Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (Sep 1935 - Aug 1936)

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 1936 5 MERGED PHILLY UNIT TO MEET NEXT WEEK Jan. 23rd . . . The first general meeting of the recently organized Independent Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Eastern Pennsylvania, South New Jersey, and Delaware is expected to be called for next Thursday, January 23rd, at which time a complete organization plan will probably be presented to the members. The body, a consolidation of the IEPA and the MPTO units, will discuss and decide many important problems facing the independent theatre owners in the Philadelphia territory, in addition to formulating policies, settling the question of dues, location of headquarters and obtaining a charter. The delay in calling the first meeting was due to the illness of president Charles Segall, who has been confined to bed with pneumonia for the past two weeks. While Segall will not be able to be present at the forthcoming confab, he is expected to have a message for the members. Pizor Soliciting . . . While the directors of the IMPTO have been occupied with planning the setup of the merged organization, Lewen Pizor has been soliciting proxies from up-state Pennsylvania exhibitors to empower him to declare the merger null and void. Despite his efforts and the number of proxies he may obtain, the majority of the former MPTO members in Philadelphia favor the merger and will ignore any action Pizor may take. Present indications point toward the latter maintaining the old MPTO unit, affiliated with the producer-controlled MPTOA, as a chain theatre organization in opposition to the Independent MPTO. U. A. Gives Clair Film Clever Newsad The United Artists advertising department should be awarded an orchid for its sweet opening newspaper ad on Rene Clair's first English film, "The Ghost Goes West," in the New York dailies. Reproducing an infra-red photograph of Queen Mary viewing the film from a foraldecorated box at the Leicester Square Theatre, London, the ad remarks that "this great honor was bestowed upon Alexander Koda's production, etc." Which for novelty and selling power, takes some sort of a prize. MERRITT CRAWFORD OBSERVING THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY NEW YORK. The announcement that a deal had been concluded between Hearst and Warner Brothers, under the terms of which, Hearst, a principal owner of the Farnsworth Television Company of Philadelphia, in association with Warners, might be expected to launch television within a year, has occasioned considerable discussion in the trade. Naturally enough, with competitive conditions as tough as they are already, the independent exhibitor would like to know what to expect from visual radio as a possible opposition, if it is to become a reality within as short a period as the next twelve months. Everyone is aware, of course, that the advances made in the direction of commercial television by the scientists and technicians during the past two years have been little short of marvelous. The improvement of the cathode tube, which does away with the now obsolete "scanner," with its inevitable flicker and consequent eye strain, in itself is a tremendous step forward. So, too, is the development of the iconoscope or "electric eye," which is the visual twin of the microphone, in that it receives and transmits scenes and movement within its range, just as the "mike" records and transmits sounds. Thus, it is possible, using a cathode tube with its reproducing disc and an iconoscope in conjunction, to produce a miniature visualization of a scene taking place several hundred feet away from the point where the iconoscope is located, provided the scene or action comes within the field covered by the "electric eye." This action might be anything from a base ball game, with a view of the whole diamond and players, or Babe Ruth hitting a "homer" and emptying the bases, the action being shown at each base as the "electric eye" is turned upon it, to President Roosevelt making one of his popular appeals for national reconstruction. Having brought television to this point in the laboratory, it is not unreasonable to assume that commercial television is "just around the comer." By "commercial television" the writer means to imply only the introduction of television receiving sets in the home, just as radio sets are now installed, and not television in the theatre, with which we are here chiefly concerned. This last is a long way off indeed, although to televise a motion picture or a moving scene large enough to fill a theatre's screen has always been theoretically possible. Actually, it has not yet been found practicable to reproduce a televised scene in an area larger than 10 x 10 inches. Up to this size a clear and distinct reproduction is possible. When the area is increased above this point, however, the edges and outer limits of the picture become fringy and indistinct. Striations or cracks often appear across the whole picture, just as scratches on the emulsion show up on film, except that these "breaks" are horizontal and across the visual image, instead of vertical. That "home" television is nearly ready to make its debut, at least as far as the preparatory laboratory and experimental work is concerned, is no doubt true. But there are many "ifs" which must be considered, many obstacles that must be surmounted, both technical and commercial, before television will become a commercial reality. Meanwhile there will be plenty of television stock for sale and plenty of "sucker" money, no doubt, to buy it. During the next year the technical improvements already made and those which will undoubtedly be made will form the basis for numerous "important" announcements, most of which will have as their basis the sale of stock to the unwary, as the ultimate consideration. But with these the exhibitor need not concern himself, unless perchance he is an investor also. (Continued on page 10)