Motion Picture News (May-June 1921)

May 28 , I 9 2 I (Equipment Service) .^29 effect which is built around and over the picture screen and equipped with what is known as " cove " Hghting, giving a wonderfully soft eflfect. The lighting of the auditorium has been done upon the most modern plan. Large lamps are sunk into the ceiling and placed behind art glass panels. This lighting system not only lends a charming and subduing effect, but it adds a sort of artistic design to the ceiling. The main ceiling is lighted by means of six silk Japanese lanterns, qach of which is seven feet tall. The general .effect gained by looking down the large auditorium of the X'ictoria is that of a Japanese garden with large beds of lights, which seem to hover about fifteen to twent)' feet above the carpet. Another and very important feature of the new X'ictoria is the re-arrangement of the seats. The seats have now been placed to afford the greatest comfort. A full sweep of the stage and screen may be had from any seat in the house, thus causing no disadvantage to any patron of the theatre. The mezzanine floor has been done in very artistic fashion, enveloping, as it were, fancy stand lamps in four niches in the wall. This unusual arrangement gives to the mezzanine the atmosphere of an oriental castle. The ladies' and gentlemen's rooms are on this floor? The work of the ma.ster decorator is evident on all the walls of the theatre, and especially in the lobbies. The inner lobby is profusely and artistically decorated in old rose, with the lighting fixtures and shades harmonizing in every detail. 'I"he interior of the house, which is elaborately and intricately decorated, is done in a most unique treatment of gold and silk effect. It is hardly likely that a more becoming decorative scale will be found in any other theatre, for to obtain the artistic achievement of this house no expense has been spared to secure the services of the decorators whose work is conceded to be foremost. In addition to the new equipment for seating in the new Victoria, twenty new bo.xes have been installed, thus enabling theatre parties to attend the \' ictoria motion pictures in groups. The Victoria has a seating capacity of 2200 people, and until the opening of the new Stanley theatre in Philadelphia there w^as no motion picture house in that city which was as large as the Victoria in Harrisburg. One of the most serious complaints to many theatres of the old school is the poor ventilating system. Naturally, in times past, engineers had not been obliged to give much time to the ventilating of theatre buildings. With the rapid growth of the amusement industries, especially that of motion pictures, the requirements of the modern theatre building are such as to demand as perfect a ventilating system as is possible to build. In the Victoria theatre four huge fans have been installed. These fans run at a terrific rate of speed and can be operated in such a manner as to blow fresh air in from the roof or draw air out through ihc roof. The same equipment acts as a cooling system in the Sunmier time. In short, the new ventilating system keeps the air fresh, and yet a uniform temperature in the Winter time, and in the Summer time it keeps the theatre cool and refreshed. The ventilating and cooling system were furnished and installed by the Monsoon Cooling System, Inc., of New York. This installation is, perhaps, one of the most difiicult ever made by this company, owing to the limited space available for the huge Monsoons which were necessary to properly ventilate and cool the large auditorium. Although the Monsoons could not be placed in a perfectly advantageous position because of the limited space the difficulty encountered was not due to a lack of fresh air. There was enough air in abundance and it was an easy matter for Monsoons to ])ull volumes of it into the auditorium, but the problem was to get these large volumes of air evenly distributed throughout the theatre — in the orchestra, in the topmost seat in the balcony, and under the balcony on the first floor. And, most important of all, do this without any drafts. Now, when hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of air must be supplied every minute, not only to make an audience breathe comfortably but also to keep them cool enough to thoroughly enjoy an afternoon or an evening's performance in sweltering summer weather, someone he. to do some tall thinking. This same .system was so figured and installed will be possible to properly ventilate the theatre and keep the audiences comfortable in winter and not only in a mild winter but in the coldest weather possible. It was necessary to install an equipment of a No. 8 and a No. 7 Duplex Set of Monsoons. The first set, placed in the attic space above the proscenium arch, draws great quantities of air and forces it down through the grilles in the ceiling. the air supply above the balcony and blow while the No. 7 set of Monsoons take it in gently through grilles above that portion of the auditorium. A story covering the projection room and equi[)ment of the New Victoria will be presented in the Projection Department of the Niiws. Baltimore s Newest Theatre Dedicated to Public Heralded everywhere and ])ronounced by critics to be on a par with the New York Capitol or the Metropolitan in Washington, Baltimore's newest temple of the silent drama has been dedicated to the public. The opening was marked by a special showing of " Deception " to an ultra-exclusive audience who gained admittance on card only. Invites to the affair were at a premium. Many New Yorkers and visitors from other states visited Baltimore especially to attend. .\lbert C. Ritchie, Governor of Maryland ; William F. Broening, Mayor of Baltimore, and Norman Clark, dramatic critic of the Baltimore News, delivered addresses. Needless to say, Charles E. Whitehurst and his as.sociates who undertook to give the Monumental City its last word in motion picture theatres, were justly proud. Girl ushers clad in silk breeches attracted much attention and ])roved as interesting as some of the mural paintings of R. MacGill Mackall. Opened with " The Star-.Spangled Banner," played by a 30piece orchestra directed by E. V. Cupero, the program got under wa\' splendidly. Mr. Cupero responded with Hosmer's " Southern Rhapsody." Then a bit of "■.'\ida " was offered by Warren M. Wilplaine and Helen MacNier Marshall of the ^Metropolitan Opera Company, who were costumed for the i)arts. Lobby of uezv Victoria theatre, Harrisburg. Pa.