Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Back in the days of Showmanship

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Posted by Timothy Ervin (Member # 733) on 03-20-2005, 02:18 AM:

I wonder what the business atmosphere between managers/owners and the staff was like back in the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's? I wonder if it was more uptight, more professional? Was it a requirement for Managers to wear uniforms or business suits? Was it custom to address the Managers by their last name? What kind of problems did Managers have to endure, like shortages, inventory control, what kind of work scheduels did Managers have? I'm also curious as to the percentage of Managers/Owners who were female?

[ 03-20-2005, 03:55 AM: Message edited by: Adam Martin ]

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 03-20-2005, 02:49 AM:

of teaser titles. [Wink]

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-20-2005, 03:36 AM:

Yea, you should retitle the topic to "Back in the days of Showmanship", or such. Then,it fits what you're question is by coming across more clearly.

Actually, what you've came across with your questions, most of the large circuit DO require that they are addressed as "Mr, or Ms (and Miss, and Mrs if the title is desired..) no first names are allowed. For calling your superiors by their first name is absolutely unprofessional, due to the actual business requirements of the manager, whom is actually the businessman of the theatre. This is why he has assistant managers, supervisors, "chief of staff" supervisors - all must contain this "image" of professionalism, due that they ALL represent the manager when he is there, or not there.

Large complexes and circuits require that the theatre is run like a division in the Army: A general in command and his "chief of staff" to delegate orders. That theatre is HIS theatre.

Inventories were basically controlled by the manager himself, and only one or two people doing the counting, receiving stock, inventoring the stock into the count, watching the waste and damange, watching the orders to ensure that the stock is properly maintained from slow to busy times, stock is properly rotated for freshness, making orders during busy times like holidays and special occasions, concession counters not overly stock so that product doesn't stale out (esp. the chocolate items which age quickly due to their ingredients..)..and a whole bunch of other small tricks and systems that a manager can think of. (Why, I blurb on this part of inventory, or I've been there as a 3 time manager of a theatre, and I had inventory so well under control that it was a perfect system that I have made and succeeded in making it so....)

The majority of the managers that I've known, hate the Thurs inventory day. But as for me, since I had that system, I always looked forward to Inventory day knowing that I can breeze through that, and that's even whipping three movies together during the day while the assistant manager is running the place.

With all that curtails on Thursday I still managed to get out of that theatre before 1:00am.

If the manager had his theatre under control and a system well organized, he ususally can swing it to have two and a half days off without any worry. Doing this, his required hours being there by the company can be lower when he is organized and with a system...(and I've done that as stated above in my comment with the inventory)

-Monte

Posted by Peter Kerchinsky (Member # 1098) on 03-20-2005, 05:09 AM:

Tim
Ah yes, the good old days of showmanship!!!
To be brief, when I started in this biz at the ripe age of 16, all employees were required to wear uniforms. Even the projectionists came to work wearing ties, which of course they removed when putting on their work aprons. We had two projectionists in the booth, a stageman, numerous ushers to take you to your seats, countless concession staff, and matrons who looked after the restrooms before and after the intermissions. The manager was always on the floor overlooking the entire operation. Only he could call the booth if there were any problems or complaints from customers.
Movies there always started on time. Sound levels were checked by one of the operators actually going into the theatre.
I could go on and one about my first theatre job, but tell you one thing, I miss it ALOT these days. Boston was a great movie town in the late 50s.

Posted by Timothy Ervin (Member # 733) on 03-20-2005, 11:18 AM:

Monte, the subject has been corrected. [Smile]

quote: Peter Kerchinsky was the last to post

Even the projectionists came to work wearing ties, which of course they removed when putting on their work aprons.

Peter, why was it required that a projectionist wore a 'work apron'? I have never heard of that.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 03-20-2005, 02:50 PM:

More like, he didn't want to get his street clothes dirty. People still dressed respectably in those days, and men wore hats. Management couldn't tell projectionists how to conduct their duties or what to wear.

Early 70s, when I came in:
Yes, it was "Mr." to the manager. Likewise, to the assistant or anyone older than you, but that was more a function of the time (or rather, the end of that era) than a house rule. As far as running the house.. remember Rodney Dangerfield in "The Projectionist"? He wasn't far from the mark.

Also, when I started in the biz, the projectionist was largely autonomous and was the sole craftsman/professional in the house. He often made more money than anyone else in the theatre by a good margin, including the manager.

Posted by Timothy Ervin (Member # 733) on 03-20-2005, 03:01 PM:

In one of the older single screens that I managed, the projection room was equipped with it's own restroom, and a fire escape. The projection room door and the room itself was "fire proof". Being only 19 at the time, I questioned this and was told that projectionist were always paid higher than even the manager because the job of projection was considered at one time 'dangerous' because of the carbon arc lamps and the threat of the film catching on fire.

I was also told that projectionists were always union members. When did unions pull out of theatres and why? I remember reading somewhere that General Cinemas was the last of the chains to have union projectionists. I am curious as to how other managers/operators/projectionists today would feel about being part of a union?

