Harrison's Reports (1952)

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HARRISON, Editor Established July 1, 1919 Circle 7-4622 A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXXIV SATURDAY, JANUARY 5, 1952 No. 1 HOPE FOR THE EXHIBITOR Upon his return from Zurich, Switzerland, where he went a few weeks ago to see a demonstration of the Eidophor large screen theatre television system, the world rights of which have been acquired by 20th Century'Fox, Charles P. Skouras, head of National and F ox' West Coast Theatres, sent for the press to tell them about the performance of this system, and the manner by which he intends to handle it in the California theatres that he controls. Unless Mr. Skouras was carried away by his em thusiasm, the Eidophor theatre television system may prove to be one of those mediums that have revolu' tionized the industry from time to time, as discussed in last week’s article. Mr. Skouras said that he intends to establish a studio in Los Angeles, from which he will transmit the shows to his seventy'three theatres. In transmitting the shows, he will use, not the air channels, but direct wire service to his theatres in his zone. This should keep him from applying to the Federal Communica' tions Commission for a license to operate. I asked Mr. Skouras whether an independent exhi' bitor, with one or more theatres, would be able to purchase the rights to his service, and he assured me that any nomcompeting exhibitor may acquire such rights. Included in the shows planned by Mr. Skouras is one hour of “live” entertainment, in color, staged at the studio and transmitted by direct wire to each theatre in the group. The rest of the show will be made up of a feature picture and short subjects, as at present. Because of the difference in time in the different time zones, a show that originates in the Pacific time zone will not, of course, be transmitted to an easterly time zone. But by the time that Mr. Skouras gets ready to telewire his shows in the Pacific Zone, circuits in the other time zones may be established so that a show that originates in the Eastern Zone (New York) may be transmitted to the Central Zone (Chicago) , and then to the Mountain Zone (Denver) , and finally to the Pacific Zone. A circuit in a zone may consist either of fifty theatres or of one thousand theatres, as the case may be. Each of these theatres will receive the same show * — the stage productions in color, and the film shows either in black'and'white, or in color, if the picture is in color. The advantage of this system lies, as I was able to gather, in the fact that a circuit with many theatres will be able to contract for productions or events, the cost of some1 or most of which might prove pro' hibitive for either a single theatre or a small theatre circuit. It is presumed, of course, that operators of one or a few theatres will be able to join an inter' connected theatre network at a cost that will make it economically feasible for them to present the televised stage show and feature picture. Another advantage will be that the public will not be able to see any part of the televised theatre shows on their home television sets, because these shows will be transitted, as said, by wire instead of by air. Still another advantage will be that the theatre patron will not be annoyed with advertisements, as is the case with home television. The world rights to the Eidophor system are con' trolled by 20th Century'Fox through a deal made by Spyros P. Skouras, its president, with the inventors in Switzerland. But any one, either a group or an indi' vidual, may acquire the rights to establish a circuit or network of theatres for the simultaneous showing of the program set up in the central studio. The only restriction will be that the group or individual will have to buy the instruments from 20th Century'Fox. Mr. Charles Skouras said that it will be at least one and one-half years before his dreams of estab' lishing a studio in Los Angeles and transmitting shows directly to his theatres come to life. In the meantime many changes of procedure may occur because of, either technical difficulties, or legal requirements. Exhibitors will be interested to know that the Swiss inventors of Eidophor have perfected the mechanism to the point where the equipment required may be housed in the present projection rooms without any radical alterations. Mr. Spyros Skouras plans to give a demonstration of the Eidophor system about the middle of February, both in New York and on the Coast, at which time the industry will have an opportunity to judge it by the results. If what the two brothers, Charles and Spyros, said about the Eidophor ’s performance is not exaggerated because of their enthusiasm, then the picture industry will have nothing to fear from free home television as a competitor. What the public will be able to see and enjoy on the theatre screens will not be available to them on their home television sets. The 20th Century'Fox organization is working together with the Columbia Broadcasting System for the use of the CBS color television process with Eido' phor, and since it is unlikely that RCA will take this competition lying down, we may expect great pro' gress in the development of large screen television em tertainment. All this cannot help benefiting the exhibitor.