Harrison's Reports (1954)

60 HARRISON’S REPORTS April 10, 1954 used in the same sense in which Fox uses the word. Perspecta is an optical sound system and not a magnetic system as is involved in CinemaScope. Exhibitors not wishing to make an investment in sound equipment can run these Perspecta prints with their present equipment; that is, they can continue with their present one-track optical sound without expending a penny. “Theatres desiring to use the new system will have to install three horns behind the screen and an integrator. The latter device is not described in the trade paper stories but it appears to be the key to the system. The estimated cost of the equipment, exclusive of installation charges, is between $3,500 and $5,000. “A theatre already equipped with stereophonic sound will need only the integrator at a cost of $800 or $900, exclusive of installation. “The one thing to bear in mind is that any conversion to Perspecta sound is optional with the exhibitor. In so far as Paramount and Metro are concerned (except as to the latter’s CinemaScope pictures), you can continue right along with your old one-track system and you do not need to convert to Perspecta unless you think the investment is warranted, or until you can afford to. “Where Does This Leave Fox? “The unholy plan to force all exhibitors to convert to CinemaScope with its trimmings of stereophonic sound and Miracle Mirror screens has been given the Humpty Dumpty treatment and can never be put together again. “Allied has always insisted that the film companies have no right to dictate to the exhibitors how they shall run their theatres. It opposed the effort to force theatres to install stereophonic equipment because of the coercion that was used. The Allied board, at the recent New York meeting, defined its position as follows: “ 'Allied . . . condemns the policy of 20th Century-Fox and Loew's, Inc., in requiring theatres to install full stereo-i phonic equipment as a condition of licensing their Cinemascope pictures regardless of the appropriateness of the theatres for such installations or their ability to pay therefor.’ “The announcement with respect to Perspecta sound is in line with this policy and is welcomed by Allied. If as a result of tax relief and a re-awakened interest in motion pictures the smaller theatres later feel that they can afford Perspecta, and the accumulated experience convinces them that it is worth the investment, they can be rehed on to make the installations in this great American game of pleasing the customers. But no one is going to try to force it upon them, and that is what we like. “This leaves Fox as the only film company holding to the position that the exhibitors, including the drive-ins, must install stereophonic equipment in order to play the pictures produced by it. A great deal of proselyting appears to be going on among the film companies and there may be some shifts from one camp to another. But the inevitable end will be that which I predicted in my last annual report. “ 'If you ask, “What will be the end of all this?” we can only answer that some policies are so wrong that, given time, they must inevitably fail.’ “It was a trite thing to say, but isn’t it encouraging to see it vindicated? “Metro and the Second Class Citizens “We have already noted that Metro, like Fox, will allow the exhibitors no option with respect to its CinemaScope prints offered to the domestic trade. In other words, American exhibitors, including those operating very small theatres and drive-ins, must install stereophonic sound in order to play Metro CinemaScopers. “We do not know how many more CinemaScope pictures, if any, Metro intends to make. But with respect to its inventory of such pictures, and any others it may produce, it’s stereophonic sound or no dice — that is, if you are an American. “But with respect to foreign exhibitors, it is different. Overseas theatres desiring to play Metro’s CinemaScope pictures are required only to convert to the cheaper Perspecta sound. In other words, Metro’s CinemaScope prints for foreign use will carry Perspecta sound tracks instead of the four track magnetic sound foisted upon the domestic theatres. “This, it seems to me, has the effect to make second class citizens of the American independent exhibitors. “I do not see how this can be explained on any theory except that there is a compact between Fox and Metro, or between either or both of them and the major circuits that have installed stereophonic sound, to the effect that the domestic commerce in CinemaScope pictures shall be burdened with costly stereophonic sound as a means of crippling the small independent theatres in their efforts to compete with the circuits. “We sincerely hope that there is some other explanation of Metro’s queer attitude and that it will soon be forthcoming.” VTSTAVISION DEMONSTRATION SET FOR NEW YORK Paramount has announced that VistaVision, its new photographic process, will be demonstrated at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Tuesday, April 27. The demonstration, which will take approximately one hour, will begin at 8:30 A.M. to permit the Music Hall to be cleared by 10 A.M. for regular business. The announcement added that this is the only demonstration of VistaVision planned at this time. “Them” with James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon (Warner Bros., June 19; time, 94 min.) A tense science-fiction thriller, one of the best yet made. Revolving around the terror and chaos that is created when lingering radiation from the first atomic bomb exploded in the New Mexico desert breeds a race of giant, mankilling 10-foot insects, the story, which is enhanced by a documentary-like treatment, is filled with chilling situations and holds one in tense suspense from start to finish. The discovery of the hideous monsters’ huge nest, and the manner in which they are annihilated by the use of flame throwers, bazookas, grenades and cyanide gas, make for a number of sequences that will keep the spectator on the edge of his seat. The proceedings are particularly thrilling in the closing sequences, where a nest of the giant creatures is discovered in the catacombs of the huge storm sewers of Los Angeles, and it takes the might of the U.S. Army to destroy them and to save two youngsters who had been trapped in the nest. There is a welcome touch of light comedy here and there to reUeve the tension. The direction and acting are first-rate, and so are the special effects: — While on desert patrol,James Whitmore and Chris Drake, of the New Mexico state police, find a httle six-year-old girl in a state of shock, an automobile trailer and a general store demohshed, and the owner of the store brutally killed. Careful investigation by the police fails to unearth a workable clue, and even James Arness, an FBI agent, is stumped. The discovery of an unidentifiable footprint brings into the investigation Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon, his daughter, both entomologists. Gwenn’s suspicions that a fantastic mutation, probably caused by lingering radiation from an atomic blast, had produced giant insects are confirmed when Joan is attacked by one of the monsters while checking the scene of the crimes. Quick action by Arness, who shoots the creature's antennae, saves Joan. The nest of the monsters is located by means of a hehcopter, and Arness, Whitmore and Joan, armed with flame throwers and other weapons, enter the nest and destroy them. Joan, however, discovers two huge insect eggs split, and she deduces that they had contained two queen insects that had flown away. Gwenn hurries to Washington and explains to the top brass that, unless the missing queens are located, they can produce colonies of giant insects and wipe out all humanity. To prevent panic, the search is conducted with all possible secrecy, and all news of crimes is checked carefully. The murder of a man and the disappearance of his two young sons in Los Angeles, coupled with a report by a raving alcohohe that he had seen giant insects in the Los Angeles river bed, enable the authorities to deduce that a nest had been started in the city’s huge storm drains. Martial law is declared, and military personnel, led by Whitmore and Arness, enter the drains. Whitmore locates the nest in time to rescue the children, only to be grabbed himself by one of the monsters, but quick action on the part of Arness saves him, while the soldiers, using all types of weapons, wipe out the monsters for all time. It was produced by David Weisbart, and directed by Gordon Douglas, from a screenplay by Ted Sherdeman, based on a story by George Worthington Yates. Suitable for all who enjoy thrillers.