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FILM IN GOOD CONDITION FOR ALL THEATERS.
Trevor Faulkner.*
FILM distributing organizations are making an effort to keep film in good condition in its passage from theater to theater. Nevertheless, by the time it reaches the smaller houses its state of preservation may be exceedingly poor, a fact which cannot but prejudice the entertainment value.
The first step in remedial measures must be to decide what defects shall be styled 'poor condition.'
My own opinion is that disturbed continuity is the worst defect, and the one which is prevalent in theaters farthest removed from the first run. The second is scratched film. Like the first, it is pernicious because when it has once occurred it cannot be remedied. Then in, order come improper splices, weakened perforations, objectionable end signals and dirt and oil.
Let us consider disturbed continuity. In past years the censor boards in different states have each insisted on their own eliminations, and have often removed portions which they have failed to restore as the film passes on its journey. Now, fortunately, the producer is taking such care that the censors do not intervene.
The projectionist may be guilty in two ways. He may forget to replace film omitted to* shorten the program ; and he may purposely conceal omissions due to accidents. The remedy lies with himself.
The nuisance of bad splicing requires ventilating. The faulty splice is objectionable not only because it means breaks in the machine and because another frame must be cut out in repairing, but because a poor splice may cause the sprocket teeth to skip and ruin quite a length of film. To state the trouble is to state the remedy.
Scratched film is due almost entirely to carelessness, not only by the projectionist, but in the exchange. Film gets scratched not only by going back to the exchange but because it is going back. The projectionist who has film for an important run of some weeks treats it with scrupulous care to maintain it in condition for his own use. It is film circulating from theater to theater on short runs that get in such appalling condition. Every few days it changes hands and the responsil)ility for its condition becomes shifted. The kind of carelessness which causes damage is allowing the rollers in the
• Famous Players-Lasky Corp.
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