NAPIER'S YESTERDAYS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 40, 3 March 1937, Page 10

NAPIER'S YESTERDAYS

Charles

Price

BY

XIX. With the gramophone and cinema now eo closely associated in the- production of talking pictures, it is interesting to look back upon the first of these instruments and entertainments which came to Napier many years ago. The first cinematograph which was shown here was quite a small aft'air, and was on exhibition in a shop in Hastings street. Tho pictures were not screened, the projection of moving pictures not having been perfected then, The films were shown in a small box, and you looked at them througih a round glass peep-hole which magnified the small figures on the films, while a light at the back of the fihn caused the pictures to stand out very clearly. The' subjects at nrst were not by any means impressive as to the possibilities of the new idea. I saw a couple of roosters fighting, a pantomime stunt of a policeman chasing a man round and round a revolving door, trying to catch him, while a third showed a man walking briskly along a road, lighting a cigar, when a road roller came along, passed right over him and flattened him out, then passed on, when ihe man got up, unconcernedly brushed dust off his clothes, and walked away continuing the lightihg of his cigar. The first phonographs, as most people who bougjht them will recollect had wax cylinders, instead of the present discs, made of cpmpositxon. Oue peculiarity of these wax cylinders was that they contracted and expanded in cold and warm weather. In the summer you might put on a record of a soprano "Killarney" and get a very clear reproduction of the song right up to the very last note. In the winter the same record might be cut ofl^ before the last note, because of the wa'x disc convi acting. I once heard the song "Killarney" reproduced in this way, and the finish was incomplete, tho word "Killarney" being out ahort, and "lar, lar, lar," continued until the diso was removed. Now, I like the song "Killarney" very much, .but I did not like having it amputated. The first phonograph which was brought to Napier, was, I fancy, also broug|ht by the o#me Mr Kelly who brought the same cinematograph. M- Keily brought with ^im a re-.ord-ing box for tecording music.il euectiom aj vell as xeproducing them, and xt was his tustom to use one disc for a s>.vg, one for an ir strumental item an J c ne for a recitation, at each of his performances. Having obtained these re cords he put the discs on the producing machine and reproduced them for the bfnefib of tho audience and also th.ic the smger, musician and elocutiomst nught hcar their ■ own iteme and thus know how they sounded. I' was in a theatre on one occa&ion when volunteers were invited to come up and sing, play or recito, and have their performances recorded and reproduced. There was no response Jrom singers or musicians, but, after sonle persuasion- from his rnates, a man jro.u the pit came on, the stage to gi^a a recitation. He chose a long sporting poem, "Pardon, the son of Iteprieve," one of Banjo Paterson's picces. This is a long piece of about 20 verscs. It deatt with a country race nieecing at which the pfincipal race was run' in three two-mile heats, the horse scoriiig the most points in the throe heatsr to win. Pardon was a countrj 1 orso. and all the countryside had their money/ on him, but there were some smart performers from Sydney engaged, and the clever gjentry were selecting one of these as the winner. To maka things quite safe for their repi'esentative some of the c.leverer ones had bribed a stable lad to give Pardon a good feed. of grass

before atarting. The oonsequence was that- Pardon was a bad last in the first heat, but being kept walking about after this race was run, he recovered quickly, and getting warmed up in the second round, won the second heat handily. In the third and final heat he was the only horse with any strength left, partly because' of the feed that had been given him and he won the heat and the cup easily, Unfortunately for the reciter, the three wax cylinders available were not enough to take the whole of the poem and after the reciter had used up two of the three, he was warned that he would have to cut the piece short, so he skipped the final heat, and the public demonstratiop of joy at the country horse's success, and wound up with the peroration that the speaker hoped when his race was run he retired to green' Elysian fields wliere he might ogiain see Angel Harrison's black gelding Pardon, blue halo, white body and wings. Among the early film pictures shown in Napier after the methods of magnification and screen projection had been improved were West's Pictures. Until the advent of regular features shown nightly in the leading centres, West's Pictures represented the top line in screen production, and as far as projection is concerned they were little if anything inferior to the best pictures screened to-day. However, in all other resnects film picturisation has made sucn advance that there is no real comparison between the pictures of those bygon© days and the wonderfully fine entertainment provided for picture patrons in this present day. I do not really intend to moralise on the public taste in pictures, but rather to relate a humorous incident which occurred at .one of the exhibitions of West's Pictures. Seated in the front row of the stalls was Mr Ansel Tiffen, whom I have referred to in some of my previous notes. He invariably chose the front seat of the stalls if he could get a seat thei;e and preferably near the cdntre of the stage. On this particular eveningi, owing to the weather being rather threatening Mr Tiffen had taken his umbrella. Hunng the ehowing of one film, "Stormy weather on the coast of Cornwall," the sea was shown rolling rapidly in huge billowing waves with higb crests, towards the audience, while an imitation hooming went on behind the screen. As the waves rapidly approached towards th© audience and appeared likely to dash over the stage on to the people. Mr Tiffen becam© alarmed and promptly opened his umbrella to ward off the flying spray. Just as that instant tha picture suddenly faded out, and Mr Tiffen gave vent to a hearty laugh, and said "I was had ihat time, I thought the sea was going to dash over me, It was wonderfully real." Later in the same evening another picture "Skiing in Switzerland" was put on. Oue star performer after showing a number of intricate fancy stunts disappeared momentarily from " view, only to re-appear shortly after high up on a sloping mountain side, and skiing almost straight down at such a epeed that he appeared likely to shoot off the end of the stage before he oould. stop himself. M? Tiffen had a bit of a fright, and remarke.d, "Oh, I say5 he's coming this way." Just then the picture faded out, and Mr Tiffen remarked: "I'll have to get used to pictures I ean see, I gjot a scare that time, I don't think I'll get so near the front another time. It's worse than being on th© spot and seeing an avalanche coming towards you. Then you have a chance to jump, but in the pictures you haven't, but I say, what next will they invent?''