Exhibitors Herald World (Oct-Dec 1930)

38 Better Theatres Section November 22, 1930 W. B KING Theatrical Engineer Consultant Is your theatre in the red? We can furnish plans how to put it on the right side of the ledger. King Studios INC. Designers, Decorators and Furnishers of Theatres Complete 309 S. Harwood Dallas, Tex. Soitth's Largest Concern Specializing in Acoustical Correction and Acoustical Materials. AT LAST we have perfected a talking needle different than any needle that has ever been played before. The cost of a carton of 100 packages, packed 50 needles to each package, is $6.00. Samples will be mailed upon request. Wall-Kane Needle Mfg. Co., Inc. 3922 — 14th Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. Brand New Equipment — Lowest Factory Prices — Buy Direct Powers and Simplex Parts, 20% off; Aperture Masks, $19.90; Half Size Lenses, $26.46; Automatic Arcs, $178.70; G.E. Rectifier Bulbs, $5.95; Rectifiers, $89.75: Exit Lights, $2.67; G.E. Mazda Lamps, 20% off; Genuine RCA Tubes, 30% off; Rewinders, $3.95 pair; Turntables with Resynchronizer, $49.50; Sound-onFilm Heads, $198.50; Photocells, $14.95; Optical Systems, $29.50; G.E. Exciter Lamps, 98c; Head Amplifiers, $29.60; '/£ h.p. True Synchronous Motors, $29.50; Samson Pam 39 (six tube) Amplifiers, $54.45; Jensen Concert Speakers, $17.85; Audak Tuned Professional Pickups, $33.95; Audak Heads, $8.97. Many Other Values. Write S. O. S. Corp., 1600 Broadway, New York sound talks by F. H. RICHARDSON No Mumbling Allowed • Again screen figures should talk, not mumble. Every word should be just as clear, just as distinct to the audience as though the audience were listening to the actual speaker. And it will be that way, too, if you have good equipment maintained in a proper state of repair, and if you handle that equipment as it ought to be handled — assuming that the theatre auditorium itself has no acoustical faults. A Perfection • The exhibitor and manager must remember that unless the equipment itself be in perfect condition, the projectionist cannot possibly produce perfect results. And the term perfect must in this case be construed to mean first-class equipment maintained in a first-class state of repair. Given that, there is no earthly reason why the projectionist cannot send to the horns as perfect a result. What happens to it after it leaves the horns, however, is dependent upon the acoustical properties of the auditorium. Remember: (1) If you have poor equipment. (2) If you have equipment in a poor state of repair. (3) If you have an auditorium which contains any one of several possible acoustical faults. Then you have no right to expect excellence in the reproduction of sound. A Repair and Condition • Equipment may be in a perfect state of repair and still be in poor condition. And "condition" is, with sound equipment, perhaps even the more important of the two. A battery, for example, may be in perfect repair. Nevertheless, it may be in a very poor condition. Its plates may be perfect. Its electrolyte may be all that it should be. Its separators may be as good as new. Yet all this may be nullified, in a way, by the fact that the connections are loose, dirty or corroded, or that there is dust mixed with electrolyte on the battery tops. The exciting lamp may be perfect as a lamp. Its filament may be as straight as a string. Yet that filament may not be in perfect alignment with the sound optical system, or the lamp globe may be dirty, or the lamp contact may not be perfectly clean, with the result that there will be both lowering of volume and distortion of sound. Don't let bad nullify the good. A Excellence and Care • Excellence in sound reproduction and projection can only be produced by the exercise of great care. The projectionist who reproduces really high grade work in sound must exercise great care. He must make certain tests each day. He must know that his batteries, upon which so much depend, are in the pink of condition. He must examine his exciting lamps at least once every day to make sure there is no sag in their filaments. He must make frequent tests to know that the light beam is properly centered at the sound aperature. He must test his horns individually before starting the first show each day. And so on through a long list of "musts." A More Faults, Yet No Faults • Form the habit, projectionists, of picking flaws in your own work and seeking means for their remedy. If you follow that course persistently, pretty soon it will be very hard for either the exhibitor, the theatre manager or the theatre patron to find any fault. Sound has increased the number of possible faults. But it has also increased the necessity that there be no faults. China Goes to the "Movies" CHINA is torn with civil war and the brigandry that is a natural result of governmental breakdown. Yet the number of its motion picture theatres is steadily on the increase. In 1927 China had 106 film theatres. At the present time (according to agents of the United States Department of Commerce) that nation has 233 picture houses. This is important to the American film producer and theatre equipment manufacturer because the United States is a principal source of motion picture supplies. Of about 450 feature pictures shown in China in 1929, approximately 90 per cent were produced in America. American theatre equipment does not yet enjoy such dominance but with a growth of the manufacturer's interest in foreign markets, Chinese purchases in the United States are expected to increase. People residing in the treaty ports can now enjoy sound pictures. In Shanghai there are 12 theatres with sound equipment. A serious impediment to further increase in sound picture entertainment in China is inflicted by conditions in the interior. Economic demoralization due to civil strife, the dangers and difficulties of transportation and the lack of facilities for proper servicing form obstacles that the manufacturer and distributor will find it extremely difficult to overcome. But silent pictures are popular in the interior and theatres showing them are profitable and multiplying.