On with the show! Running carbon arc film projectors in Nauvoo,Il. This is the way films were run before the 1980's. Also visit columbusgeorgiaonline.com/driv...
Brings back so many memories! One of my first jobs was as a projectionist in my small-town movie theater...this was in 1972 - 1975 time frame. Got paid $5 per hour which was a phenomenal wage then...and at 14 years old the pride I had in being responsible for running the films smoothly is hard to describe. We had to splice in Previews of coming attractions, add cartoons on occasion, maintain the DC generator and the projectors themselves...it was truly an incredible experience. Guy that taught me had been doing it for 20 years, he was so understanding and patient with me whilst I learned. Thanks for this flash-back in time...I am old now but this brings a smile to my face.
Vendo esse video agora me vem uma lembrança boa de quando eu trabalhava no cinema. Eu fui operador (era esse o nome dessa funçao aqui ) de agosto de 1974 ate janeiro de 1979. Primeiro no cine Sao paulo e depois no cine Plaza, ambos da mesma empresa , na cidade de Ribeirao Preto, estado de Sao Paulo ,Brasil.
Wow. Such a wonderful sight. My dad was a projectionist for 45 years. Worked indoor houses in Sacramento California until about 1952 when a new Drive-in opened up. He worked that theater until it closed in the early 70's. Moved to another drive-in theater that was converted to Xenon lamps and platters and worked that house until it closed in the 80's and he retired. I spent my youth going to work with him, checking the lot, repairing speakers, building up shows, breaking down shows. He always checked and repaired the film before he shipped it. No plastic reels in this days. He even let me make changeovers occasionally. Usually only during the third show of a show and a half. He was a stickler for keeping the booth clean and free of dust. We didn't walk in the booth, we slid on towels to keep the tile floor clean and the dust down. I will always remember the smell and sounds of the booth. My brother learned from him and was one of the last projectionists in the Sacramento area that knew how to run a carbon arc projector. Thank you for the wonderful walk down memory lane.
Cool story. I grew up in drive ins during the early to late 70s. MY granny worked the box offices for 30 years probably and I got a lot of free roam all over the place. One had carbon arcs and I’ll never forget them being worked and my fun times hanging out in them. Mine was all fun time, no work but it was great fun.
My dad was the projectionist at a drive-in theater when I was a kid. I remember the two projectors well, including watching the carbon-arc through the dark glass window. Each of them had its own little quirks. One was flaky about the sound. One tended to overheat (I remember the film melting on a few occasions.) The theater closed in the mid 80's, but I still smile whenever I see a movie that still has the little circles scratched in the corner to mark the changeovers.
I`ve been a projectionist for over 30 years, and that`s the way I started when I was 18 yrs old back in 1977, with carbon arcs. What I would`nt give to run a set of them again. I miss running film the old fashoned way.
Hello John - I am a projektionist from 1973 Denmark - and I was at Sondrestrom airbase (Greenland) in the 80th - and the American soldiers cinema was operated exactly like you are showing in the video. I am having a hard time explaining to new projektionist how we did it in the old days. so many thanks. I am now operating a Kinoton digital projektor:-( It takes the fun out of the trade.
2000 ft spools; negative and positive carbons to strike up and to keep trim; changeovers; the smell of carbon dust/deposit and film always in the air; and the delightful purr of the mech. I trained on such gear in 1957 when a mix of nitrate film and safety film was still being shown in cinemas here in the UK. I finished my tour of duty in the industry working at Elstree, Borehamwood film studios for 5 years until 1974 when I became a self employed caterer. Retired now, but still an Old Proji at heart, I love to reminisce by watching these videos. But I'm sorry to say that the art of projection died a long time ago when tabs and stage lighting and spotlights, controlled by the projectionist, became a thing of a past glory. Showmanship is dead! I'm not sure that I would get the same feeling of satisfaction of putting on a faultless show as I did back then. Sad, but you can't halt progress! As an aside, we also worked with mercury AC to DC rectifiers in the early days, until most of the theatres I worked in gradually changed to metal rectifiers. Thankfully I never did have one of the mercury bulbs blow on me, but I understand they made quite a mess if they ever did.