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-20-2005, 03:04 PM:

quote: Tim Reed
Also, when I started in the biz, the projectionist was largely autonomous and was the sole craftsman/professional in the house. He often made more money than anyone else in the theatre by a good margin, including the manager.

...thus the main reason of the unions - and that's ALL covered in another thread.

..and some of us, STILL to this day, manage to make more than the manager due to our skills and talents. And you don't know how many times that I went through HELL due to this because I was ABOVE the money level of the manager(s), who felt that I should be at the level of the lowly "shit-stick" employee-not worth a hill of beans.

Sometimes, one has to fight to prove his worth at times....

-Monte

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 03-20-2005, 05:00 PM:

quote: Timothy Ervin
projectionist were always paid higher than even the manager because the job of projection was considered at one time 'dangerous'

They were paid well because it was a skill that involved mastery of several disciplines. It took years to gain competence and attain journeyman status. Not burning up was a factor, certainly, but it was a craft, a profession. In the 30s, the job of projectionist held about as much prestige as being a doctor or a lawyer.

Projectionists were not all union.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-20-2005, 06:09 PM:

quote: Tim Reed
In the 30s, the job of projectionist held about as much prestige as being a doctor or a lawyer.

True, for I've heard also that in those nitrate days of two projectionists being up in the booth at all times, for fire and safety reasons. Yes, it was and still is a trade to us few. I've got books and pictures showing these booths with two operators on duty. Now, that was an operation!

I remember when I was a kid at our local theatre, which was a circuit theatre (Fox Intermountain), the manager wearing a bright red jacket with the FOX logo on the front welcoming the crowd coming in. The concessionaires were in also a maroon dress uniform with gold pinning down the sides, also with the same logo on the front. The doorman's outfit was in black with the gold pinning down the pantlegs and the ushers were in dk blue uniforms. The ushers with their "pillbox" caps seating the public as best as they knew how with the red coned flashlights, and checking auditoriums every half hour. The manager(s) was addressed as "Mr./Miss ----"

The lobby decked out in blue/gold foil wallpaper with 11x17 window cards frames in certain areas with B/W cards showing "teaser" scenes of the movies coming and movies now playing. Neon shining in beautiful arrangements in the outside foyer area.

Big old 21 inch back lit autitorium clock with the glass front advertising the local business next door, and we would watch that clock on if it's the right time when the show began. Then, the big red waterfall curtain opened up, the multi-colored foot light arrangement would turn off, the projection light hits the inner title curtain, which then opened up sideways. Never was the screen allowed to be seen "naked" - always the title curtain hid the screen. Just before "the End" would hit the screen, a curtain cue (which was located on the lower right of the picture and being made by that cuemaker device) would pop on and the title curtain would close, and by the time those words would hit the screen the waterfall curtain would descend down and on came the footlights.

Then the ushers would be there at the head of the entranceway thanking us for being here-to escort us out to the lobby. I was walking out of the theatre with my bottle of NEHI grape soda and my package of NECCO fruit flavored wafers.

..that was showmanship to the max!

-Monte

Posted by Peter Kerchinsky (Member # 1098) on 03-21-2005, 04:54 AM:

Sorry but it's early morning now, but my response to the question on why we wore work aprons......they were actually aprons with tool belts attached. We always had tools readily available in case of whatever. My main "tool" was a clothespin to remove the old used up carbon that was still hot. It only lasted a week or two because it was wood.
Also, if memory serves, we always had a pair of needle nose pliers to pull out the hot aperature plate during reel changes when going into a different format.
Where I worked the trailers were run on a seperate reel, never, never spliced onto a feature head etc. Sometimes we had to move pretty fast to change the plate, lens, carbons etc. since we only ran 2 trailers in those days.
WOW, do I have it easy now or what!

Posted by Jim Spohn (Member # 1547) on 03-21-2005, 10:28 AM:

Tim... At the Fox Theatre in Bakersfield, in the 50's and 60's, the manager AND the assistant manager wore tuxedos. The door-man wore grey pants with a satin stripe down the leg, a tux shirt with bow tie and a red dress jacket. The manager and assistant were ALWAYS refered to as "Mr.Winslow" and "Mr. Yates"! They ran the theatre with an "IRON-FIST". Everyone else wore some type of uniform suited for their individual job of usher, snack bar girl, ticket-taker. Projection people wore suit and tie. The main projectionist would put a frozen dinner in the lamphouse when he started the first show and just after the intermission of the second show had his dinner! Jim Spohn

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 03-21-2005, 01:16 PM:

quote: Jim Spohn
The main projectionist would put a frozen dinner in the lamphouse when he started the first show and just after the intermission of the second show had his dinner! Jim Spohn

In hindsight, not a healthy thing to do, since carbon ash contained "rare earth" elements that helped light output, but weren't good to ingest or breathe in. [Eek!]

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-21-2005, 02:01 PM:

quote: Peter Kerchinsky
My main "tool" was a clothespin to remove the old used up carbon that was still hot. It only lasted a week or two because it was wood.

...and you didn't have a pair of pliers to yank out those carbons out of the clamp jaws in the lamphouse so you wouldn't have to worry about burning up clothespins?

