Motion Picture Herald (1954)

V istaV ision s Horizontal for NOVEMBER 1954 GEORGE SCHUTZ, Editor Projection EDITORIAL INDEX: Page THE REMODELED PLAZA IN BURLINGTON, WIS.: A STORY OF SMALL TOWN OPERATION 14 TWO DRIVE-INS EXPLOITING FOLKLORE AND WIDE-SCREEN PRESENTATION: El Rancho, Kent, Wash.; Jolly Roger at Detroit 18 BETTER PROJECTION department: DATA FOR SIZING PICTURE WITH ANY PROJECTION SYSTEM, by Gio Gagliardi 22 VISTAVISDON HORIZONTAL PROJECTION 32 ■ ■ ■ METHOD IN MANAGEMENT department: WHAT A MANAGER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THEATRE ARCHITECTURE, by Curtis Mees, Twenty-First Article of a Series on Motion Picture Theatre Management 65 CHARLIE JONES: Gone Are the Days; or, What Made Willie Hum 67 THE BUYERS INDEX ■ ■ ■ TESMA TEDA TOA IPA TRADE SHOW DIRECTORY ABOUT PRODUCTS 57 ■ ■ ■ ABOUT PEOPLE OF THE THEATRE 8 is published the first week of the month, with each regular monthly issued as a bound-in section of Motion Picture Herald; and in an annual edition, the Market Guide Number, which is published under its own covers in March as Section Two of the Herald. QUIGLEY PUBLICATIONS, Rockefeller Center, New York 20, N. Y.. Circle 7-3100. RAY GALLO, Advertising Manager. HOLLYWOOD: Yucca-Vine Building; HOIlywood 7-2145. MIDWEST: Urben Farley & Company, 120 S. LaSalle Street, Chicago; Financial 6-3074. IT WAS hardly necessary for Paramount to assure theatre operators that there is no intention to make horizontal projection of VistaVision productions regular practice. Industry economics alone provide enough of an obstacle to that. The installation for the premiere of "White Christmas" at Radio City Music Hall seemed justified by the size of that house and the quality of image achieved appeared to us to reward the energy and ingenuity that made it workable in so short a time. The method has been adopted as well for the West Coast premiere of "White Christmas" at the Warner theatre in Beverly Hills. Whatever the practical considerations, the idea of printing the long way of the film to obtain a larger photograph for projection is interesting in its possibilities. Projecting such a print horizontally has proved practicable enough, even with equipment hastily got up. If a frame approaching twice the width of a standard print photograph is the best way to effect wide-screen presentation, then a longitudinal print with horizontal projection has certain recommendations. For one, the film is under tension the long way of the frame, which reduces if it doesn't entirely eliminate the buckling problem. That problem can be dealt with in a process using 70mm film by having a curved aperture; this, of course, would require special optical provisions. The other factor in wide-film technique, that of double film weight, does not apply to printing the long way of the film, the stock being doubled only in footage. Another interesting feature of the longitudinal print is the space it provides for more than one sound track. More than enough area is available for another full 100-mil optical track, and a third seems possible with some small adjustment of frame dimensions. And with the film traveling at twice standard speed, the frequency range, with attendant reduction of noise pickup, would go to around 15,000 at the high end, which has been the hope of sound engineers for many years. This method of which VistaVision has given us a sample is something very extra special today. But is it to be ruled out of prospects for the future? — G.S.