Crumbs mercury rectifiers, they sound quite dangerous, but I guess running nitrate film, horses for courses!. I used to live in Bristol, and an old back street Arts cinema, was where I went. First time, at the break, the projectionist came out to have a chat. Asked did I notice any brightness changes? He explained whilst showing me around the box, that the left projector, the arc transport was broken, so he had to hand crank it, every once in a while. Good times. I totally agree, that a fully automated show, is not the same, no skill required.
Great video! Brought back a lot of memories. He made one mistake however, he got the positive and negative carbon rods backwards. The positive rod is the long one inside the light housing, negative is the short one in the back. The booth in Illinois where this was shot was fancy compared to the one I used to man back in the 70's. We didn't have any new fangled electric changeover switch. We did a simultaneous flip of the shutter levers and a separate switch for sound. Old school, baby.
I grew up hanging out with my dad who owned and operated the Lyric Theatre in Winchester, IL. from when I was 5 til it closed in '55 when i was 13. We had Peerless Magnarc arc houses and Simplex projectors, and I, like you learned to load, thread, and run them. The biggest thrill was always striking the arc, and the most tense time was the changeover. Thank you for sharing ;a wonderful and rare experience. Dave
+DaveS901 I think every State in the USA had a town with a theater named LYRIC. Pretty popular name in the 50's along with STRAND, & ROXY. Our LYRIC Theater ( Billings, Mt.) was the Smallest of our 4 downtown theaters in the 50's. Just a Single floor with no Balcony. The projection Booth was just a few yards away from the concession stand and had 4 stair steps up to the Door. Every downtown theater we had back then used Simplex E7's installed in the early 40's and used all the way til the theaters closed or changed Venues in the late 70's. Our Lyric went through 2 more name changes before Closing and becoming a Parking Garage. The DOLLY around 1957 and The WORLD in the later 60's. Gone but not for gotten. Even as Small as it was it was still better than many of these Multiplex Theaters...
Very well presented . I used to be a projectionist when I was younger and I still have fascination with cinema and the technical aspects of projection.
Thank you for refreshing my memory for the '70's & early '80's when me buddy's family had a drive-in and had the carbon arc projectors.. with the bowl mirror to reflect the light onto the film... That brought back a lot of great memories of good times..out west.. always seemed the carbon arc had the best light for movies comparison to the bulb...
Beautiful job John! Exactly how we would show movies back in the '60s. This is what I did in 1967-68 at the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia for extra duty in the Navy, every three weeks. Wednesday night, Friday night, Saturday Matinee and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. What memories.
Wow! Brings back memories. Last time I worked in a projection booth was late 1972 on Long Island, NY. Being a "relief" operator I got to work in many different booths using Simplex XL, Century & Brenkhert projectors and Peerless lamphouses. Each booth was unique and had there own personalities. Going in "cold" to run a show was always and exciting yet stressful event. I loved it. Great video!
Thank you for that wonderful walk back down memory lane. I was doing exactly the same thing thing over sixty years ago. It was an experience that gave me an avid interest in cinema and cinema technology to this day.
thank you for making this video. my Dad used to work at the movie theater in town (Evansville, IN) and he always told me stories about working the arc projector's there. so thank you for showing us this amazing, but little known, feat of old-school movie magic.
Not shown in the video is that when the second cue mark appears, you pressed a foot switch that activated the changeover. A solinoid operated shutter would close on the previous projector and open on the starting projector to create a seamless "changeover." The douser operated with his left hand before the changeover was just to open the light path from the lamp house to the gate in the head while the film was moving so as not to burn the film. Then the changeover at the second cue as just described.
Thanks for a trip down memory lane. As a teenager my first part-time job was as an usher at the Tercar Windsor Theatre in Houston, TX. Always remember how nice the projectionists were and always interesting to watch them do a film change over on the old carbon arc projectors.
Neat to show the new-timers how it used to have to be done before digital electronics and computers came on the scene. I also am a carbon arc lamp aficionado... before xenon lamps, nothing could beat a carbon arc for luminosity. Thanks!
Like so many others commenting here I also ran projectors like this in the early 70's. Only I was in Germany on an Army airfield running movies for the troops and their families. Loved that job.
