Harrison's Reports (1931)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March 3, 1S79. Harrison’s Reports Yearly Subscription Rates: TInited States $16.00 U. S. Insular Possessions. . 16.00 Janada, Alaska 16.00 lexieo, Spain, Cuba 16.00 Great Britain, New Zealand 16.00 Other Foreign Countries.. 17.50 36c a Copy 1440 BROADWAY New York, N. Y. A Motion Picture Reviewing Service by a Former Exhibitor Devoted Exclusively to the Interests of Exhibitors Its Editorial Policy: No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. Published Weekly by P. S. HARRISON Editor and Publisher Established July 1, 1919 Tel. : Pennsylvania 7649 Cable Address : Harreport* (Bentley Code) A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE JNFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XIII SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1931 ~ NoT3 ERPFS ASSERTIONS ABOUT ITS NEW RECORDING Mr. Emil A. Nelson, owner of the Star Theatre, of Duluth, Minnesota, has written me as follows : “Kindly give us in your REPORTS the ‘lowdown’ about the Noiseless Western Electric recording. They claim that they have to make some minor changes in the sound equipment of the theatre in order for them to put it across. Is that correct? “Will the RCA sound theatre equipment be able to put sound recording across as noiseless as the Western Electric? “If you were to decide on a sound equipment for a theatre of 500 seats, taking everything into consideration would you install an RCA or a Western Electric?” The trade papers of December 13 last carried the following advertisement about the Western Electric Noiseless recording : “Electrical Research announces New Process “Noiseless Recording “Noiseless Recording means talking pictures with all undesired sounds barred out. No humming, hissing or scratching noises mar the pure tone of recorded speech and music. Every word sounds natural, clean-cut, true to life : . . . “ERPI Producer-licensees have already installed equipment for Noiseless Recording. They are now making pictures by this New Process. The first — a Paramount production entitled ‘The Right to Love’ and featuring Ruth Chatterton — will be released this month. You will immediately recognize the extraordinary difference. “Noiseless Recording will still further increase the popularity of talking pictures — build box office for you — attract new patrons to your theatre, even those who have always been critical — bring old patrons oftener. They will demand pictures recorded by this method. “And remember — Western Electric reproducing equipment delivers sound exactly as it is recorded. That is why only Western apparatus can do full justice to this wonderful New Process Noiseless Recording.” It seems as if Electrical Research Producers, Inc., has acclimatized itself in this industry thoroughly ; it has adopted this industry’s methods. Notice the assertions it makes : “New Process” ; “all undesirable sounds barred out”, “No humming, hissing or scratching” ; “every word sounds natural . . . true to life:”; “The first — a Paramount production entitled “The Right to Love” ; “delivers sound exactly as it is recorded” ; “only Western Electric apparatus can do full justice to this wonderful New Process Noiseless Recording.” Such assertions are either false or highly exaggerated, as I shall proceed to prove by proofs any one may check up : On March of last year, RKO invited Courtland Smith, Jack Connolly and me to a private demonstration of their noiseless sound track, which the engineering department of the RCA Photophone had perfected. Messrs. Smith and Connolly are the men who developed the Movietone News ; they had just resigned from the Fox Film Corporation, which at that time was in financial difficulties, and as they did not know whether they would want to go back to that Corporation or not even after their troubles were settled, they were negotiating with Warner Bros, for the purpose of starting a news for that company. At that time they were considering the use of RCA Photophone recording and sound tracks, and they were naturally interested in any invention that would work for improved recording and better sound reproduction. My own interest lay in the fact that I wanted to keep you informed of any developments that tended to improve the sound on the screen. We were highly impressed with the tests ; a film was run with both types of recording, the old and the noiseless, and we perceived that, although the old style recording was far more noiseless than anything the Western Electric record ing could deliver, the new style recording was nearly deadsilent. From this you will realize that ERPI’S assertion that its noiseless recording is “new” is at variance with the facts. ERPI asserts that “The Right to Love” is the first picture to be recorded by the Noiseless Process. As far as recording by the Western Electric method is concerned this statement is true ; but it is not so when other recording systems are taken into consideration, for the first picture to be so recorded was a “short” made by Pathe — “Mind Your Business” ; it was produced in April last year and released in July of the same year. Of features, “Dixiana,” the RKO production, was the first to be recorded by the noiseless recording process. So ERPI in this statement, too, is wrong. ERPI says: “all undesired sounds barred out . . . No humming, hissing or scratching.” That ERPI has, by its noiseless recording system, succeeded in eliminating hissing, it is perfectly true. And so it has humming. But humming is in the reproducing instrument mainly, a defect which can be corrected by putting the instrument in good order. But that it has eliminated “scratching”, and that it has succeeded in “barring out all undesired sounds”, it is false and misleading. I went to the Paramount Theatre three times to make a close observation and noticed that, although hissing was eliminated, there was some humming and considerable “crackling,” although the crackling was not as pronounced as it was in films recorded by the old Western Electric method. So in this, too, ERPI is wrong. Another assertion it has made in that advertisement is to the effect that every word sounds natural — true to life. One does not have to make a comparison of their noiseless recording with the recording of other concerns to know that such an assertion is false, for there has been no instrument yet made that can deliver sound of the same quality as the original ; a good recording process and a good reproducing instrument may deliver sound nearly as good as the original but not as good. And any one who will make a statement to the contrary is presenting the facts incorrectly. As I have already said, the Noiseless Western Electric recording is an improvement over its old style recording ; it is at least eighty-five per cent better. But a comparison of it with the RCA Photophone recording, old and new systems, reveals the following facts: The Western Electirc Noiseless recording, at thirty feet away from the screen, sounded as noiseless as the RCA Photophone old style recording at three feet away from the loud speakers. At thirty feet away from the screen the RCA Photophone old style recording seemed more silent than the Western Electric Noiseless recording. On the other hand, the RCA Photophone noiseless recording was so silent that one can hardly make a comparison of it with the Western Electric Noiseless recording. I was able to make these observations through the courtesy of Mr. M. C. Batsel, Chief Engineer, and of Mr. Sidney Abel, General Manager, of RCA Photophone, who placed at my disposal films and their projection room, at 411 Fifth Avenue. The tests were advantageous to the Western Electric Recording system by reason of the fact that “Right to Love” was produced in the, one may say, “laboratory,” and had been run only a few times ; there is no doubt that, since this picture was to be a sample, Western Electric supplied the best engineers, and used the best raw stock available; whereas “Mind Your Business,” the Pathe two reel subject that was placed at my disposal, was produced on a commercial scale last April, and had been run through the projectors at least three hundred times. ( Continued on last page)