Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Feb 1936)

MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT ietteuheatres CONSTRUCTION OPERATION VOLUME 122 JANUARY II, 1936 NUMBER TWO Seek Cheaper Cooling By Use of Well Water this summer will see extensive use of well water, naturally cold and eliminating mechanical refrigeration, if efforts currently reported from various sections of the country produce a sufficient number of wells. Development of this method of cooling has taken on the aspects of a movement, involving large circuits and independent houses alike. Suitable sources of cold water are being sought for between thirty and forty theatres in the Northwest, some of them affiliated with Paramount. In projecting air-conditioning plans for thirty theatres, Warner Theatres may include well water cooling in some of the houses. Operators of nearly fifty theatres in Westchester County, bordering New York City, are seeking locations for wells for the same purpose. Clarence B. Kaimann's plans for a new 700-seat theatre in St. Louis call for the use of well water for cooling, and the method has reached the discussion stage elsewhere. Diesel Considered As Source of Power plans for the installation of Diesel (crude oil burning) engines for the operation of electrical generators to supply electrical power, are being mapped by RKO engineers for the theatres of this circuit. If carried out for all of the houses, the installations would form the largest application of the Diesel to the powering of theatres yet attempted. The RKO announcement follows several months of discussion of Diesels by theatre groups. The installation of electrical power generating plants powered by Diesels have engaged the attention of a number of exhibitor associations since last summer. Installations so far have been isolated and essentially experimental. It is the electrical power requirements of large air-conditioning equipment that have brought the Diesel into serious consideration for the theatre. Engineers point out, however, that such installations would not be warranted in theatres requiring less than 500 h.p. on the air-conditioning equipment alone. The initial equipment and installation cost for an installation of this kind is stated to be in the neighborhood of $16,000. However impracticable Diesel installations may be where the demand load is merely moderate or where power rates are relatively low, it is pointed out that even in such favorable situations they can be threatened in controversies with utilities SELLING THE THEATRE An Editorial Note IS only the picture to be sold? What of the theatre itself, which must operate just the same, whether the picture is good, bad or indifferent? Into the theatre goes much money for the operation of the mechanisms by which the picture is transformed into a performance. There are also many provisions for the comfort and safety of patrons. All represent service, and that is something which is most immediately related to the theatre itself, and to its proprietor. The extraordinary Pix theatre, which is described and pictured elsewhere in this issue, uses a new model Ashcraft Suprex projection lamp. In one of the printed programs was this paragraph: "In answer to the many compliments on the quality of Pix Technicolor projection, may we explain that the natural color values are made possible by a recently developed high-intensity arc lamp with which Pix is equipped. The obsolete lowintensity lamps in most theatres favor only the red-orange side of the spectrum." Patrons of the Pix are now aware of what would seem to be quite a special arrangement for them. There are many engines and gadgets in today's motion picture theatre which, in their way, have a place among the wonders of modern science and engineering. They not only provide the performance and contribute to comfort. They are interesting in themselves. There are occasions when they may well be brought out of concealment. over, charges and in many instances this might prove effective in efforts to obtain reductions and adjustments. [The Diesel engine and its application to theatre power plants is the subject of an article by J. T. Knight, Jr., leading the department Equipment and Operation in this issue. — The Editor.] Plan State Tests for Projectionists A BILL REQUIRING all motion picture projectionists to pass an examination before a State board is expected to be placed before the Louisiana legislature. The proposal is said to have the backing, if not the sponsorship, of labor unions in New Orleans. Members of the board would be appointed by the governor. Theatre owners generally, but particularly those in the smaller localities, are certain to fight the bill, claiming that it is a political device to raise revenue and a trick designed to raise wage scales. Only a few States examine projectionists, notablv Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Sign Services Under A Voluntary Code electric sign manufacturing and servicing in the New York area is now operating under a code of fair practices patterned after that set up for this industry under the NRA, and it is working out successfully, according to Alfred Graze, president of the Electric Sign Association of New York. Continued success of the arrangement is said in the industry to point toward the adoption of similar codes in other important centers. Under the code, which is administered by the association officials with R. V. Somerville as "impartial chairman," all union labor works a total of 35 hours a week of five days. In commenting on its adoption, Signs of the Times, leading journal of the industry, commented editorially: "In recalling more than a generation of effort to organize the sign industry for the purpose of establishing standards of practice to assure profitable operation with limited success and many failures both nation January 11, 1936 5