Oh my word - such memories. Used projectors very similar to this whilst working at The Palace cinema in Alton, Hampshire in the UK. Always remember once mixing up the reels and showed 1, 3, 2, 4, 5 - there were some very confused punters that night! Also remember film get trapped and burning!!
👍👍Fantastic! I remember as a kid lookin back up at the windows back in the day and seeing the projectionist watching out the window. Now I know why. Another cool piece of the puzzle put into place. Thanks a Million as they said back in the day. 🖖😁
Several years ago, I had a private tour of the Boulder City Theater in Boulder City, Nevada (The town that built Hoover Dam) The owner, Desi Arnez (Yes, Little Ricky Ricardo) still has the projectors in the room. They are not used anymore. but they are still there and still ready to be fired back up!
My first job was a projectionist on carbon arc. I was 13 yo and worked doing this until the company I worked for shut down in the mid 90's. VHS, Beta and vid disc was the new craze and basically killed the mom and pops theatres. What a trip down memory lane in this posting.
Hi, John! Very nice video. I'm really surprised to see a pair of Brenkert Enarcs still in operation. I only know of one other pair, in New England. And the leaky BX-60 projectors bring back a lot of memories! Haha. Just one correction to your commentary, if I may: the carbon in the rear is the negative, and the one in the front (the larger one, with the crater) is the positive. :) Great work! Please post more.
My parents worked at the Music Box Theater in Chicago until 1976. As a child I spent many hours in the projection booth with its Simplex carbon arc projectors. DC generators located next to the booth powered the carbon arcs. Cinemascope movies required replacing the regular lens with much larger Cinemascope ones. Cartoons and other shorts were often spliced together on one large reel rather than changing reels every 7 minutes. The Union projectionist was very well paid and worked 7days/week
This was fascinating thanks for sharing. I used to work in a movie theater and ran the projector a little bit although we use the more modern platter system. I still remember "building the film". We still had some of the old carbon arcs/reel to reel but we didn't use them anymore.
For me, the last cinema with one giant screen and a two-projector setup was in 1975. That was The Palms in Eau Gallie, Fla. and I'm fairly certain they snuffed the arc in favor of xenon lamps well before I was old enough to sit through a feature film. Of course, the lamp plus the platter made the multi-screen cineplex possible, and The Palms theatre was demolished in the 1980s.
Grasshopper80s4ever .oldford I need parts for projectors. I’m starting to build one Brenkert but have two century projector heads. My theater could be completed with the three. Would you sell me the projectors?
This was my first job at age 15 back in 1971 at the Seneca Theater and at the Fort Hill Drive -In in Petersburg West Virginia. Hard to believe that was half a century ago.
It amazes me how ENORMOUS those projectors were in theatres (and maybe are still there?)...yet the projectors in our schools were smaller than a suitcase!
Good to see there are others still operational, too. I am part of a volunteer group running an old cinema in southern germany. Our projecting room is sort of a museum with a pair of Bauer B8s, a Bauer B14 and a modern digital machine all in running condition and pointed at the same screen. I always enjoy operating the old machines, unfortunately not often these days. There is just nothing like the smell of a carbon arc lamp
So let me get this straight, in the back of the restaurant was an intact movie theatre not used in 30 years? That is beyond cool, I think there is something like that near me, 2 towns over was the Fords cinema, Fords NJ, in the front are some businesses, and I remember reading that the theatre was still in the back untouched.
Great video. But--at least on a Peerless Magnarc--the positive is the longer, thicker carbon and is the one opposite the reflector. I don't know about a Brenkert. When we threaded, we threaded at the "8" mark as well, but 8 feet, not 8 seconds. Don't know if that was what you meant. Nonetheless, it is great to see those old machines still running.
i remember those cue marks….you had to keep your eyes glazed and eyes wide open (don't blink) and then when you saw the first, start the other projector running, cue mark two, hit the relay that closed the shutter of the first projector and opened the shutter of projector two -- and people in the audience never really knew that a switch over had occurred. Those days are over…I think we used a Symplex 35 too…but can't remember. I just remember threading them wasn't that much fun.
So did the movie theaters have to keep many cases of these carbon rods in stock? Seems like a big expense. Do you think a projector that hasn't run in decades could be fired up with not too much hassle? Parts still available?
