Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World (Apr-Jun 1930)

24 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD New Universal Developing Machine To Handle Million Feet a Week Clarifying of Sound Claimed as Film Moves Ten Feet a Minute and Permits Developing Finer Lines — Time and Labor Saving Seen (Special to the Herald-World) HOLLYWOOD, April 29. — A new developing machine for negative and positive film, with a capacity of a million feet a week, is the invention of C. Roy Hunter, director of sound and head of the photographic division of Universal, and Robert Pierce, superintendent of the Universal laboratory, which Carl Laemmle says is resulting in the clarifying of sound and saving of time and labor. SLOWER processing permits finer development of the sound track in movietone and smaller lines can be developed, Laemmle said, the film moving ten feet a minute, thus permitting the developing of frequencies as high as 12,000 a second. Thirty minutes after a frame of action goes into the machine it is out, completely developed and dried and on a reel ready for projection. Building Two More Machines Universal now has the original machine in operation and is building two more to be housed in a new laboratory structure. The machine itself is 50 feet long, three feet wide and eight feet high, exclusive of the air drying system on top. This space is divided into four compartments. There are three trays, 50 feet long by three feet wide. The top tray contains developing fluid, the center tray has hypo or hardener, and the bottom tray contains distilled water for rinsing. The film is run through this as a continuous ribbon, being taken off reels at one end, passing over metal rollers and into the baths in the order named. After the washing it is led over rollers to the fourth compartment, on top and dustproof. Here the film is drawn back and forth through filtered air kept in motion by a vacuum ventilating system, the air passing over the film being alternately warm and cold. 7,200 Feet an Hour The film is led from this compartment and automatically wound on either 1,000 or 2,000-foot reels. When a reel is nearly full the operator cuts the film at the end of a scene and starts a new reel. The motive power for the movement of the film is provided through a single sprocketed roller just ahead of the final reels. The machine is so finely calibrated that verv little pressure is needed for the movement. Twelve strands are run through the baths at one time, giving each machine a capacity of 7,200 feet of film an hour. Handles All Widths The Hunter-Pierce machine is built largely of white pine with very few parts and a minimum of metallic oarts. The machine handles all widths of film from 15 mm to 100 mm; it develops either negative or positive; is called less expensive than present apparatus; can be run with a third the manpower and is declared ideal for the use of color baths in connection with the processing of color film. So slight is the tension on the film in the machine that a break in the film can be repaired without slowing up the machine, it was stated. The baths are but a few inches deep and the film is always visible to the naked eye. Through a pumping system connecting with the large vats, the fluids are kept fresh. Radio Main Medium Of R K O Ad Drive On Amos and Any (Special to the Herald-World) NEW YORK, April 29. — Radio Pictures, which has embarked upon a widespread radio campaign to publicize its Amos ’n’ Andy feature picture, “Check and Double Check,” has decided to concentrate upon the broadcasting field as one of the main selling channels. Plans are now underway for one of the most effective selling drives ever staged on the air. Because the tremendous popularity of the black-face team was built up by radio alone, R K O officials reason that a broadcasting campaign can prove the most far-reaching and effective sales plug possible. Present plans call for a coast-to-coast hookup at regular intervals, with a program that will prove a departure from the usual program material now on the air. Radio’s publicity and exploitation department, under the generalship of Hy Daab, sent the news broadcast through every available channel within an hour after T. I. Schnitzer, president of Radio Pictures, had secured the signatures of the famous team. The story was on the wires of the Associated Press, the United Press, Central Press and International News Service, being flashed to