Recently I discovered Harrison's Reports on archive.org. The movie reviews from the late 20's into the early 60's are great but it's the articles that are really fun. Take a look at what they were seeing on TV in 1938.
August 1938 Harrison’s Reports
"TELEVISION NOT AN ENEMY BUT A FRIEND For a long time a large number of exhibitors dreaded the perfection of television; they felt that it would not be very long before television would outmode the picture theatres, forcing them to go out of business. Some of the exhibitors went so far as to state that soon pictures would be shown in each time-zone simultaneously. In such an event, they said, the company that would control television would control also the theatres; and since exhibition would be standardized, there would no longer be any room for the individual exhibitors. On the evening of May 31, the National Broadcasting Company televised the first feature motion picture, "The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel." Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith, formerly vice president of the Radio Corporation of America and now conducting his own office as a consulting engineer, who is one of the foremost television experts in the world, invited me to see the performance at his home.
Before the motion picture was thrown upon the television screen there was televised an act, picked up from the stage of the television studio of the N.B.C.
The reproduction of the act was far superior to that of the motion picture: The voices of the actors were clear, the picture in excellent detail, and the fade-ins and the fade-outs were done with the same ease as are done in regular motion pictures. But the reproduction of the motion picture lacked in many of these advantages. For instance, the picture was not so clear as that of the act; most of the time an adjustment had to be made in the focusing apparatus. Individual scenes were too dark or too light; and much detail was lost. And the voices were not so crisp and distinct.
The size of the picture was 7 l/i" x 10", and could be conveniently viewed from 4 to 8 feet from the receiver. Dr. Goldsmith told me than an 18" x 24" picture is given by the largest of the newer television sets, but the cost is between $800 and $900, whereas the sets with a 7 J/ 2 " x 10" picture cost around $400 or less. The largest size picture attainable at present is, as Dr. Goldsmith informed me, 6 feet by 8 feet, but the cost and size of a set giving so large a picture is enormous, and not practicable for home purposes, or for that matter for general theater use. Further, these large pictures up to the present have a coarser appearance with considerably less detail and brilliance than a motion picture. My impression from the attendance of this television performance is that television, when it is perfected with larger screens, may be employed as an added attraction in theatres (and perhaps principally for special news events or unusual short subjects) and not as the main attraction; and when used as an added attraction it should help business considerably.
The quality, size, and brightness of the motion picture screen remains unchallenged by television, not to mention the future film possibilities of color features, three-dimensional pictures, and directional sound, which follows the actors around the screen.
Harrison's Reports wishes to say that, judging from present indications, the exhibitor has nothing to fear from the improvement of television."
I don't know about you but I'm going with the 18"x24" set.
August 1938 Harrison’s Reports
"TELEVISION NOT AN ENEMY BUT A FRIEND For a long time a large number of exhibitors dreaded the perfection of television; they felt that it would not be very long before television would outmode the picture theatres, forcing them to go out of business. Some of the exhibitors went so far as to state that soon pictures would be shown in each time-zone simultaneously. In such an event, they said, the company that would control television would control also the theatres; and since exhibition would be standardized, there would no longer be any room for the individual exhibitors. On the evening of May 31, the National Broadcasting Company televised the first feature motion picture, "The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel." Dr. Alfred N. Goldsmith, formerly vice president of the Radio Corporation of America and now conducting his own office as a consulting engineer, who is one of the foremost television experts in the world, invited me to see the performance at his home.
Before the motion picture was thrown upon the television screen there was televised an act, picked up from the stage of the television studio of the N.B.C.
The reproduction of the act was far superior to that of the motion picture: The voices of the actors were clear, the picture in excellent detail, and the fade-ins and the fade-outs were done with the same ease as are done in regular motion pictures. But the reproduction of the motion picture lacked in many of these advantages. For instance, the picture was not so clear as that of the act; most of the time an adjustment had to be made in the focusing apparatus. Individual scenes were too dark or too light; and much detail was lost. And the voices were not so crisp and distinct.
The size of the picture was 7 l/i" x 10", and could be conveniently viewed from 4 to 8 feet from the receiver. Dr. Goldsmith told me than an 18" x 24" picture is given by the largest of the newer television sets, but the cost is between $800 and $900, whereas the sets with a 7 J/ 2 " x 10" picture cost around $400 or less. The largest size picture attainable at present is, as Dr. Goldsmith informed me, 6 feet by 8 feet, but the cost and size of a set giving so large a picture is enormous, and not practicable for home purposes, or for that matter for general theater use. Further, these large pictures up to the present have a coarser appearance with considerably less detail and brilliance than a motion picture. My impression from the attendance of this television performance is that television, when it is perfected with larger screens, may be employed as an added attraction in theatres (and perhaps principally for special news events or unusual short subjects) and not as the main attraction; and when used as an added attraction it should help business considerably.
The quality, size, and brightness of the motion picture screen remains unchallenged by television, not to mention the future film possibilities of color features, three-dimensional pictures, and directional sound, which follows the actors around the screen.
Harrison's Reports wishes to say that, judging from present indications, the exhibitor has nothing to fear from the improvement of television."
I don't know about you but I'm going with the 18"x24" set.
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