@@IcelanderUSer I suppose that was the cost of running the business, and per your second question, I think it could still work as long as you find the rods, there is a video somewhere around here that showcases a carbon arc rod and generator from 1900, so it would be safe to say the projector could still work =)
Hey John, your clip is great! Now I understand more of what I saw as a child - young man back in Columbus, Georgia. Really great stuff!! Thanks so much.
What a Great Video, I was lucky enough to have a Friend that was just 15 and i was 14 he taught me how to Set up the Movies with Cartoons and Ads and how to run these old Carbon Arc Projectors in 1966. My Friend decided he was tired of doing this he wasn't being payed nearly enough plus he was under age and was payed Cash under the Table and I needed a Job my friend had already got his new Job lined up so one night in the Middle of the Movie he called the Manager, a Greedy Ass to come up to the Booth and he Quit on the Spot and walked out needless to say I was sitting just out side the Booth when he did this the Manager said you cant Quit and he Kept walking the Manager is Screaming now and there were alot of People listening to Him so I stood up and said Oh do you need a Projectionist and he said well yea until I can get a standby because I cant run these Machines and tonight is a ship out Night. Guess what he Hired me on the Spot I worked there until I was 17 and then went into the Army went to Germany and worked at the Theater on Post running the Projectors they were the same Kind in 1969 in europe it was a Great experience.
I cannot believe that the same thing happened to me when I was 13 when the guy that I was helping asked me to run the film while he went outside for a smoke and walked off never to be seen again. I had to run the next (evening) show with an audience of nearly 2,000 people. I went on working part time for the next 8 years and returned again to the London theaters in 1970, where I went on to be appointed as the chief engineer and ran 14 Royal film performances. Sadly the art of film presentation died after automation took over in 1987 and I moved on to the film studios. But those days in the cinema, particularly running 70'mm were the best days of my life.
Great film, great days...LOL. I worked in a local cinema around 1970 here in the UK and was trained on Kalee 12 projectors, Kalee Vulcan arc lamps, British Acoustic soundheads, Gaumont-Kalee amps... At another, Peerless Magnarcs (the supreme lamp!), Kalee mecs, GK 4-track magnetic and optical sound, and when I ran a preview theatre in Wardour Street, London we had AEI xenon lamps, Westrex mecs, and ran double-head mag and optical for preview work.. No skill or soul needed with digital! Steve
Memories! I started my working life as a trainee (rewind boy) back in 1957, and left the industry after climbing my way through the various projectionist grades and finished in the business in 1974 after 5 years working at Elstree Film Studios, England. Miss the showmanship of the old cinema days but wouldn't want to work in the industry in today's environment.
During my days working on openings of many films in London's west end, including 14 Royal Film performances, I visited Bill Rowe at Elstree to finalise the UK dubbing on several occasions. This was between 1970 and 1987. Visiting the cinema today, is about exciting as shopping in Tesco's. No one even knows the meaning of presentation, let alone preparing and timing pre show music with split second accuracy. I mostly used complete classical works, in consultation with the films director or composer of the score.
Dear John, thanks for this wonderful video. Carbons and two projectors - really terrific! I am sad that soon 35mm and 70mm film will be shown no more in cinemas around the world. I am sad too that its the end for Cinema Projectionists. Many thanks to all Cinema Projectionists! Video has replaced Film - a terrible pity. In the end - digital will destroy cinemas.
If it's on 35mm film the answer is yes! Sadly the studios will no longer make film prints after December of this year, 2012. So many theaters are now closing because they simply can't afford $100K for a digital projector per auditorium. Digital won't work for drive-ins which were slowly making a comeback. I mourn the passing of film. Digital will never hold a candle to the beauty that was film.
There is still something about the way Carbon Arc projected light verses Xenon Lamps;especially on B&W Films. Those old Strong Mighty 90's that were used in many Drive-in's back in the Day could really throw some light on those outdoor screens that were sometimes a couple hundred yards back....
