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Memories of the Autoscope Co.
" When did things begin to settle down to something like present day conditions ? " our representative asked.
"That is very difficult to say" replied Mr. Ward. "The change has come gradually without our noticing it. Personally I always reckon a stage in the trade's development from the time I joined Messrs. Will Barker and Herbert Wrench at the old Autoscope Co., though that is a good long time ago. I remember when I was at the Autoscope being sent out to take a film in company with Mr. Charles Raymond. It was two hundred feet long, and the cast included about a dozen artistes, but when I found that it had cost £3 155., I fully expected to get the sack. Later on, when the Autoscope Co. was merged in the Warwick Trading Co., I managed the hire department for the latter firm. Most of the men who were then with the Warwick Trading Co. are well known in the industry to-day, including Mr. McDowell, of the B. and C. Co. (the official War Office kinematographer), Mr. Jack Smith, of Barker's, Mr. Mainwaring of the Western Import Co., and Mr. Scott, of the American Co."A Pioneer of the Film Industry. Mr. E. Ward, of Unicorn Films, Chats about the Old Days.", The Kinematograph and Lantern Weekly, 17 août 1916, p. 27.
