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James Bond’s Weird World of Inventions

007 tangles with the trickiest assortment of supergadgets ever assembled for the screen in new James Bond movie, “Thunderball”

By HERBERT SHULDINER

Gadgetry is a smash hit in Hollywood. Dozens of new films and TV episodes are filled with zany gimmicks and pushbutton devices to entertain audiences.

The thing that started this remarkable trend is the unprecedented success of the gimmick-packed James Bond movies. The first three 007 films raked in over $75 million. Gold finger alone has earned about $43 million—more than any film has ever returned over a comparable time span.
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TV MIRRORS “SEE” ONLY ONE COLOR

IF YOU would like a mirror that reflects your favorite color and no other, the men to see are the color-television specialists of the Westinghouse Research Laboratories. By depositing ultrathin layers of metallic compounds on clear glass they are able to produce mirrors that reflect only one color—either red, green or blue.
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I remember wanting one of these so badly when I saw The Toy.

Plastic Water Wheel
Swimmers have a new play item this summer—a huge water wheel which spins on the surface to provide the thrills of a roller coaster. The wheel, made of Vinylite, is six feet in diameter. When inflated, it forms a double ring that has circular openings spaced uniformly between the two rings. It can be made to roll across the surface, used in a competitive “king of the mountain” game or anchored as a float for diving or sun-bathing. The plastic resists abrasion, oil, grease and temperature change. Deflated, the wheel rolls into a small bundle weighing only eight pounds.

Mono-Scooter Is Speedy

With a little practice, you can get more speed out of this mono-scooter than out of a pair of roller skates. It is made from two roller-skate wheels and a hardwood block as wide as the shoe and about 5 in, longer. Round the ends of the block and slot them to take the wheels. Steel rods serve as axles, and washers are placed on either side of each wheel to keep it true. These should be lubricated. Triangular blocks serve as heel and toe plates, and a single toe strap keeps the scooter on the shoe. Tilting the foot to one side brings the block into contact with the sidewalk to get efficient braking

Unique Game for Party Amusement

“SPIKE the Potato” is a highly entertaining game for any party. All that is needed is a single large potato, a number of paper cones and some needles. The paper cones are about 7 in. long and 1-1/2″ in diameter at the large end. When you roll them into shape, slip a needle or pin into the small end and daub it with glue. This, when dry, will hold it in place. At the same time, glue the edge of the paper fast. Then pull a small tuft of cotton into a fluffy ball and after rubbing some glue on the inside of the open cone end, push the cotton in.
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America’s Five Favorite Hobbies

By EDWIN TEALE

AMERICA is the hobby center of the world. More money is spent annually on hobbies in the United States than in any other country on earth. From old-fashioned whittling to polarized-light microscopy, a thousand and one spare-time interests provide Americans with relaxation and amusement. Seeking relief from the strain of an uncertain future, millions of persons, in recent months, have joined the ranks of the hobby-riders.

Supplying the needs of America’s vast army of hobbyists has become big business. Factories with incomes of millions of dollars annually cater to the wants of men and women who are following specialized hobbies. Each week sees an increasing number of hobby columns in newspapers and hobby volumes on the shelves of libraries and bookstores.
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Movie screen in the parlor need no longer be a problem with this new device known as the Pict-O-Screen. Concealed within the frame of a lithograph print, it can be pulled into place with a cord whenever your projector is ready. When the show is over, just tug the cord again and the screen disappears. It’s made by Radiant Mfg. Co., Chicago.

Circus Daredevil Leaps Fifty Feet in His Miniature Auto

VISITORS to the Alexandria Palace, in London, are furnished with thrills by a death-defying stunt which the side show barker calls the “Leap of Death.” Seated in a diminutive auto resembling a roller coaster, Rene Fumy, the daredevil performer, shoots down a precipitous track at a breakneck speed of 100 miles per hour, leaps into the air and across a space of fifty feet, and lands on an inclined platform, which if missed, would probably bring death.

The car used in performing the feat is equipped with small wheels that fit the tracks on the incline which gives the impetus for the leap.

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What Makes the Movies Talk?

By William F. Crosby

Electrical Expert and Radio Engineer Millions of people have heard and seen the new talking movies, but the theater-going public knows little about the machinery that makes this form of entertainment possible. In this article Mr. Crosby writes authoritatively of the development of the talking movies, being an electrical engineer who has made a study of the sound devices.

SPEECH reproduction as an accompaniment of motion pictures has been perfected to such a degree that the common variety of silent movie promises to become something of a rarity. Even the 100-seat side-street theater will soon be able to cast out its old mechanical organ and give its patrons the same high quality musical accompaniment that distinguishes the presentations in the largest movie palaces. Read the rest of this entry »

Tourists Carry Swimming Pool
SUMMER camps are equipping themselves with the latest luxury for auto tourists in the shape of swimming pools which can be erected anywhere, ready for use when filled with water. The portable pool, which looks like a giant horse-trough, is manufactured of waterproof fabric stout enough to resist the water pressure. Light metal buttresses are used to support the sides of the tank. It is possible to swim in the heart of a desert if this tank and enough water to fill it is carried along.

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Behind the Scenes With Movie Sound Fakers

The baying of wolves, the clackety-clack of horses’ hoofs, the creaking of auto brakes—these sounds which you hear from the silver screen seldom come from their real sources. This story by an eminent movie sound expert takes you behind the scenes and shows you how these noises are faked.

by MURRAY SPIVAK
Famous Hollywood Sound Director

ONE afternoon recently I sat in the scoring room of the movie studio where I am sound director watching a team of horses gallop down a country road. Later in the picture trees swayed in a violent wind, and then brush broke as an actor ran through a forest. But never a sound issued from the talking screen.
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Grooved Logs Build Toys

Logstix®, made by Charlen Products, Inc., West Orange, N. J., come in seven lengths. Each length has a different number of grooves that lock into grooves in other sticks. Permanent structures can be made by gluing the sticks. There are 201 pieces in a set.