Evening star., 1948-05-03

The oscar" finally arrived.
Thomas Armat, motion picture
pioneer, hadn't been concerned, but
Mrs. Armat had been wondering
whether it had gone astray. She
recalled the incident of the oranges.
A case of the fruit had been ship
ped from Florida to GreyStone, the
Armat manor house on the edge of
Rock Greek Park. The oranges we're
in poor condition when she finally
located them in a warehouse. The
deliveryman couldn't find Greystone.
The Oscar" gold-colored sta
tuette awarded Mr.. Armat by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences last March, was delayed
for another reason. 1t had been at
the engraver's being inscribed.
The academy's tribute now stands
on liable in the comfortable home
the ArmatS have occupied for more
than 80 years, located on a promi-
nence just upstream Of the new
klingle bridges.
Award Surprises Inventor.
When Actor Jean Hersholt, presi-
dent of the academy, sent Mr. Armat
telegram notifying him of the
honor, the inventor of the first
motion picture protector to be used
in theater was surprised.
Il had read of the academv's
awards to actors and actresses" he
recalled. but I didn't know they
gave them in the technical side of
the industry And I couldn't under
stand why they had reached back
more than so years to honor me"
The academy has been giving
technical awards regularly, but they
rarely received publicity outside
trade publications.
Mr. Armat, now 81, has had little
connection with the industry since
the early years of the century. ex-
cept for home projectors and an
occasional visit to a film theater.
He continues to pursue his real
estate interests.
1t was as a successful young real
estate man and part-time inventor
that he first became interested in
projecting motion pictures in the
1905.
Developed Invention Here.
With the late C. Francis Jenkins,
who later interested himself in radio,
Mr.. Armat developed a protector
based on the continuous movement
of the film used in Thomas A. Edi-
sons kinetoscope. Armat and Jen-
kins tried again when it became
evident an intermittent movement
of the film necessary to an illusion
of lifelike movement on the screen.
The latter protector was "a mechani-
cal failure" according to Mr.. Armat
He continued work alone in the
basement of the building at 1918 F
street NV. in which he had his
real estate office. Meanwhile, Mr.
Edison was marketing motion picture
films through the New York firm
OF Raft e. Cannon. When Mr.
Armat built what he considered
practical intermittant movement
TO see it, They were skeptical, but
one of the partners agreed to visit
Washington if his expenses we're
paid.
The demonstration was a success.
as was that given to Mr.. Edison
at the latter's New Jersey laboratory
1t was agreed the machine, patented
by Mr.. Armat. should be labeled the
Edison Vitascope to use the promo
tional value of the name of the
Menlo Park inventor.
Mr.. Armat's big night came on
April %, 1896 1t was at Roster and
Balls Music Hall in New York. The
Washington inventor was operating
his protector for the first public film
showing on a screen.
See Waves on Screen.
"All the scenes shown, with one
exception, were what might be called
vaudeville turns, or stage subjects -
he wrote in recalling the event for
the Society Of Motion, Picture En-
gineerS. "A crowded audience ap-
plauded each of the scenes with
great enthusiasm. The one excep-
ton to the stage scenes was an out
door scene that Raft and Cannon
mad succeeded in getting from Robert
Paul, who by that date was expert
menting with motion pictures in
England. This scene was of storm