TALKIES ON THE TRAIN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 874, 18 January 1930, Page 14

TALKIES ON THE TRAIN

DE LUXE TRAVEL IN U.S.A. Very shortly it will be as comfortable to travel as it is to stay at home, if one can judge by recent developments in America. Through the medium of Western Electric, and the co-operation of Para-mount-Famous-Lasky and the Union Pacific Railroad, talking motion pictures were shown on board a moving train for the first time a month or two ago. Passengers on the Los Angeles Limited betw r een the city of its name and Las Vegas, Nev., had no inkling of the treat prepared for them until they each received a surprise invitation in the form of a postcard to adjourn to the theatre car, where they would witness a programme of talking movies. About 120 passengers lined up in the aisles of the adjacent car. Seventy were admitted to the first showing while the others were promised a repeat performance. The two-score and ten seated themselves in the speciallyfitted theatre car and gave themselves over to the enjoyment of the novelty. The programme consisted of reels supplied by Paramount, a Sound News reel and 12 reels of “The Virginian,” which was being taken to Las Vegas for its first public release there. The car, a diner of late model which had been converted into a mobile theatre at the Union Pacific yards, was draped in red velour supplied by the Paramount Studios. Two high benches, to support the projectors, and a frame for the screen, were also furnished by the studio, care being taken to secure the benches against the swaying of the train. The projectors were fastened’ with trunk straps to the bench top to prevent their slipping. SCREEN MOUNTED IN KITCHEN The screen, made sft by 6ft in size, was mounted in the kitchen of the car. masked up conventionally by means of black velour. The horn was mounted in the doorway of the car by means of rope lashing. The apparatus functioned perfectly, and no difficulty was experienced in keeping the volume well above the car noise, .without being too loud. Four news services were represented on board by reporters, and information was supplied to several others who were not represented on the train. Following the completion of the trip, these reporters evinced the same enthusiasm that the passengers had shown relative to the quality of the sound projection, and considerable favourable publicity has resulted.