International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1948)

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST With Which Is Combined Projection Engineering HENRY B. SELLWOOD, Editor Volume 23 FEBRUARY 1948 V Number 2 Index and Monthly Chat 3 The Anatomy of Nitrocellulose Film: Its Import to the Projectionist 5 Robert A. Mitchell SMPE-Academy Test Reels Available 6 Black-and-White vs. Color Cinematography 7 Joseph Valentine Background of American Trade Unions, XII 8 John P. Frey Toxicity of Carbon Arc Gases . 10 Lerot W. Latowsky, M.D. Letters to the Editor 11 The Use of Selenium as a Rectifier 12 Samuel Wein 16-mm Projection: From Purchase to Picture 14 In the Spotlight 18 Harry Sherman Telecasts 20 Approved Projection Room Ventilation 22 IPC Hosts 25/30 Club 23 German Research Program on Carbon Arc Detailed in Report by OTS 24 Personnel 28 Book Review 31 News Notes Technical Hints Miscellaneous Items Published Monthly by INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST PUBLISHING CO., INC. 19 West 44 Street, New York 18, N. Y. R. A. ENTRACHT, Publisher SUBSCRIPTION REPRESENTATIVES AUSTRALIA: McGills, 183 Elizabeth St., Melbourne NEW ZEALAND: Te Aro Book Depot, Ltd., 64 Courtenay Place, Wellington ENGLAND and DOMINIONS: Wm. Dawson & Sons, Ltd., Macklin St., London, W. C. 2 Yearly Subscription: United States and possessions, $2.50 (two years, $4) ; Canada and foreign countries, $3; single copies, 30 cents. Changes of address should be submitted two weeks in advance of publication date/to insure receipt of current issue. Entered as second-class matter February 8, 1932, a\/the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the •act of March 3, 1879. Entire contents copyrighted 1948 by International Projectionist Publishing Co., Inc. International Projectionist is not responsible for personal opinions ■ppearing in signed articles in its columns. MONTHLY CHAT PROJECTIONISTS will have to be increasingly watchful for acetate prints, according to advices direct to IP from film stock manufacturers which indicate that production of acetate has slipped into high gear and has exceeded even the most optimistic estimates of last Fall. One thing is certain: nitrate stock is definitely on the way out as the standard release print. In preparation for the impending deluge of acetate prints, Eastman Kodak Company is now engaged in an extensive educational campaign to acquaint the field with the requisites for handling acetate stock. This program, intensive though it be, of necessity is restricted to exchanges, which in turn are to be depended upon to adequately service all theatre accounts. We assume that this service will take the form of enclosing in the film cases a notice which will, first, emphatically identify the print as acetate stock and, second, will give instructions for proper handling, including splicing procedure. This plan leaves much to be desired. Exchange management has never been overly concerned with the physical aspect of its operations, and there is the additional complicating factor of the human element and the wide margin of probable error inherent in relying upon film inspectors for the inclusion of such notices in every outgoing shipment. This leaves the projectionist pretty much on his own — as always in theatreexchange relations. The current M-G-M release "If Winter Comes" (Walter Pidgeon-Deborah Kerr) provides an interesting example of just how the projected plan will work out in practice. How many projectionists know that all release prints of this feature are on acetate stock? M-G-M exchanges have been given specific instructions as to handling this print, but will they follow through so that not even the last-run theatre will be neglected? It might be noted, in passing, that the release of "If Winter Comes" on acetate film was accomplished surreptitiously, and that IP, which relied upon repeated positive assurances that it would be notified of the issuance of any substantial amount of acetate stock, learned about this feature quite by accident. This may be a portent of what will happen in the exchange field when such prints are more widely circulated. IP is not particularly concerned about this matter in terms of the first-run. or even second-run, theatres: these fellows have always enjoyed preferential treatment because of the widespread mistaken notion that, because of their large "takes" and comparatively large rental payments, they are the only ones that count. They count, sure, and particularly because they are the industry show-windows, so to speak. But the subsequent-run the(Continued on page 34) INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST • February 1948 ■M