The Film Daily (1928)

Exhibitors DAILY REVIEW, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1928 "Show Us" Says Western Electric to Competitors ^Cuiuinued from page 1) stalling tlicatrc equipments at tlu rate oif 150 \nr nuiiitli aiul leasing these equipments on a time payment plan involving in the aggregate the extension of credit in large sums to theatre owners. It has developed a service organization operating in every state in the United States and in foreign countries for the inspection and servicing of these equipments, and so reliable is the apparatus and so well has this organization functioned that there has not been a single failure of |)erformance because of apparatus. This work has been carried on at enormous expense and has involved the investment of millions of dollars in factories, machinery, tools, inventory and credits. Based on its own faith in the ultimate success of talking motion pictures this Compain' has assumed the risk that goes with a new undertaking of this magnitude. During this period it has not made a single move to hamper or in any way embarrass competitive efforts. It has all along maintained that the sound pictures of its licensees should be used only on theatre equipment which operates properly, reliably and efficiently to reproduce sound with adequate volume and quality equal to that obtained by the use of its own equipment. The Company has a vital interest in the maintenance of this quality that no discredit may be brought either to it or to producers or exhibitors utilizing its systems. Tlic Company has a tremendous stake in the successful development of this new form of entertainment, and believing that that development today is the result of the joint efforts of its engineering and manufacturing talent and the producing genius of its licensees, it will zealously protect from impairment by any source the public good w-ill which has been built up. From time to time there have been a numl)er of competitive equipments announced and advertised and claims have been made for simpler, cheaper, and better systems than that of the Western Electric. Some companies making such claims have passed out of existence before the echo of their advertising had died down. 'J"he fact remain.s that tliere is not a single comjjetitive apparatus in successful commercial operation today. One or two have been installed recently, as in the past, and are giving public demonstrations with claims of intcrchangeability with the Western Electric System. The public and theatre owners are told that such apparatus will reproduce the productions made wilii Western Electric recording equipment l)y our licensees. It is upon the strength of these claims and assurances that these competitive equii)nieiits are offered for sale. This is a situation unique in business and is in itself convincing evidence of the success of the Western Electric's system'^. We have not denied and do not deny the^e various claims ijut we do i)oint out that mak ing a public demonstration with a single instrument is quite a different matter than carrying c^n the business of supplying and servicing the equipment necessary for the commercial operation of talking movies in hundreds of theatres. We cannot be expected to make a public statement of BOOSTING! Here's how the Los Ange'es Times boosts its chief home m industry. — Hollywood has more .Spanish homes than Spain, more (ireek gods than (Greece, more sheiks than Arabia, more Bohemians than Bohemia, more whiskers than Russia, and more bull than Bulgaria. It is the one place in which one can see Judas Iscariot, Napoleon and a Chicago gangster going to work in the same flivver ; where Cleopatra sits on a papiermache rock, bums a Camel from Nancy Sykes, and eats chili and beans at the hot doggery with Abraham Lincoln ; where George Washington is told how he should dress by an ex-second-hand clothing dealer, told how to coniiuct affairs at Valley Forge by an ex-taxi driver, and takes his pay check from an e.xliawnbroker. Colony Box-Office Has New Exploitation One of the finest novelty exploitation itunts worked out by the film boys on Broadway this year is the converting )f the Colony Box-office into a replica )f a huge bass-fiddle or cello, emliracing the ticket-selling booth. The stunt carries out the spirit of he Universal all-dialogue picture which opened Sunday, "The Melody of Lo\e,'' made with Movietone. approval and acceptance every time a new device is offered for sale. When such devices in significant nunibers have been installed and maintained in successful commercial operation over a reasonable time, the facts, will determine themselves without any statement on our part. This is a matter that will be settled by the facts and not by the claims of interested parties. That I believe is the essence of this question of interchangeability. We recognize that the immediate problem of theatre owners is to secure equipment fast enough. I need hardly point out that the apparatus is of an extremely delicate nature and o!ily because we have vast manufacturing and engineering resources upon which we have been able to draw, has it been possible to speed up production to the present rate. We believe we can expand our facilities as rapidly as others can create theirs, and we are now proposing to increase 1929 production from 150 to over 250 per month, or practically 12 theatre installations per working day. We have delinitely in mind the problem of the snial'l theatre. b'or such our Company has available music and sound amplifying equipnieiits which will satisfactorily fill i)reseni needs, and w-liieh later on may be :i<lapated to pictures synchronized with sound. When small theatre (jwners want to investigate this i)rol) lem, we are ready to discuss it with them. Our Company's relations with the motion picture industry are import ant because its leaders have adoi)ted our systems of sound pictures. For us this is not only an opportunity, but an obligation to render a large service; and I want the industry to know that wc shall make every endeavor to measure nj) to this responsibility. Now Open For Inspection r ■ Tf ' "I r n n "^ ' f J» Vit ' Film Center Buildini ^^th Street • NINTH AVENUE • ^^th Street 'T^His unique structure, dedicated to the needs of the Film Industry, is now open and ready for inspection, enabling you to see the actual space and to examine the extraordinary innovations incorporated into the construction to meet the special requirements of Film Exchanges. ELEVATORS RUNNING AND A REPRESENTATIVE TO SHOW YOU AROUND 225 FIFTH AVENUE ASHland 4200 Agents FILM CENTER, INC., Builders . . . ABE N. ADELSON, 'Pres.