The Moving picture world (January 1926-February 1926)

274 MOVING PICTURE WORLD January 16. 1926 and circuit breakers, distributes the current from the powerhouse to every portion of the studio property. In the Educational Studio we have abandoned the practice of building our "flats" from wallboard or compo-board. We have found that it is cheaper in the end to build for permanence. Every flat made is constructed of three-ply lumber, cross-braced until it is rigid. These flats are made in standard uniform sizes and are used over and over. They are practically indestructible. Although their first cost is much higher than wall-board flats, they are, in the end, most economical. Added to this they are perfectly rigid, which prevents them from swaying during the photographing of scenes. The new stage buildings themselves are built with an eye to efficiency. New stage buildings numbers 3 and 4 have the stage floors fourteen feet above the ground with the lower floor devoted to storage rooms for special mechanical props, a garage for the company busses and a very complete storage room for motor accessories where we have every thing from a cotter pin to an eight cylinder motor. The fronts of these stage buildings are made to do double duty. Instead of the blank sides generally found on such buildings we have erected these with windows so that the building itself may be used as an apartment or office building front. The street level consists of store windows and a practical sidewalk which obviates the necessity of securing permits to work in downtown locations with all the attendant annoyance of the curious crowds. The elevated stages are also useful in another manner. By cutting through the floor, entrances from stairways, elevators, trapdoors, etc., can be made without the labor of digging pits under the stage which is the case when ground-level stages are used. The plate-glass windows on the ground floor when not used in production, are protected by heavy woven wire screens. The property and furniture rooms newly erected, contain practically everything needed in comedy production. To insure against loss of valuable production time, and against loss of the "props" themselves, every article is numbered, facilitating storage, tracing and inventory. Every piece is carried on the books by number from the time it enters the studio until it comes to its end in the incinerator. Connected with the carpenter shop is the special prop room, where special and unique SPECIAL ROLL TICKETS Your own aptcUl Tlcktt. any colors, locunielj numbered; cTerr roll ffuaru)te«d. Coupon Tlckett for Prlie dnwlngi; 5,000 for $7.00. Prompt ihlpmeoti. Cub with thf order. Get the Bend I icrim for Beierred ^ Seat Coupon Tie. tU. serial or dated. All tickets must conform to Oovemment regulation and bear eatabllihed of admission and tax paid. SPECIAL TICKET PRICES Fhr* Tbotuand $S.St T«B Thousand CM FVtwD Thoumand 7.M Tweoty-five Thoiifnd f.W FUtr Tbouauid UJS» Om Hundred Thousaod 1S.00 National Ticket Co. Shamokin, P«. props used in comedy production are made. This room is equipped with a drill press and a lathe, which have paid for themselves many times over in rapid construction of some unique and unpurchaseable bit of props or studio equipment. The blacksmith and machine shop is complete with every device for working in iron or steel. Most useful is the oxy-acetylene torch used for both cutting and welding. With its aid working in metal becomes almost as easy and as rapid as working with soft wood. An example of the benefit of this machine shop is the revolving head, used in trick camera work. This head, which carries a regulation Bell & Howell camera, can be turned over and over. A small motor cranks the camera. Through the use of this special head we have been able to secure comedy shots otherwise impossible to obtain. Another bit of equipment — a rolling stage — is indispensable around a comedy studio. This stage is erected on rollers on which rests the outer rim of the entire stage. Proper man power applied to the stage gives it a very realistic roll, useful in taking ship interior scenes or in many other situations which arise in comedy making. Colonial Theatres To Build a Big One BRISTOL, Connecticut, is going to have a new theatre and one that the city, as well as the builders, can be proud of. D. A. Peters, A. H. Lockwood and Lewis M. Gordon, the three able showmen behind Colonial Theatres, Inc., have purchased a site on Main Street, in the city mentioned, and have begun plans which will end up by giving Bristol the most modern 1,800-seat theatre in the country.' Equipment is to be of the highest quality — the design is to pay particular attention to lighting, ventilation, heating, acoustics and patrons' seating comfort. The astute showmen behind the new project have determined to leave nothing out that will contribute to the best surroundings in which to show motion pictures. The company's other theatres, the Bristol and the Princess, which will both continue to operate, demonstrate the ability of Messrs. Peters, Lockwood and Gordon to make motion pictures one of Bristol's institutions. Fox N. Y. Exchange Chucks Out "Bad Reel" to Protect Prints IN THE COURSE of re-organization of the Film Department, Mr. John Weinberg was installed as supervisor, with instructions to do whatever in his opinion would perfect the service and ensure absolutely perfect prints to Fox exhibitors. Mr. H. H. Buxbaum, New York Fox Exchange Manager, says : "After going very carefully into the matter, we decided not to use any reels unless they were absolutely new. The ordinary life of a reel with good handling on the part of the expressmen and operators should be about twenty days, but both the improper handling of reels in cases by expressmen and the careless handling by operators tends to lessen this time by at least half. The reel should be spread apart by the operator before it is inserted into the magazine. Operators are inclined to put the reel into the magazine and spread it apart at the same time, which makes the reel bulky and in most cases film catches against the door of the magazine, and we find that both film and reel have been damaged. "We have come to a point now where between 1,500 and 1,800 reels are discarded yearly, as they cannot be repaired to give the kind of service which we are striving for. Our instructions from the Home Office are to spare no expense in our Film Department that will enable us to offer to our exhibitors film that is in first-class condition. "Our exhibitors seem very well pleased with the condition in which our prints are going out to them, and we have reduced the number of complaints until they average never more than one a week, and sometimes none at all." Clarks Building MR. AND MRS. CLARK BROWN are building the new Roosevelt Theatre in Jamestown, N. Y. They have ordered two Powers projecting machines, two Powerlite low intensity lamps and a Dalite screen from the Becker Theatre Supply Company of Buffalo. Becker is installing two Simplex machines in the new Kenmore Theatre, Kenmore, N. Y., and two of the same brand in the Thurston Theatre, Rochester. Busy Builders These; Coast Will Benefit THE CONSTRUCTION work will start next month on the beautiful Hollywood theatre to be built for Warner Bros, at a cost of $2,000,000. This theatre will seat 3,600 persons and will be located in the heart of Hollywood. Instead of being a four story structure as originally planned the new theatre will be six stories in height. Fred Miller and Lou Bard will build a new theatre in Hollywood to cost $500,000 and seat 2,500 persons. The building will be constructed by Ralph B. Lloyd with the Far West Theatres taking a twenty five year lease on the structure. Another new theatre is to be built in Hollywood on North Vermont avenue by Bouttier Bros, at a cost of $250,000.