International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1954)

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONI With Which Is Combined PROJECTION ENGINEERING JAMES J. FINN, Ed/for JAMES MORRIS, Associate Editor Volume 29 APRIL 1954 Number 4 Index and Monthly Chat 5 As of the Moment 7 James J. Finn Paramount's VistaVision 13 loren Ryder Ryder Explains Par's Position on Screens 14 Proper Method of Splicing CinemaScope Film 14 Irving Merkur THE LENS: Key to Projection Quality, III 15 Robert A. Mitchell Polaroid-IP Contest Winner 17 In The Spotlight 20 lA Obituaries 21 Brush-Up on Fundamentals: Rectifiers for Projection, II ... . 22 CinemaScope on 102-Foot Drive-ln Screen 23 What's Your Problem? 24 Letters to the Editor 24 Proper Procedure for ReOpening the Drive-ln Theatre 26 lA Elections 30 News Notes Technical Hints Miscellaneous Items Published Monthly by INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST PUBLISHING CO., INC. 19 West 44th Street, New York 36, N. Y. Telephone: MUrray Hill 2-2948 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 ELSEWHERE: Wm. Dcv/son & 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, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., with additional entry at Yonkers, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879. Entire contents copyrighted 1954 by INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST PUBLISHING CO., INC. INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST assumes no responsibility for personal opinions appearing in signed articles, or for unsolicited communications. INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST • APRIL 1954 MONTHLY CHAT Standard 2-D, 3x4 pictures Cinerama CinemaScope VistaVision Variable prismatic anamorphic units for varying ratios Two-film 3-D Single-film 3-D beam-splitter (PolaLite) with glasses Single optical track sound Stereophonic sound, with a mass of amplifiers and speakers 3-D viewing glasses 3-D projection filters 3-D projector interlocks Varying screen proportions as to both height and width Seamless screens Screens with seams Standard sprockets Narrow CinemaScope sprockets Multiple magnetic sound tracks Single magnetic sound track (wanna bet?) Curved screens (indeterminate radii) Flat screens Triple in-car speakers o • The foregoing list comprises the muck and mire of the technological swamplands which the harrassed exhibitor is expected to traverse accompanied only by a sharp, persistent fear for his future security. It is also the hazard which demands of the projectionist that he be a hydra-headed, many-tentacled entity with an Einsteinian mind in order to cope with not only the day-to-day changes in projection setups but also the changes within a given program! These are the technological standards (?) of an industry which once boasted of its position as the fifth largest in the world. This is a situation which can't possibly be anything else but a snide effort precipitated by the industry's socalled executives who wish to retain the plush seats of the mighty and, of course, the emoluments accruing thereto. If there be even a trace of sanity left in this industry, then in the name of simple, common decency let us exercise it. J. J. Finn i.