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million feet a year – enough to prepare more than 2000
prints of feature films, the average length of which is 6500
feet.

All of the Technicolor plants are working triple shifts, and
thirty special Technicolor cameras, operated by trained
crews, are rushed from studio to studio and kept grinding
night and day.
This sudden demand for colour pictures is a direct
outcome of the great success of the talkies, which, began
in 1927 as a desperate experiment by a producer who was
in financial straits, are now presented in 12,000 of the
20,000 moving picture theatres in the country. Sound
pictures, it is claimed have added more than 10 million
persons to the weekly cinema audiences of the United A two-color Technicolor print
States and increased receipts 35 to 40 per cent.
But sound did more than that. It answered the old question: What it wrong with the movies? It
was this: the public was tired of the silent films. The saturation point had been reached; the
industry was stagnant. It needed a new and vivid element of appealing interest.

This is the lesson the producers have taken to heart. They are not to be caught napping again. And
there is sound reason for this watchfulness, as, according to statistics recently compiled by the
International Labour Bureau, at Geneva, Switzerland, 4,000,000,000 dollars is invested
throughout the world in the moving picture industry. Of this staggering sum, half belongs to
American concerns.

Movie men, therefore, are eager to add to their bag of tricks any potentially successful new
development. Recently there have been other revolutionary innovations aside from colour. One
of these is the greatly enlarged picture, taken on wide film and projected on a huge screen. This
was introduced to New York a few weeks ago. when the Roxy Theatre gave the first showing of
“Happy Days” a so-called “Grandeur” production made by the Fox Film Corporation.
Photographed on film 70 millimetres wide, twice the standard width, this giant photoplay was
flashed on a screen 42 ft. wide, filling the entire breadth of the Roxy stage. The ordinary screen
is 24 ft. wide and 18 ft. high. Grandeur films add 25 per cent to the height of the picture.
Producers do not claim that Grandeur pictures are three-dimensional, which they decidedly are
not; but they do say, and justly, that they create a somewhat stereoscopic effect. There are two
factors that cause this illusion. First, it is more natural and comfortable for the eyes to take in a
scene spread on a wide surface than one on a narrow one. Secondly, the edges of the picture,
because of the great width of the screen, are less obtrusive or entirely eliminated.

The new wide film has two real advantages. Because of the greater territory covered, more
persons can be shown clearly on the screen at once. This is especially valuable in the now popular
picturised musical comedies, in which big groups of chorus girls and dancers are presented. For
the same reason outdoor panoramic views become more effective and beautiful, The second
advantage is that the width of the film allows for a wider sound track. One-tenth of an inch is all
that can be allowed on standard film. On Grandeur the sound track is one-quarter of an inch wide.
This produces a better sound quality and requires less amplification. Also less magnification of
the picture itself is necessary, resulting in sharper and less “grainy” images.

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