. In Hollywood, MGM indicated at a special trade demonstration that prac¬ tically any theatre in the world can be adapted to show wide-screen pictures. Dore Schary, studio production chief, re¬ vealed that MGM has been experimenting with large screen processes for the past 20 years. Footage from several films shown in aspect ratios ranging from conventional 4 to 3 up to 2 to 1, and it was stressed that only 20 per cent of existing theatres can be adapted to the extreme of the 2.66 to 1 ratio. General feeeling at the studio is that 1.85 to 1 is maximum for most the¬ atres. The demonstration pointed up the flexibility of the process, which enables Pickus Unveils Own Amp-O-Vision Process STRATFORD, CONN— Albert M. Pickus, TOA leader and owner, Strat¬ ford, last week demonstrated his Amp-O-Vision process. Billing it as a “revolutionary 3-D illusion”, the new process, while having a definite place in the industry’s drive toward bigger movies, failed to live up to its 3-D buildup. It consists of a huge concave screen 45 feet wide curved to a depth of four feet in the center. Amp-O-Vision has many advan¬ tages over the regular screen, as well as a few minor disadvantages. No matter where one sits in the theatre, even on the far sides, one has an ex¬ cellent view of the picture. The area stretches over a wide panorama, cut¬ ting off some of the top and bottom of the picture in the process, but not enough to really matter. Pickus is said to have spent 18 months perfecting the process in the basement of his home, and has a patent on it filed with U. S. Patent Office. He plans to use the system in his own theatre, and said a plan is being developed for placing Amp-OVision on the market shortly. The attraction was “Moulin Rouge.” Pickus was later quoted as saying that his process could be installed in a theatre with the proper equipment for “under $5000.” the house projectionist to tailor the print to suit the viewing ratio of his particular theatre. Tests were shown on a screen 60 feet in length and 22 feet in height with an arc of 32 inches in the center. None of the pictures showed fuzziness or any drop in clarity. Pre-production shots of “Kiss Me, Kate” showed that 3-D with glasses can be projected on the same screen as wide-screen films. In Des Moines, exhibitors watching the demonstration of Dr. Fuller’s Naturescope at the annual convention of the Allied Independent Theatre Owners of Iowa and Nebraska were still puzzled after it was over. Dr. Fuller had promised to have the demonstration on a large size screen, but, according to the demonstrator, he experi¬ enced last-minute difficulties on the screen, and, as a result, used an 8 by 10 inch screen. The picture was fuzzy and not entirely in focus, but it did show some depth, and the exhibitors indicated they would like to see it on a large-size screen The exhibitors indicated that Dr. Fuller’s method of converting regular 2-D into 3-D by simply running the film on the ordinary projector and onto a special screen might be the answer to 3-D until it becomes standardized. Dr. Fuller explained he did not plan to charge for the installation, and his fee would be approximately $1 a day for houses under 500 seats. Dr. Fuller promised to have a demonstration in a theatre at Tulsa, Okla., and another in¬ stallation in a Sioux City, la., theatre. Perfection by Warners’ studios of a new all-media camera was announced by Jack L. Warner in New York City. The new camera employs singly or in combination the best features of 3-D and wide-screen WamerScope, the studio head stated. The new all-media camera was designed and developed at the studio under the direc¬ tion of A1 Tondreau, head camera research engineer. More of the cameras are now being finished in the Warner technical laboratory for use in a full program of pictures. The Warner camera is said to be much more compact, mobile, and flexible than former cameras employed for 3-D or color photography. It contains twin lenses whose optical centers can be brought as close together as one and one-eighth inches. This interaxial distance is believed to be the smallest yet achieved without photographic light loss in a practical 3-D motion picture camera. The nearness of the lenses’ optical centers permits pho¬ tographing closeups from a distance of only three feet without the slightest dis¬ tortion, it is claimed. It also gives true perspective at all distances. Long corri¬ dors or halls appear at their normal length. People and objects moving toward or away from the camera maintain a nat¬ ural perspective. A specially devised dial supplements optical focusing, reducing the factor of human error. The camera can be fitted with compressive lenses being readied for WarnerScope wide-screen pho¬ tography in two and three dimensions. Otto Luther, former Warner art director, has applied for a patent for a simplified method of creating 3-D art work, utiliz¬ ing red and green spectacles, and applic¬ able to advertising, premiums, comic strips, and packaging. He holds eight other patents. U-I’s “Thunder Bay” in Technicolor had its gala world premiere at Loew’s State, New York, on the full-stage screen and stereophonic sound system developed by U-I. Occupying 1,000 square feet of space instead of the Loew’s State regular screen of 352 square feet, the new full-stage screen measure 24 x 46 feet or a 1.85 to 1 ratio; is curved on a 90-foot radius, is made of a textile sprayed with an alum¬ inum solution, providing a light magnify¬ ing factor of 4 to 1, and extends from proscenium to proscenium. M-G-M’s “Young Bess” is being shown on a 50x30 screen at the New York City Radio City Music Hall. The ratio is 1.66 to 1, the same proportions used for “Shane.” Previously, the Radio City Music Hall put into use its large screen for the water ballet sequence for “Million Dollar Mermaid.” Paramount Profit Increases New York — Paramount Pictures Cor¬ poration last week estimated the earnings of the corporation and its domestic and Canadian subsidiaries for the first quarter ended on April 4, 1953 at $1,374,000 after provision for income taxes. This compares with earnings of $1,355,000 for the quarter ended on March 29, 1952. The consolidated earnings for the first quarter of 1953 represents $.59 per share on the 2,339,471 shares outstanding and in the hands of the public on April 4, 1953, which compares with $.58 per share for the quarter ended on March 29, 1952 on 2,342,104 shares then outstanding. The above earnings do not include Paramount’s net interest in the combined undistributed earnings of partially owned non-consolidated companies for the first quarter of 1953 of $383,000 and $169,000 for the first quarter of 1952. Maxj 27, 1953