Harrison's Reports (1954)

IN TWO SECTIONS— SECTION ONE Bntsred m nrmirtl atMa aaatter Jaawary 4, 1921, at the ]>ast offlee at New York, New York, under the act of Marota 3, MM. Harrison’S Yearly Subecrlption Rates: 1270 SIXTH AVENUE United States $15.00 U. S. Insular Possessions. 16.50 Oanada 16.50 Mexico, Cuba, Spain 16.50 Gh-eat Britain 17.50 Australia, New Zealand, India, Surope, Asia . . • • 17.50 35c a Copy New York 20, N. Y. A Motion Picture Reviewing Service Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Kshibitors Its Editorial Policy: No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial Columns, if It is to Benefit the Elxhibitor. PubBshed Weekly by Harrison’s Reports, Inc., Publisher P. S. HARRISON, Editor Elstablished July 1, 1919 Circle 7-4622 A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXXVI SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1954 No. 14 SOME SIGNIFICANT CINEMASCOPE DEVELOPMENTS Speaking to some 75 newspapermen at a luncheon con^. ference held in New York on Monday, Spyros P. Skouras, president of 20th Century'Fox, as well as several other top executives of the company, reasserted their unswerving faith and confidence in CinemaScope as “the means to insure the future of the motion picture industry”; backed up this faith and confidence with facts and figures showing that pictures produced in CinemaScope were outgrossing regular 2'D pictures of comparable box-office components by at least 3 to 1; and accepted the challenge to the company’s leadership in developing and fostering new motion picture techniques by making the following significant announcements : 1. That Bausch and Lomb has developed seven new CinemaScope camera lenses of focal lengths ranging from 13mm to 152mm, or in terms of horizontal field angles from 122 degrees to 18 degrees inclusive, resulting in previously unmatched flexibility, range and depth and making for a much finer overall picture quality than has yet been attained by any other camera. 2. That 20th Century-Fox is withdrawing from the marketing of CinemaScope projection lenses, in spite of the fact that it has not yet recovered large investments made to assure mass production of these lenses in order to launch CinemaScope on a world-wide scale. 3. That hereafter Bausch & Lomb will distribute the CinemaScope projection lenses to dealers and suppliers, and that the lenses will be offered to the exhibitors at a reduced price of $1,095 for a small pair, and $1,195 for a large pair. 4. That a series of demonstrations will be held throughout the country within the next thirty or forty days in all domestic exchange areas and principal cities of the world to exhibit the advances effected by the new CinemaScope camera lenses, and that these demonstrations will include scenes from a number of forthcoming CinemaScope pictures, including “Garden of Evil,” “Broken Lance,” “The Egyp-. tian," “A Woman's World,” “Untamed” and “There's No Business Like Show Business.” Mr. Skouras emphasized that these lenses will be made available to all producers. 5. That the company will also demonstrate side by side, at the same time, the “vast difference” between four-track magnetic stereophonic sound and single-track optical sound so that the exhibitors might judge the superiority of stereophonic sound for themselves. Asked to comment on whether or not 20th-Fox will accept the exhibitors’ views as a result of these comparative sound tests, Skouras stated that, if the exhibitors are overwhelmingly in favor of single-track optical sound after the demonstrations, their views will be given every possible consideration. Mr. Skouras made it clear that his company whole-heartedly welcomes new projection processes, and he cited such recent developments as SuperScope and SuperPanatar. He said that he had not yet seen Vista’Vision but had heard that it is a worthy contribution to photographic clarity of motion pictures. He pointed out that 'Vista'Vision is not based on the anamorphic principle, but that to popularize it Paramount will resort to converting VistaVision pictures into anamorphic prints. (Continued on bac\ page) MORE ON MISGUIDING THE EXHIBITORS On March 7, I sent the following letter to Harry Arthur, Jr., board chairman of the Southern California Theatre Owners Association: “Dear Harry: “I have just received and read your March 5 announcement and a copy of the resolution that your board of directors adopted at your March 4 meeting, commending Barney Balaban for making available to the motion picture industry his ‘newly perfected Vista’Vision process, at ‘no profit whatsoever to Paramount.’ “Just what has Barney Balaban offered to the industry? I was present at the Hollywood demonstration at the Paramount studio and to this moment I have not been able to figure out what that offer has been. Perhaps I missed something. If so, will you please enlighten me? “Harry, believe me, this query is not prompted by a facetious spirit. I am serious. Because of my early technical training, I pride myself on the fact that I understand all technical developments in the exhibition of pictures by the new processes, and I feel that, because of that training, I am better able to write about them than any other writer in the picture business. As you well remember I wrote about sound, television, color and even wide-screen pictures when the late William Fox was trying to develop this sort of picture. Unless you enhghten me as to what Balaban has offered to the industry, I shall feel as if I have failed the exhibitors. “I should like to have your reply so that I may print it along with the resolution of your board, of which you are the chairman. “Sincerely yours, “P. S. Harrison” Under date of March 16, Mr. Arthur sent me the follow-, ing reply: “Dear Pete: “It was good to hear from you concerning our Association’s expression of appreciation to Paramount for its proffering of its Vistavision to the motion picture industry without profit to the company itself. “Our appreciation for such a gift to the industry in no way reflects against the actual contribution which CinemaScope has made to the industry. Neither did it laud the actual qualities of Vistavision. At the time of our board meeting, when the resolution of appreciation was voted, we had not seen demonstrations of Vistavision, and our expression was merely to compliment Paramount on its wish to pass the benefits of its research and development to the industry as a whole, without selfish gain. “Since that time, however, we have seen a demonstration of Vistavision, and we are even more enthused. I am no technician: — I see only what I see, and I have seen countless improvements in projection techniques in my 39 years in the business. In my humble opinion, Pete, Vistavision is far superior to CinemaScoi>e. It is much more definitive. It is brighter, and it possesses much more of a three-dimensional quality and is more realistic in its illusion than is CinemaScope. Further, it does not give one the feeling that the top of the picture has been hammered down as does CinemaScope. “But the issue of Vistavision versus CinemaScope is not the issue, as you must be aware. The issue, plainly and (Continued on bac}{ page)