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RKO PRODUCTIONS, INCORPORATED 151
of rethreading even though the break occurred in the middle of the reel. In such a case, it would then be necessary either to omit the balance of the film on that reel or take the film off, patch it, rethread it, and start from the beginning, which was very undesirable from the standpoint of showmanship. With the sound-on-film system, the film could be immediately rethreaded with the sound in synchronism no matter where the break occurred in the film. This advantage claimed for the film system was stated by a manufacturer of disc equipment to be "rather theoretical and academic in practice" inasmuch as "the number of film breaks occurring is an entirely negligible factor." A prominent exhibitor stated that the question of superiority of one system over the other depended entirely upon the care taken by distributors of sound film prints in the supplying of new prints. It was impractical at the present time, in his opinion, for exchanges to furnish each account with a print in absolutely perfect condition, and as a result distortion of sound had been caused by natural wear and tear. When exchanges were in a position to furnish good prints, the sound-on-film system would demonstrate its superiority.
In supplying discs for sound reproduction, RKO Productions, Incorporated, would be faced by several problems. The RKO studios in California were equipped to record only sound on film. It would be possible, however, in the production of discs to re-record at sound studios in New York. A sound on film recording would be projected and the reproduction utilized for the disc recording. This method was disadvantageous in that all tonal defects present in the sound-on-film reproduction would be recorded on the disc. RKO pictures, in competition with those recorded directly upon discs, might suffer in comparison. In view of the recent decision of the company to produce pictures of a higher class, the protection of quality was particularly desirable.
Supplying a sound-on-disc picture entailed the additional costs of re-recording, and disc preparation. Discs could be obtained either single-faced or double-faced. The single-faced disc was less susceptible to injury in shipping and handling; the double-faced was more economical in shipping and storing. Disc reproduction required a different film print from those used for silent or sound-on-film projection. It would be necessary to