John Gilbert Very Kool Presentation John; The sad part today is that many of these old Projectors(Simplex,Century,Brenkert,etc.) are literally being thrown in the Dump rather than Salvaged, Digital has made such a sweep through the MP Industry that almost all your Film Studios have ceased distributing 35mm Film.A future generation will probably see these old projectors maybe in the Lobby as Nostalgia Display Pieces or in a Museum. Being in an old Projection Booth as a kid in the 1950s was quite a thrill. In Fact I was in the Film Booth of a Downtown theater here that still exists when they showed the very 1st 3D Film in Town 1955 Creature from the Black Lagoon. The projectionist was a close friend of our Family and he let me watch him in the Booth. I was only 6 at the time but I remember him telling me the Projectors were interlocked and both L&R reels had to be Qued up exactly on the same frame. The projectors were E7 Simplexes and everything went flawlessly that night because Jim Nelson was an Old School Projectionist that knew what he was doing. He however was not thrilled about having to do another 3D Film again...
John, thank you so much for this video clip. I'm in Dublin, Ireland. Our local Movie House or Picture House as we kids called it is still standing and used as a Bingo Hall. I recently gained access to the Projector Room and was astounded to find the two original projectors in place. It used a Peerless Magnarc High Intensity Lamp. I plan on gong back to do a video of the place. Thank you for sharing your knowledge of the workings of the projector with me.
Martin. You've found a rare jewel there! You don't know how I'd like to get my hands on those projectors! I'm not far from Dublin, well, Dublin, Georgia! Yes, please post photos and video!
Hi John, will do. My email address is martincoffey@yahoo.com. I've written three books on the history of the area in which I grew up with 7 brothers and 7 sisters. Each book contains many, many old photos of the area and its people. Thank you once again...Martin
@@artcoffey Back in my younger days, I visited Dublin (We live in London) to see the Plaza Cinerama theater shortly after it opened. I went on to become the chief engineer at a major London theater and took early retirement when carbon lamps were replaced by the inferior xenon lamps and presentation standards declined worldwide. Visiting the cinema today is about as exiting as shopping in Tesco's.
@JohnMGilbert I still get metal reels occasionally from private archives. The worst are the ones that don't even bother with reels so you have to use a split reel to get them off the shipping cores onto house reels.
The first Simplex I ran had the shutter outside the projector and in front of the lens. We "changed over" with one hand on a toggle switch for sound and the other on a slide bar covering one or other of the booth windows.
I used to rewind the reels before sending them back to the supplier. And, they were all metal reels back then (I never did use a plastic reel). When a new movie came in, I'd have to come in before the first showing and manually wind each reel thru a white gloved hand to ensure no broken sprocket holes or tears. Fun stuff.
Yes. Each magazine had an arm with a roller that rode the film. With 90 seconds to go, the arm dropped and struck a small bell to alert the projectionist.
I have never seen those here in the UK. We had something similar in late Kalee projectors, where a cam on the rear of the top spool-box spindle operated a pendulum which started hitting a small bell as the speed increased to a critical point just before the end of the reel.
I ran 35MM carbon arcs in college at a drive in. Much later ran 70MM Imax at a theme park with 12KW water cooled lamps on a 72'x96' screen. And separate 35mm synced six track sound film. That thing was a BEAST! But now I'm helping a local arts group restore a 1936 movie house in Newberry, SC called "The Ritz". We are hoping to find a 1936 era projector to display in the lobby if anyone has any leads on one? It could be a tax deductible donation.
Royal Theater, Laurel, MT. 1960s. Owned by the Groshelles. Earned $2.00 per show, $3.00 for a double feature. Miss seeing the que marks in films nowadays.
I remember doing that as a projectist for Harkins Theaters in Phoenix , Arizona back in the days ..it was a fun job that then didn't pay well as I was not in the Union ....also was a assistance manager.
my father was a carbon arc projectionist in Delhi, India, when i was child i used to go there and really that machines was amazing and i still love those machines, when i was child i want to become a projectionist
@bvick777 I know exactly what you mean! My dad ran a drive-in theater in the early 80's. I would hang out with him in the booth. At that point in my life I could run the equipment just from watching him but I have forgotten everything over the years. Those days were very cool now that I think back.
I've read somewhere about the little marks on the film as being cues to the projectionist around 18 - 20 minutes from certain scenes or the start of the film etc but didn't really realise what exactly was involved.
