Exhibitors Herald World (Oct-Dec 1930)

October 11, 1930 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD 45 W SOUND REPRODUCTION F. H. RICHARDSON on PROJECTION IN THE FAR NORTHWEST [Continuing Mr. Richardson's reports of his trip, which he has been taking this summer in the interests of better projection.] VANCOUVER, B. C. The Vancouver meeting in the Dominion theatre was a large one numbering close to 300. It was composed of theatre managers, exhibitors, exchange men, projectionists, and even the film inspectors — also W. E. Oswald, provincial theatre inspector. Friend Oswald was on his vacation, but learning of the coming of your editor, he got up out of his fishing camp cot at 3:00 a. m. and traveled a long distance to be present. There were also two officials of the Vancouver fire department present, though whether they came to hear the lecture or feared your editor would set the air on fire I don't know. And now, about my old friend, Oswald. Some of the boys had it in for him a bit, but I believe they, for the most part, now realize that they had not studied both sides of the matter quite enough. I believe he made a perfectly correct statement to your editor when he said: "Some of the men occasionally get the idea that I am working against them and 'playing ball' with the exhibitor. The funny part of it is that most always the exhibitor at the same time has the idea that I have gone 'haywire' and am favoring the union. The whole trouble is that neither one of them has sufficient appreciation of the fact that I am a Government official and therefore cannot favor any one group against another. I have been in this position for seventeen years and could not 'play ball' with either side in any controversy without eventually getting caught at it. If I did not get caught the result would be that there would soon be a new theatre inspector in my place." And, gentlemen, I think that is a very concise and fair statement. I have known friend Oswald ever since 1917. I have kept a pretty close eye on his work, which I have found to be invariably good. I believe W. E. Oswald is a thoroughly honest and thoroughly competent public official. I believe he does what he is able to do to protect the interests of the projectionist, the exhibitor and the public, and, while I am the friend of the projectionists of Vancouver— I believe they know that to be a very real fact — I would not wish it to be otherwise. I don't believe a public official ought to favor the projectionist, the exhibitor, or anybody else. If he does he is not an honest public official, and in the end he would favor one whom he might find it to his own interest to favor. • • • BELLINGHAM, WASH. COMETHING like 50 miles south of Van'*-' couver, and 20 miles south of the Canadian border, lies the city of Bellingham, Wash., which I remember as a small town no longer back than 1914. Today it is a city of 32,000 people — the fourth largest city in the state of Washington. It boasts five theatres, of which three, the Mt. Baker (in which the lecture was held), the American, and the Avalon, are operated by Fox. The other two houses are independent and are fighting the union. I don't know just what the trouble is, but I may be permitted to say that this is after all not a very wise thing to do. First of all, it is very difficult to do anything more than possibly temporarily win a fight with a labor union. When an exhibitor starts that kind of a scrap, it means a never-ending struggle, and such a struggle must inevitably be a losing fight for the exhibitor. Please understand, Mr. Exhibitor, that in this I am not intending to "take sides." I am simply stating cold facts, which history has times without number proved. Aside from this phase of the matter, however, the exhibitor should remember that even if he wins such a battle, he nevertheless loses, because of the fact that any cheapening of projection must and will inevitably mean a lowering in its quality, and any lowering of quality must and will react against the box office. I don't make that statement as an argument. I intend it as a statement of cold fact. Buying the services of projectionists is just like buying anything else in the world. You invariably get just exactly what you pay for. If you pay for a cheap article, you can bet your last suspender button that it will in the end turn out to be a cheap artrcle. Incidentally I might remark that at least one of our great theatre chains is now engaged in an endeavor to force the acceptance of one-man projection. Should they succeed in bringing this about, I venture the assertion that in the end it will cost them more than a thousand times the amount they will "save." The placing of one man in charge of modern motion pictures and sound equipment would, in my opinion, be the very acme of poor business procedure. It most certainly would make for rapid deterioration of equipment, which would in itself absorb a very large amount, or even all — the "saving." Besides that, it would mean an inevitable deterioration of results upon the screen and through the horns, with the resultant loss at the box office. I am not seeking to tell this great corporation what to do, but I most emphatically am telling it that it is going to lose money good and plenty if it succeeds in its endeavor. At the border line we had a game of hide and seek with the customs officers. They thought they won — and they did. However, we haven't shed any tears, so everything is all right. At the Bellingham hotel we were met by Brothers James Warwick and Watson Quinby, of local 117. They made us very welcome and took us for a tour of the hotel. The meeting was held in the Fox Mt. Baker theatre. It was attended by all members of the local 117, and by all Fox managers. Incidentally, even the organist at tended. Also, several men came in from Sedro-Wolly and Anacortes, each of which is about 30 miles distant. After the meeting, several of the men expressed their satisfaction with the result. Incidentally I am going to be able to talk to practically all of them every week for the next two years, through the medium of type, of course. * * * SEATTLE, WASH. BETWEEN Bellingham and Seattle we almost needed a choke bit on the "Princess." Concrete pavement again — and how! We'd give her a little gas and she'd scoot ahead like a scared jackrabbit. In Seattle we immediately called up Justus H. Simpson, president local 154. He arrived with the glad hand of welcome extended something less than six feet. I am not going to say what was in the hand, but — well, we are not yet far from Canada. Hardly had we exchanged greetings when the door burst open, and in marched five men from Vancouver, who had driven down all that distance to hear the lecture a second time. In the evening we all went out to the residence of Business Agent McNabb, met his charming wife and two kiddies, and utterly ruined his larder. It was the first home-cooked meal I had had in ages. Two more bites and I would have burst a boiler. It is amazing how Seattle has grown since my visit here in 1917. It is now well up to 400,000 population and has something like 40 theatres. The local has 112 members. Everything around the city of Seattle looks prosperous but, darn it all, it's not the Seattle I knew years ago. That lies deeply buried under the flood of years and improvements. Between the Vancouver gang and the Seattle boys, we certainly had some party that afternoon and evening, but at midnight all members of local 154 and a good many of the theatre managers and exhibitors, and men from Vancouver and Tacoma were gathered in the Metropolitan theatre, where your scribe preached the gospel of better projection for two full hours. If someone were to ask me what is the matter with Seattle, I would immediately answer, "It's all right." * * * TACOMA, WASH. BUSINESS AGENT McNABB of Seattle tuned up his near-Rolls Royce to concert pitch and escorted us out of that city. However, just to make sure we did get out, President Harold Simpson parked himself beside Friend Daughter, left me sitting on the foot-board, and we pulled out for Tacoma, at the edge of which city of 106,000 people, a representative of local 175, A. E. Bradshaw, waited in his Packard sedan, with apparent intent to keep us out of the city. However, he had not yet met the "Princess" and by the time he woke up to the fact that the streak that went past (Continued on page 48, column 3)