Did you have an old coffee can to dump the rods in?

quote:
The main projectionist would put a frozen dinner in the lamphouse when he started the first show and just after the intermission of the second show had his dinner!

I've seen that one also a time or two and wondered on the "rare earth" ash concept as well. But the guys would make sure that the alum foil was kept intact over the dinner.

Those Strong Futura II's were great for cooking dinners inside.

I used to warm up a dinner on top of the lamphouse being a bit of heat on the upper surface.

-Monte

Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 03-21-2005, 02:06 PM:

quote: Monte L Fullmer
I used to warm up a dinner on top of the lamphouse being a bit of heat on the upper surface.

Definitely "dinner done wrong" [Wink]

Posted by Peter Kerchinsky (Member # 1098) on 03-21-2005, 02:27 PM:

Monte
Can't remember why we used the clothespin rather than the pliers. Too far back.
We had a small metal trash can underneath the lamphouse that had to have a lid on it, the type you open with your foot. Only carbon stubs were allowed. The firemarshall used to check those to prevent us from burning the place down. Fat chance.
I also remember the changeover devices were old Ford starters on the floor.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 03-21-2005, 03:40 PM:

At one indoor ("hardtop") theater I worked at, the owner would actually measure the carbon stubs I discarded, and remind me if they were too long. But heaven forbid if I ever had a "flame out" or burned jaws if I mistimed a trim. [uhoh]

Not much has changed, has it? [Roll Eyes]

"Why can't you get 4000 hours out of that xenon lamp? No one will see the flicker, and the picture is dark anyway." [Shrug]

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-22-2005, 02:02 AM:

quote: Peter Kerchinsky
I also remember the changeover devices were old Ford starters on the floor.

...Like these Motiograph "foot" dowsers mounted here on the floor of a drive-in that I used to work at?

quote: John Pytlak
But heaven forbid if I ever had a "flame out" or burned jaws if I mistimed a trim.

LOL, been there and done that, but doing that with the carbon savers-measuring a rod a bit too short for the reel length.

We kept our positive stubs for the cartoon and any 10 minute short/subject reel.

Then, I had the dubious honor to peel off the remaining copper from both rods to collect as much copper as I could. Made some decent spending money that way recycling that copper.

-Monte

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 03-22-2005, 09:16 AM:

Monte, you mean you didn't send those drippings off to Will Rogers? [Smile]

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-23-2005, 02:51 AM:

Hell no! that was free money to have. Of all of the theatres that I ran in my earlier days, I made a good wad of extra change from all of the copper drippings/skins that I could muster.

I almost gagged myself out seeing all of those Will Roger tags that I've ran in my times. And to see those poor floorstaff people begging for the dough with those plastic quart jars to the public..LOL

That is one thing that I DON't miss. ...just like that "Hearts club" thing...phew..!

-Monte

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 03-24-2005, 11:42 AM:

quote: Jim Spohn
They ran the theatre with an "IRON-FIST".

Ahh, yes... those were the days. [Smile]

quote: John Pytlak

quote: Jim Spohn
The main projectionist would put a frozen dinner in the lamphouse
In hindsight, not a healthy thing to do, since carbon ash contained "rare earth" elements that... weren't good to ingest or breathe in. [Eek!]

A tablespoon from inside the top of the lamphouse, sprinkled over your grub, was good seasoning.

Thanks for ruining a beautiful moment. [Smile]

Posted by Justin West (Member # 920) on 03-24-2005, 09:49 PM:

Well and in the old days of TV dinners in aluminum foil, it probably was a plus for light reflection in those lamphouses, eh?
[Big Grin]

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 03-25-2005, 08:01 AM:

The man who taught me how to run carbon arcs, many years ago at the long defunct Hackensack Drive-In, used to open the running lamphouse and light his cigarettes in the arc flame.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-26-2005, 05:08 AM:

quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
used to open the running lamphouse and light his cigarettes in the arc flame.

I also used to do that at my drive-in that I used to work at.

I don't smoke, but with the men's room next to the booth and the booth door was open to the men's room (so we could keep an eye out in case of riff-raff in there on some busy nights..), some fellows would ask me for a light, in which I didn't have the flame what he was expecting.

(We had Ashcraft CoreLites) I would strike up the arcs, let it heat up a few seconds, throw the knife to shut it down, open up the door, then pull out the negative rod in the pliers and hold it to him so he could light up. That patron got a little startled about this, but really had a kick out of this unique way to "light up."

Some of these fellows would give me a tip for this unique way of service to them, since they'll never forget it.

-Monte

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 03-26-2005, 03:33 PM:

Hey Mitchell-

Was that guy wearing welder's glasses, or did he retire on disability? [Cool]

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 03-26-2005, 08:45 PM:

quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
light his cigarettes in the arc flame

Haha! Funny how we all did similar things. I used to "light up" off the carbons, too. Later, I did the same thing with xenon lamphouses.

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 03-26-2005, 10:36 PM:

Do I dare ask how you light up off of the Xenon lamphouses? lol [Cool]