Boxoffice-11.11.1950

. . Mrs.
. . Roy
. . W.
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^
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,
Trans-Color Co. Begins Production
Of New Type Convex Film Screen
KINGS MOUNTAIN, N. C—The Trans-
Color Screen Co. has started production at
its plant hM-e of a new type polarized convex
screen invented by Otto Hehn, president
of the company.
Other officers of the company are J. G.
Darracott. vice-president and general manager:
F. R. McCurdy. production manager
and W. R. Craig jr., sales manager.
Tlie new screen will be exhibited at the convention
of the Theatre Owners of North and
South Carolina in Charlotte November 19, 20.
The screen, according to Hehn. is designed
to overcome defects in light and sound in
projection with older type screens. He said
the screen polarizes the light, and has a
side illumination rating equal to the center;
it eliminates side glare and distortion, making
side seats as desirable as those in center,
and distributes sound evenly over the house.
The convex screen also has advantages for
drive-ins, he said, among which he listed:
Quick, easy installation. Mounting can be
accomplished with three telephone poles.
Weighing only 350 pounds, it can be raised
or lowered at will. It can be put up in
three and one-half hours.
Economic upkeep. It requires only infrequent
painting, not more than once in every
five
years.
In addition, Hehn said, ramps can be built
closer to the convex screen than the present
concave ones, thus saving on drive-in space,
an important consideration in metropolitan
areas.
Among first installations is the Cameo
Theatre, a Sidney Lu.st house at Mount
Ranier, Va.
Tlie story of the invention of the screen
covers some 35 years and dates from the
day Hehn received his degree from Foote
college, now California Tech, in Los Angeles.
"I bought a little mirror in a five and
ten cent store," he said. "It was a new idea.
MONARCH
THEATRE SUPPLY, Inc.
492 So. S
Memphis
:ond St.
Tenn.
NOW BOOKING
HALLMARK
M -^m
t^^
OTTO HEHN
Science. Twelve and one-half years later
he had a clue. He knew where to begin.
But Germany had been watching him closely.
Hitler had come to power and the Nazis called
him to Berlin.
"They wanted my formula," he said. "They
offered me German citizenship for my ideas
and a television set I have perfected. But
I turned them down. I expect I was too
abrupt with them. They kept me in concentration
camps for 15 V= months before the
American consul found out about it and
PRODUCTIONS. INC
MOM AND DAD'
PRINCE OF PEACE'
DEVIL'S
Box 2054 DeSofo Station
Memphis and New Orleans Territory Write
L. H. (Lew) Andrews
WEED
Memphis, Tenn.
had me released. The consul was John
Potter, a Hickory man." Hehn came back
to America, but it took ten more years to
iron all the kinks and wrinkles out of his
screen. Meantime he invented a new type
of concave screen.
The new screen is made of fiber glass
with Duraluminum frame and masking
frame. It was constructed in Hehn's own
factory in Kings Mountain. Because it is
convex in shape, the same as the human
eye. Hehn says it gives the motion pictures
a third dimensional quality.
His other inventions include a television
.set and an electric automobile. His TV set,
|
he says, would have a very large screen and
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could be made to sell for $100.
MEMPHIS
pred Brown, theatre owner in Memphis and
the midsouth, was home from a deer hunt
in Colorado where he killed a big buck. He
owns theatres here, in Prescott and Fort
Smith, Ark. . Louise McCann is the
assistant bookkeeper at Exhibitors Services,
replacing Mrs. Wildean Wyatt who resigned
to move to Jacksonville, Fla. . . . Mrs. Nancy
I
Finch, inspector at 20th-Fox, underwent a
,
major operation at St. Jo.seph's hospital and
was recovering.
.
I
a convex mirror. I noticed that the mirror
seemed to make straight lines crooked and
crooked lines straight. I thought, 'Why not
Robert
versal, was
Wilkinson,
back from
branch
a vacation
manager.
. . .
Uni-
Warner
exchange has much interest in the draft
a convex movie screen.' It would eliminate
distortion. I started my research and read
nowadays. Bob Pedretty, apprentice booker,
a German authority on optics. I thought I
took his physical November 8 and Charles
would have to go to Europe to study."
Elgin, second booker, had his physical October
And Hehn, who was born in Bucharest,
31 . . . L. W. McClintock, branch man-
Romania, did go to Europe. It was in 1917 ager. Paramount, was in Dallas attending a
and he wore the uniform of the American sales meeting . . . Joe Thorp is the assistant
army. He was in the 19th division transportation
shipper at 20th-Fox. replacing Sherron Hopterpreter
corps, but later became an inper,
who resigned.
for President Wilson. Wlien the
war ended, he went to Paris and became one
of the founders of the American Legion.
He returned to the United States, but soon
went back to Europe when he found no way
to continue his research here. He studied
in the Institute of Motion Pictures and
shopping on Filmrow Dillard, Lil-
.
burn. Warden, Mo., was here on business.
J. C. Brents, Joyce, Senatobia; L. B. Bays,
Grenada. Grenada: Howard Langford, Folly,
Marks: Jack Watson, Palace, Tunica: Fred i
Crawford, Ashland, Ashland, and Charles
I
Shivley, Skylark Drive-In, Clarksdale, were
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among the Mississippi exhibitors visiting and
David Flexer. head of Plexer Theatres, Inc., 1
has returned from the TOA convention at
Houston ... A burglar got away with $300 in
receipts from Idlewild Theatre here after the
boxoffice was closed. A window to the office
was jammed and the money taken from a
cash box in tlie office filing cabinet. Chalmers
Cullins, Nate Evans and Edward O. Cullins
are associated in the Idlewild . F.
Ruffin sr., of Ruffin Amusements Co, has
opened the new Sunset Drive-In at Martin.
Tenn.
Exhibitors from west Tennessee seen on
Filmrow included Louise Mask. Luez. Boli-
,
var: J. A. Petty, Wayne. Waynesboro; Amelia
Ellis. Mason, Mason: W. A. Peel, Rutherford,]
Rutherford: Aubrey Webb, Webb, Ripley, and
Hobert Goff. Rustic. Parsons.
'•»•
TRI-STATE
THEATRE SUPPLY
320 S. Second St..
MEMPHIS
TENN.
Projectors and
Sound Systems
72
BOXOFFICE November 11, 1950