every paper of importance in all corners of the earth. Motion picture editors of hundreds of American newspapers were later furnished with special feature stories and photographs. Announcements were also made on coast-to-coast network of the National Broadcasting Company, the R K O hour carrying the news. Palace and Rivoli Houses, T oledo, Acquired by RKO ( Special to the Herald-World) TOLEDO, OHIO, April 29. — Rumors persistently circulated here have been given final confirmation by official announcement that RKO has acquired Palace and Rivoli theatres, formerly operated by Howard Feigley. Both houses will be extensively remodeled. May 3, 1930 United Artists Hold Sectional Sales Meet At Stevens, Chicago A1 Lichtman, sales head of the United Artists corporation presided over a three day meeting in Chicago, beginning last Saturday, and lasting until Monday, when a dinner and entertainment gave the finishing touch. Douglas Fairbanks was present. Lichtman was accompanied from the coast by Emil Jensen and Bruce Gallup. The meeting was a closed meeting, and the general line of business was discussed, such as salesmen’s problems, selling of the new product, territorial layouts, etc. These present at the convention, other than those who came from Hollywood were: Paul Burger, E. J. O’Leary, James A. Mulvey, Haskell M. Masters, C. Trowbridge, Harry L. Gold,' Paul N. Lazarus, Earl J. Denison, Herman Levvy, Charles Stern, John J. Dervin, Frank Scully, Moe Streimer, Arthur Horn, Jack Kaplan, Harry G. Bodkin, J. Lyons, Earl Wright, Meyer Lieberman, Sam Rifkin, David Burkan, Ed Mullen, T. L. Davis, H. A. LaVine, J. Schaeffer, Sam Schonfeld, Harry Rees, William Scott, Joe Ginsburg, Clarence Eiseman, Cecil Peppiatt, Paul Harrison, Jack Emenheiser, W. S. Tuttle, Walter E. Greene, H. W. Helmbold, Joseph Cantor, Nat Wyse, Reville Kniffen, Leo J. Doty, Saul Resnick, Bert M. Stearn, Max Heine, Stanley Koch, A. C. Buchanan, S. L. Pilkinton, Dosk Roberts, Wm. E. Truog, Charles Kranz, J. D. Goldliar, T. R. Thompson, Thomas Burke, Joseph Levy, Joseph Myers, Walter P. Loewe, Oscar Bloom, Milton C. Hill, Philip Sherman, Sam Glazer, Israel Levine, A. J. Jeffrey, Wm. Feldstein, C. A. Saunders, E. C. Stewart, Carl Weinberg, Wm Selman, Lester Zucker, A. Goodman, Jack Flannery, M. Doody, Sam Horowitz, F. A. Rohrs, C. W. Rodebough, F. E. Felzman, A. I. Kent, A. W. Nicholls, Frank Thayer, Robert Abelson, M. S. Frankel, D. V. McLucas, H. R. Barker, Frank Hannon, Rud Lohrens, C. C. Brydon, George McBride and L. M. Johns. New “Tube Clause ” Suits Ask $600, 000 Damages of R C A (Special to the Herald-World) WASHINGTON, April 29— Two new triple damage suits, aggregating $600,000, were added last Friday to the list begun by independent radio tube manufacturers against the Radio Corporation of America. Both suits were filed in the United States district court at Wilmington, Del., by the Universal Electric Lamp Company and the Sunlight Lamp Company, both of Newark. The damages in each suit were assessed at $300,000. The attorneys were Ernest R. Reichmann of Chicago, Louis Karasik of New York, and John Biggs, Jr., of Wilmington. The claims for damages arise out of the “tube clause” in the set license agreements of the Radio Corporation of America, against which Judge Morris issued an injunction last year, finding them in violation of the antitrust laws. Under the statute, victims of such violations are entitled to triple damages. Similar suits, totalling several millions of dollars, had previously been filed against R C A by other independent manufacturers. Independent Operators Win Action Over Union (Special to the Herald-World) NEW HAVEN, April 29. — Independent projection operators of the Strand theatre have won their action against the operators’ union in Superior court and were awarded a verdict of $1 against the union, which was charged with picketing the theatre. The court ruled, at the opening of the action, that suit could be brought either against individuals or the union, but not against both. Explosion and Fire Wreck Capitol Theatre in Schenectady; None Hurt (Special to the Herald-World) SCHENECTADY , April 29. — An explosion and fire wrecked the Capitol theatre here on the night of April 22, less than thirty minutes after the audience had left. The cause of the fire has not been determined, although an investigation is being conducted. It is supposed that the explosion was the result of a back draft caused by intense heat.