Motion Picture Herald (1953)

MARKS SCHEME WOULD ABOLISH THE SCREEN by MARTIN QUIGLEY. JR. TF the current revolution of the screen should ever “go all the way” and abolish the screen itself, Alvin M. Marks of Whitestone, Long Island, may be the one responsible. Mr. Marks would substitute for the screen as it has been known since the beginning an area with depth. Into this area “real” images would be “projected” by electronic means. Such pictures would occupy their proper locations in space over an area in depth of 15 or 20 feet which includes most of the range of maximum 3-D effect. Objects at distances beyond that would all be “projected” on the last plane of the screen area. Actually Exist in Space Since these images would actually exist in space and would not be merely pictures thrown on a flat or curved screen no glasses or other viewing aid would be required for the perception of depth. Spectators would see a scene much as it is in nature. Lest there be any rush to seek to acquire electronic projection, Mr. Marks predicts that it would take several million dollars and five years of time to develop the system. At present he is busy 16 hours a day overseeing production of polarizing viewers which will be introduced to the theatre market in May under the sponsorship of Matthew Lox. On the other hand Mr. Marks’ electronic 3-D system is not to be simply dismissed as some dreamer’s vision. Whether the motion picture ever would need a costly and as elaborate system as Mr. Marks has set down in his basic patent No. 2543793 (applied for in 1946 and granted in 1951) is debatable. If it does, it is likely that Mr. Marks’ system will have definite application. Authority on Radar “My project would be no tougher to develop than radar was,” Mr. Marks commented. So far as radar is concerned, he is an authority because during World War II he served as liaison officer with the office of Naval Research Patent Division on secret radar developments. His “Three Dimensional Intercommunication System” has more in common with radar and television than with traditional motion picture practices. Mr. Marks’ development of the complex electronic projection system climaxed two decades of interest in the problem of 3-D pictures. When still in Brooklyn Technical High School in New York, Mr. Marks began to work summers and at odd times Tor a family friend, John A. Inslee, of the Steadylite Motion Picture Machine Company, then at 39 Broadway. In the period from 1925 to 1929 that company was trying tcr-develop a commercially practical continuous motion picture projector. ALVIN M. MARKS, inventor and research scientist, and president of the Poiaiite and Depix companies, with Arthur Bodkins, his assistant, at the Whitestone, New York, plant. In connection with this work Mr. Marks worked out an improved optical system. x\fter calculating that it would cost $288,000 to produce a good polarizing screen a foot square out of Nicol prisms, he set about seeking other methods of polarizing light. About 1928 he started investigating polarizers. By 1933 he had achieved reasonable success in putting a continuous crystalline film on glass under surface tension. He said, “I was the first to produce continuous crystalline polarizing film on a transparent surface.” A patent on the method was issued to him in 1938. Interest in Polarizers The great interest in polarizers following the success of “Bwana Devil” and the shortage of glasses brought a rush of visitors this winter to the small one-story laboratory of Mr. Marks’ Poiaiite Corporation at 153-16 Tenth Avenue, Whitestone, Long Island. As Mr. Marks said, “Lifteen people a day kept coming in.” He formed the Depix Corporation to make 3-D viewers. The m.an who came away with a contract in February, 1953, was Mr. Fox. Mr. Marks agreed to sell his glasses through Mr. Fox’s Commercial International Corporation. They are distributed to theatres by . National Film Service. In his electronic 3-D system the images v^uld be “projected” by two pcojectors set' at an angle of 45 degrees from the “screen.” The screen area would include a series of ' transparent plastic layers running back to a depth of 15 or 20 feet. '■ 4 An electronic picture would bL scanned onto the screen area producing a “solid” picture in space. In each plastic layer there would be located a multitude of tiny dipoles which would be made opaque or transparent by the Herald by an electrical impulse. The pictures, of course, would be in color. Regarding the more conventional 3-D projection Mr. Marks believes that certain of his inventions will help overcome the light and heat problems. He has one system of polarization that he claims cuts down the light loss from roughly 50 per cent to some 20 per cent. He also says that he has polarizers that can withstand heat up to 700 degrees without deterioration. Nine Circuits to Get RCA 3-D Equipment CAMDEN, N. J.: Radio Corp. of America is supplying complete 3-D projection and stereophonic sound equipment to nine theatre circuits planning early three-dimensional film premieres, it was disclosed by J. F. O’Brien, manager of the theatre equipment section of the RCA Victor Division. According to present plans, the circuits expect to have approximately 20 installations under way ne.xt month. Several have announced 3-D bookings beginning about April 15. The circuits getting the equipment for some of their theatres were listed as follows: Chakeres Theatres, Inc.; Fabian Theatres; Fox Intermountain Theatres, Inc.; Interstate Circuit Inc. and Texas Consolidated Theatres, Inc.; James Coston circuit; RKO Theatres Corp.; Standard Theatres Management Corp?; Stanley Warner; and William Goldman Theatres, Inc. FCC Sets Competitive Hearing on TV License WASHINGTON : A competitive hearing on conflicting applications for a Denver television channel has been scheduled by the Federal Communications Commission for April 23. A commission hearing examiner recommended that the channel go to Aladdin Radio and Television, Inc., controlled by Frank H. Ricketson, Harry E. Huffman and Ted Gamble. The Denver Television Co., controlled by Denver exhibitor John Wolfberg and actor James Stewart, has filed an appeal. Since this is the first hearing of its type the FCC must set down policy guides for the conduct of the hearing. United Artists Adds "Phantom from Space" “Phantom from Space,” a science-fiction story produced and directed by W. Lee Wilder, has been added to United Artists’ April-May releases. It joins “Rough Shoot,” “The Assassin,” “Raiders of the Seven Seas,” “That Man From Tangier,” and the 'reissue bill of “Love Happy” and “Africa Screams” for release during that period. Its release date is May 15. “Rough Shoot,” originally scheduled for that date, will go into distribution May 22. Open Phoenix Drive-In J. B. McCormick, Jr., Wade F. Allen and Weldon Girard have opened the 550-car, 400-seat, Rodeo Drive-In, Phoenix. 26 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL II, 1953