Exhibitors Herald World (Oct-Dec 1930)

46 Better Theatres Section November 22, 1930 PERFECTION You want the standard and best rheostats to be had — of course. For that means delighted audiences. And that in turn means larger ones. Perfection Rheostats are used in the best theatres from Europe to America— and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The only Union-Made Rheostats. Sold by all branches of the National Theatre Supply Co. Sam Kaplan. New York, Continental Theatre Accessories, and by your dealer. HOFFMANN-SOONS 387 First Avenue New York City Mfg. Division Contracting Electrical Engineers — Moving Picture Theatre Electrical Specialists PROJECTION LAMPS That give more light for Standard Film and Wide Film Projection. HALL & CONNOLLY, Inc. 24 Van Dam St., N. Y. C. Hersey's way of marking film, or whether it is possible that two 'great minds work in the same direction.' Anyhow, it took me a long time to discover that a china marking pencil is the best thing for the purpose, because you can rub your mark off, thus leaving the film clean for the next projectionist. "I place a short pencil mark near the bottom of about three alternate frames, or if the lower part of the frames at the right point are very dense, then I place them elsewhere in a more transparent part of the print. That is all there is to it, and it works out very well, without any damage being done to the film itself, because before packing the films for return, I wipe the marks off. "We take great pride in our theatre and I try very hard to put the very best possible results on the screen, but what in the world can a man do with defaced prints? In the days of silent film we could cut out the bad spots and get by fairly well but with sound that cannot be done." This department is, of course, entirely in accord with Brother Higgins' objection to defaced film. It also is in accord with his suggestion that the exchange charge the theatre for damage done by machine operators who scratch holes in the emulsion, or who otherwise permanently deface the film for the purpose of making changeover signals. If all theatres would refuse to accept damaged prints — and they cannot do otherwise and be honest with their patrons — ex changes would very quickly stop sending out prints in the wretched condition some of them still sometimes do send out. However, while the china marking pencil idea, as against scratch marks, is a very great improvement, still a better device than that is the cue sheet, which is not at all hard to make once the projectionist becomes accustomed to doing it. During the first projection, the projectionist should watch closely at the end of each reel, selecting some particular point at which the changeover should be made. (For instance: Gloria Swanson sets down in chair by well.) The trouble with this, however is that the changeover mark is easier, and most men are not going to do any more work than they have to. If the projectionist really does his full and complete duty and puts on the best show it is possible to put on with the equipment and the film supplied, that projectionist is going to be pretty reasonably busy — and I don't mean maybe. However, it is well to remember that the projectionist of today is receiving from three to eight times what the projectionist received in the days when he was the "motor" as well as the projectionist, and it's not going to do him any particular harm really to work during the relatively short period he is on duty. Now, don't for an instant imagine I am razzing anyone. I most emphatically am not! I am merely citing the facts, as I see them, in a matter that is of interest and importance to us all. HOST EXCELLENT ACTION RECENTLY during my visit to a certain city, the business representative of the local union of which I was the guest, related this circumstance during a conversation regarding the need for projectionists to study their business : "I certainly do believe our men should study," he said. "I also am of the opinion that lack of study means inefficient work, which is, of course, bad for the union itself. Many men think that if they have a union card, that is quite sufficient and all they need. We had a member who was incompetent. We put him in job after job and he always got fired. Finally he left town and was gone three years but as he always kept his dues paid up, we carried him on the rolls as a member in good standing. "Finally he came back, and at a time when we had three very competent permit men working. I talked with him and soon found he was just as he always had been. He proposed that I take one of the permit men off and put him to work. This I promptly refused to do, whereupon he demanded whether his card was good or not. "I told him his card was not good enough to cause me to throw a good man out of work in order to put a notoriously poor man in his place, whereupon he told me what he would do about it. But at the next meeting the local sustained me in my position, and he faded out of the picture." That, gentlemen, is pretty nearly exactly the words used by this business representative in describing the incident to me, and I here and now make the point blank assertion that I most sincerely wish we had more business agents with such a viewpoint and sufficient stamina to do likewise. I also wish that all locals would take the enlightened, advanced stand this one did. It is very true that conditions are such that it is not always possible for a local to refuse membership to applicants who are not fully equipped with knowledge, but certainly it is very possible, once admitted, to place them in the less desirable jobs until such time as they have remedied their defect, or at least made some real progress in that direction. Inefficient work is bad enough now. Wide film is coming and when it arrives, inefficiency then will be a very much more costly thing to the exhibitor. Indeed, I believe wide film will set up a condition in which the man who lacks knowledge in matters technical will be found to be incapable of coping with the situation.