Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1943)

October 9, 1943 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW 31 Jungle Projection Booths Bring Movies To Natives BritishMakeEJucational Films For African Showing in Effort To Teach Illiterates Hygienics The motion picture technicians of Great Britain have solved a big colonial question mark which is starting on an educational basis. South African jungles have become the proving ground and great strides are being made. The basic problem is the education of the jungle tribes, largely illiterate, in matters of hygiene and better living. Traveling vans have been used successfully but the great distances involved reduced the effectiveness of this medium of motion picture projection as showing could only be held in the open at night with the time element cutting screenings to a semi-annual event. The new plan involves the construction of projection huts described in Kinematograph Weekly. Each hut is of circular adobe walls with a conical thatched roof which projects over the walls. Two wings flare out at angles from the front creating a shadow box for the FOR YOUR SHOWMEN'S OPERATION SECTION EJECTING A PATRON ... Responsibility rests upon the theatre for any injury suffered by a patron being forcibly ejected from a theatre. This applies even in the event that a "stooge," who is not on the regular payroll, does the bouncing. Therefore it is most important that everyone around the theatre be made to understand the legal consequences involved in handling people regardless of the circumstances. Ushers should be instructed to patrol the aisles frequently to quiet disturbances before they gain headway. If an obstreperous youth must be put out as an object lesson to other rowdies it should be done with firmness but without roughness and bodily harm. Those who help about the theatre but lack training in the art of handling patrons often become over-zealous in seeing their duty and doing it. Court records bristle with object lessons that remind managers of the importance of good staff training and close supervision. One case of record shows a youth evicted by a stooge being pushed into a plate glass door with crashing glass and severe cuts plus a law suit against the theatre resulting. translucent screen which is transported with the film. By means of interior rear projection films can be shown to groups of about 300 in daylight and the cost of constructing one hut is about 80 cents in American money. Building requires but two or three days with native labor and it is expected that these huts will eventually form the nucleus for community halls for the more advanced presentation of motion pictures. Due to the many tribal dialects it is impractical at present to show talking film and to surmount this problem natives are being brought to London, trained to speak English and pre pare translations of the scripts in their own tribal dialects. These natives then return as commentators to describe the films. Films are produced with the greatest of simplicity and the teaching process is an extremely tedious affair. Pictures include showings of Nigeria's first pilot-ofiicer, an African girl who has become a nurse, life in England's homes, an African seaman's meeting in London, an African at his loom being seized with pain and the treatment of his illness. Handling of the films in this humid climate requires much care and the common practice is to wrap the reels in dry newspapers and carry them in the middle of a suitcase packed with clothing. The paper must be removed frequently and dried. Perseverance is helping to solve the many problems of bringing movies to the jungle folk and in their education lies a broad field of progress for the jungle people of Africa. How Long Will Your Projectors Last? Will they outlast the present emergency? They will if they're Motiographs, for as dealers tell exhibitors, "you can't wear them out!" But all equipment, no matter how good, requires occasional servicing. That's where your Motiograph Dealer enters the picture. He's been long trained in servicing all kinds of fine equipment — not alone projectors and sound systems, for he has been selected as representative for other leading equipment manufacturers, as well as Motiograph. Remember, it is a requirement that your Motiograph Dealer be the best dealer in town. MOTIOGRAPH ESTABLISHED 1896 4431 West Lake Street • Chicago, Illinois