Motion Picture Herald (1954)

see that the front lobby displays have been returned to their proper position after the cleaning crew is through with their work. Picking up and depositing mail is part of his routine, perhaps stopping off at the bank to pick up deposit slips and get the nickels and dimes which were overlooked as necessary change for the cashier. Of course the porter’s primary responsibility is to see that the theatre remains in good, clean condition throughout the day. He should check the lobby about once an hour to pick up loose papers, etc., and to remove accumulations of cigarette butts from the sand trays distributed throughout the theatre to receive them. The rest rooms naturally require constant checking. Occasionally he should police the entire theatre. Frequently the pickup and delivery of film falls on the porter, where facilities are so arranged as to make that practicable. And the porter in numerous instances has been known to do much of the outside billboard posting, window card sniping, etc. Where separate colored balconies exist for members of his race, the colored porter usually relieves the doorman and handles sales of refreshments in emergencies requiring additional help. Remembering that the porter is seen by many different people all over your city during the course of the day, the advisability of having him neatly uniformed is readily understood. He is a hard working member of your active public relations team and for that reason should be kept posted on picture playdates and little items of general interest useful to him as he goes about his work. Because of the fact that everyone in the theatre at one time or another during the day desires his services for an errand or some similar matter, it is desirable that before leaving the theatre he always contact the assistant manager and receive approval for his absence. The perfect porters can top off their week’s work by taking care of one last detail — but an important one — the marquee change. They can make up, change the letters and keep charge of the letter room, which requires thorough attention to detail. Working with the copy in advance so as to have all letters ready before taking the ladders and letters out front on change night, the porters can effect a change in time for the manager’s inspection before he calls it a day and heads wearily homeward. CLEANING SUPPLIES: One of the heaviest monthly expenditures in the theatre can be in the cleaning department if the matter of supplies and their requisitioning is not carefully dealt with. The cleaning supervisor or chief janitor should make out a monthly summary of all expendable supplies currently on hand together with a suggested list for requisitioning of anticipated needs for the next thirty days. This should be carefully checked by the manager to insure ordering only the quantities actually needed and to keep track of those materials on hand and to be received. “Leakage,” or the disappearance of unusual quantities of expendable materials and supplies which cannot be accounted for, can become a serious problem if not checked at the first sign. In the first place, the supervisor should check departing cleaning personnel, inspecting any packages or bundles which might contain theatre property. Secondly, he alone should be charged with responsibility for the storage room where cleaning supplies are kept, parceling them out daily or weekly as needed by each of the cleaning crews. At the same time, he can help economize by seeing that these supplies are carefully used in the proper quantities and that they are not left where others might have access to them for petty theft. Maintenance Dictionary Ending a Series Begun in February, 1954 VENTILATING SYSTEMS— For theatres using ventilating systems which consist of fans or blowers, with possibly an air washer, rather than a central cooling plant and duct system, there are these factors to be borne in mind: Fans (or Blowers) : Oil and grease motor and shafts of fans. Tighten or replace fan belts as required by wear or slippage. Check fan bearings for necessary replacement. Balance fan blades as required. Filters: Replace when stopped up by dirt beyond 70% operating efficiency; or wash out permanent type filters as they become encrusted with dust and dirt. w WALLS, INTERIOR— Plaster: Walls which have been plastered, or stuccoed, require painting and occasional cleaning. It should be remembered that plaster is impregnated with acids which come to life when moisture penetrates to the interior. This is the reason we sometimes find plaster flaking off, or paint pealing off plaster walls, where leaks from the outside permit rain to soak through. The cure lies first in sealing the leak, after which the bad spot must be re-plastered, then painted. Wallboards: The newer wood veneers and plastic-finished materials have made it easy and relatively inexpensive to give old walls an entirely different appearance. Furthermore, they reduce maintenance to a minimum. The plasticfinish materials — for example, Marlite — include types surfaced with real wood, which is given a hard plastic finish. Other types provide solid colors and marble patterns. They can be wiped clean with a swipe of a damp cloth. Wallboards made of wood waste, asbestos, etc., are not usually regarded as sufficiently decorative in themselves for theatre interiors, although they may be employed for dry construction, then painted. Maintenance of such surface is comparable to that of painted plaster walls. • WATERPROOFING — Frequently we find that basement walls and floors, as well as roofing, requires some form of waterproofing. Today there are means of stopping this even against strong hydrostatic pressure. The principle, in several different types available, is to mix a special preparation with common cement and apply it to the interior wall (for example, “Stontite,” which is an instantaneous waterproofing liquid to be mixed with cement and sand). Special compounds are available for waterproofing roofs, marquees, etc. • WIDE-SCREEN LIGHT ( Continued from page 36) tor given in the last column of the chart. For example, if your own theatre presently has a 50-foot picture with standard projection on a white screen, and you wish to determine the width of matte white screen that can be illuminated to the present level of brightness with a VistaVision anamorphic system, simply take the present standard picture width and multiply it by the width factor ratio of 1.18, from the chart. The resultant width in this example would be 59 feet. The illusion of living presence, the sole advantage of all the new screen techniques, can only be realized with an increase of screen width of from 1.75-to two times over that heretofore employed for standard projection. Accordingly it is readily evident that most theatres will require the most modern and powerful projection arcs in order to meet the requirements of a sufficiently increased screen width for proper presentation of all wide screen techniques. ■ The F & Y Building Service is the outstanding agency in Theatre Design and Construction in Ohio and surrounding territory. THE F & Y BUILDING SERVICE 319 East Town Street Columbus 15, Ohio “ The Buildings We Build Build Our Business” 40 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, OCTOBER 2, 1954