Warners

Snidet Circuit Opens New Elmwood,
hOOO-Seat Theatre in Providence
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.^iMt OF THE BARBARY COAST^
EVES
I COHT FROM 630 PM SUN I PM
III
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pictures, changing twice weekly, at popular
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PROVIDENCE — The Elmwood Theatre,
DRiVE-IN THEATRE MFG. mounted flask for the occasion.
new 1.000-seater located in the fast-growing
Elmwood neighborhood, was opened Wednesday
prices.
Alfred Tierney, former manager of the
afternoon last week (1) by the Ralph E. Park in Cranston, will manage the Elmwood.
Snider Enterprises, which will operate it on a He started about five years ago with the
long-term lease. The opening, originally Snider circuit as an usher.
scheduled for last Thanksgiving, was held up
by shortages of material, mostly steel.
William Nelson Jacobs Associates of Boston
were the architects.
The theatre boasts one of the largest marquees
in Rhode Island, 46'i:x4 feet and projecting
over the sidewalk eight feet from the
building. It was constructed by the University
Sign Co., Cambridge, Mass.
The secret of Jane Wyman's success as an
actress is that she does not act her parts but
lives them.
The red brick building has a mottled red
marble front, with three 4x3-foot display
cases, each chrome-trimmed like the interior
boxoffice. Four glass doors, also chrometrimmed,
open into the outer lobby which
features red Vermont marble walls and tile
floors, the latter covered with non-skid rubber
matting. Alexander Smith Crestwood
brown and gray carpeting covers the inner
lobby floor, and Weldwood sepia panels line
the walls.
Extending from the door to the manager's
office is the refreshment stand, equipped with
a Pronto popcorn warmer. Hire's root beer
fountain and a Kelvinator freezer for stocking
ice cream.
A stainless steel partition, corrugated on
one side and lined with blue plush draperies
on the inner side, separates the main auditorium
from the inner lobby. The theatre has
1.000 Heywood-Wakefield Encore seats, all on
one floor, there being no balcony or mezzanine.
Drapes are of blue and red plush, which
part to lay open a vinyl plastic screen. The
SAND
sound
FROM IVVO JIMA—"Sands of
is Westinghouse and air conditioning
Iwo Jima," which attracted long
is York.
sidewalk
Strong projectors and lenses are
lines right through its second
used. Varicolored
week at
indirect lighting is offered.
the
The
Paramount in Springfield,
large restrooms
was given
offer lounge chairs.
Maloney
a royal sendoff
& Rubien
by campaign sparked
Co. of Providence was
by
the general contractor. Tile and
Manager Ed Smith. One popular stunt
terrazo are
used in the
that got big
outer lobby and
newspaper play
for trimmings.
was the
The Elmwood presentation of
will feature 30-day sequence
a flask of Iwo Jima sand
to the Springfield marine reserve. In
the above picture are, left to right, chief
warrant officers Alphonese W. Gallo and
DRIVE-IN THEATRE
Richard A. Ruppert, Manager Smith and
New 40" Double Face Entrance or Exit Lioht
Capt. Herbert E. Ing. The sand was
placed in a specially designed and
Also available in single face
Home-Made Color Set
No News to Film Men
NEW YORK—A 27-year-old New Jersey
electrician has created a
furor by succeeding
in building a color adapter to his black-andwhite
telev;sion set out of spare parts and
at a cash outlay of only 30 cents. The news,
which got a lot of newspaper attention, verified
a prediction made to BOXOFFICE over
three months ago by Boyce Nemec, executive
secretary of the Society of Motion Pictiu'e
and Television Engineers, that smart amateur
technicians would be able to duplicate
the mechanical color equipment of the Columbia
Broadcasting System. It also recalled
an experiment by Nate Fleischer, cartoonist,
years ago.
TRUMAN HAS ONE, TOO
The electrician is Forrest Killy of Roselle,
N. J., who now possibly becomes the only person
in the country besides President Truman
to receive color television programs in the
home for private entertainment. Other color
receivers, so far as known, are only m the
homes of the seven mem.bers of the Federal
Communications commission, who are testing
the CBS method of transmission and reception,
and at some experimental stations.
But while most of the country was impressed
with Killy's ingenuity, veterans in the motion
picture industry recalled a demonstration put
on in the 20s by Fleischer, then a maker of
many popular cartoons. He called the tradepress
in to see experiments he was making
with cartoon sets having depth, perspective
and color. His color process involved a color
wheel. The CBS method employs a color
wheel.
Killy, who has done a lot of radio and
television tinkering, read a description of the
CBS process and went to work. He spent 30
cents on red, blue and green cellophane, cut
into pie-shaped strips and glued them with
it
colors alternating on a wrheel. This he operated
with an old phonograph motor which
he had rewired for greater speed, and he
connected the motor to the oscillator in his
black-and-white set. He then mastered the
difficult problem of getting the proper number
of revolutions so that the colors would be
mixed into a true pictm-e. He may have to
master a further problem of lubrication so
that the number of revolutions won't be
affected by wear. His black-and-white set
has a ten-inch tube. His color picture is
about six inches square.
SAYS IT'S PRACTICAL
CBS says Killy has proved that its system
is simple and practical. The RCA method,
which is competing with CBS for FCC approval,
is electronic and the company has
claimed that the pubUc will not accept anything
with moving parts.
Probably neither CBS, RCA nor Killy know
that Nate Fleischer got the idea of a color
wheel years ago. And maybe others before
him. But the story of Killy's success is sure
to inspire other amateurs to experiment with
color television.
Richard Maibaum Signed
Richard Maibaum has been signed to take
over the production chores for Paramount's
"Dear Mom."
Order your taxation trailers today!
':3
BOXOFFICE February 11, 1950