Motion Picture Herald (Dec 1932 - Mar 1933)

March 11, 1983 Motion Picture Herald 19 The statute further provides that: "It shall be the duty of every licensed projectionist at any theatre in the Province of Alberta at which motion pictures are shov\7n, immediately upon the close of the run at any theatre of any film, to make up and sign in triplicate on a form, to be supplied by the Chief Inspector, a report showing (a) the name of the theatre, {b) the name of the film, (r) the print number, {d) the number of reels of the film, (e) the name of the person or company supplying the film, (/) the place from which the film was received, {g) the condition of the film when received, {h) the number of times run, (z) the condition of the film after the last run and any remarks the projectionist may think fit to make. "The Theatre Manager shall send one such report by mail without delay to the Chief Inspector of Theatres, Government Buildings, Edmonton, shall send one report to the film exchange, and shall retain the third report at the theatre for reference. "It shall be the duty of every proprietor or other person having the general control and management of any theatre to see that this regulation is complied with at all times. "No film exchange shall distribute for exhibition any film which is, by reason of wear and tear, bad usage, defects in manufacture or otherwise, in such a condition that the showing thereof involves any increase in the ordinary risk of fire. "Upon it being made to appear to the Chief Inspector by means of the report made pursuant to the regulations or otherwise that any film is, by reason of wear and tear, bad usage, defects in manufacture or otherwise, in such a condition that the showing thereof involves any increase in the ordinary risk of fire, the Chief Inspector may by telegraph or by notice in writing to both the exhibitor in whose hands such film then may be and the film exchange which is the distributor of such film, prohibit the further showing of such film, and thereupon the film shall be returned by the exhibitor to the film exchange and shall not be sent out for exhibition or be exhibited unless and until the same has been submitted to the Chief Inspector for examination and has been approved by him as being in a fit condition for exhibition. "The Chief Inspector may at any reasonable time, upon demand, inspect any film in any theatre or film exchange and examine the same for the purpose of ascertaining the condition thereof and the Inspector may, after such examination, if in his discretion he deems that such film cannot be put into such a condition that it can be shown without an increase in the ordinary fire risk, by order in writing direct that such film be destroyed within thirty days unless the same is sooner sent out of the Province ; and after the expiration of thirty days from the date of the said order no film exchange and no exhibitor shall have the custody, possession or control of any such film at any place within the Province whatsoever, so long as the said order remains in force; and in case any such film is found in the Province in contravention of this regulation the same shall be con fiscated to His Majesty and may be seized by any inspector wherever found and shall thereafter be destroyed." Mr. G. P. Barber is chief theatre inspector in Alberta. I think it likely the chief inspector is largely responsible for the Bureau of Labor (which department of the provincial government has theatre inspection, etc., under its jurisdiction), having secured the enactment of these most excellent regulations. The Bureau is fortunate in having such a progressive, livewire chief inspector. THINGS BLAMED ON PROJECTIONISTS FROM M. A. SmoUin, projectionist at the Edwards theatre in East Hampton, New York, comes this interesting letter: "Dear Mr. Richardson: The current consensus of opinion is that motion picture photography and the developed photograph printed on the film have both reached a very high stage of perfection, and that in consequence any fault appearing upon the screen is due either to carelessness or ignorance on the part of the theatre's projectionist. "My object in addressing you is to show that the perfection is not so perfect as is generally supposed. For example, the changeover cue marks placed by swivel chair men are always in the right place — sometimes. As a matter of fact these highly important marks may be looked for almost anywhere. They may fall upon a black derby hat on the ornate hall tree. They may be exactly on the frame line or flush with the border. Next let us consider the borders, which often are a prolific source of vexation to the projectionist. Every one will agree that few things in motion pictures are more objectionable than a fuzzy-edged screen image, yet we have them, and you know managers and the public automatically ascribe every visible fault on the screen or in the sound to the projectionist. "With these observations as preliminary, examine attached film clippings taken from current prints. Can you spare space to print them and thus show their iniquities? A comparison discloses flagrant lack of uniformity. The pink specimen has no borders at all. In one the sprocket holes come over into the picture. Some have borders 1/16-inch wide. "Attention is especially directed to the changeover cue marks. Note that without a change of scene, and without rhyme or reason, where they occur the border is quadrupled. Why? Surely those responsible can ofifer no excuse for thus outraging projection. Producers expect us to present their productions to the public at their maximum value, yet they apparently care nothing about working abuses of this sort upon us. "Another matter which is not so good is the film photograph corners. Clearly three items must be considered in this matter; namely, the film photograph, the projector aperture outline, and the screen SUPERIOR PROJECTOR NEW MODEL 'U' —AT 1933 PRICES— The OUTSTANDING PROJECTOR for Durability, Low Cost of Maintenance, Operating Performance, Screen and Sound Results. Universally adapted to all types of Sound Reproducer equipment, and without special adapters. Rear Shutter, Double Bearing Movement, Improved Framing Device, and other refinements. 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