I run older movies. Older movies have a silver soundtrack whereas the newer films have a cyan soundtrack. Cyan works best when read by a laser. While cyan can run on a white light exciter lamp meant for silver soundtracks, the sound is very poor. A laser reader can reproduce both silver and cyan equally well.
Is the 9030 similar to 9050 RCA soundhead??? How do I wire the reader if it’s infrared. I have the sound converter and the surround system made by ultra stereo
It looks like a flame although it's not. There's no chemical reaction but instead an electric current arcing between the ends of the carbon rods. The intense heat burns away the carbon rods over time hence the need for manual adjustment to keep the gap small.
Nice video. IMHO you could use a few more perfs of film between lower projector sprocket and the sound drum (try threading a leader's picture start in the gate and sound start on the sound drum to see exactly how much should be there), and a good deal less between the soundhead's constant speed sprocket and holdback sprocket (it's not at all critical but looked like the film was coming close to rubbing on the front wall). I still have a small carbon arc lamp but never use it anymore.
I learned to run carbon arc projectors in the ‘60’s showing old three stooges and laurel and Hardy movies on Sunday afternoons. Got pretty good at swapping reels
I love the video. I just bought an old theatre that has the old projection room intact. the theatre auditorium burned down in 1981. The building is the old Paramount Theatre in Cheyenne Wyoming. it is a 4 story office building now. I would love to find someone that could tell me if the projectors can still function.
Brings back so many memories! One of my first jobs was as a projectionist in my small-town movie theater...this was in 1972 - 1975 time frame. Got paid $5 per hour which was a phenomenal wage then...and at 14 years old the pride I had in being responsible for running the films smoothly is hard to describe. We had to splice in Previews of coming attractions, add cartoons on occasion, maintain the DC generator and the projectors themselves...it was truly an incredible experience. Guy that taught me had been doing it for 20 years, he was so understanding and patient with me whilst I learned.
Thanks for this flash-back in time...I am old now but this brings a smile to my face.
Me too, I was 15 in 1971 when I learned.
@@Alleghenymike Good times, huh?
Vendo esse video agora me vem uma lembrança boa de quando eu trabalhava no cinema. Eu fui operador (era esse o nome dessa funçao aqui ) de agosto de 1974 ate janeiro de 1979. Primeiro no cine Sao paulo e depois no cine Plaza, ambos da mesma empresa , na cidade de Ribeirao Preto, estado de Sao Paulo ,Brasil.
Me too at the Pick and the Lode theatres in Houghton and Hancock Michigan 1969-1972
Wow. Such a wonderful sight. My dad was a projectionist for 45 years. Worked indoor houses in Sacramento California until about 1952 when a new Drive-in opened up. He worked that theater until it closed in the early 70's. Moved to another drive-in theater that was converted to Xenon lamps and platters and worked that house until it closed in the 80's and he retired. I spent my youth going to work with him, checking the lot, repairing speakers, building up shows, breaking down shows. He always checked and repaired the film before he shipped it. No plastic reels in this days. He even let me make changeovers occasionally. Usually only during the third show of a show and a half. He was a stickler for keeping the booth clean and free of dust. We didn't walk in the booth, we slid on towels to keep the tile floor clean and the dust down. I will always remember the smell and sounds of the booth. My brother learned from him and was one of the last projectionists in the Sacramento area that knew how to run a carbon arc projector. Thank you for the wonderful walk down memory lane.
Cool story. I grew up in drive ins during the early to late 70s. MY granny worked the box offices for 30 years probably and I got a lot of free roam all over the place. One had carbon arcs and I’ll never forget them being worked and my fun times hanging out in them. Mine was all fun time, no work but it was great fun.
My dad was the projectionist at a drive-in theater when I was a kid. I remember the two projectors well, including watching the carbon-arc through the dark glass window. Each of them had its own little quirks. One was flaky about the sound. One tended to overheat (I remember the film melting on a few occasions.) The theater closed in the mid 80's, but I still smile whenever I see a movie that still has the little circles scratched in the corner to mark the changeovers.
I`ve been a projectionist for over 30 years, and that`s the way I started when I was 18 yrs old back in 1977, with carbon arcs. What I would`nt give to run a set of them again. I miss running film the old fashoned way.
I learned projectioning in cinema with Carbon Arcs and change over.
I loved my days in cinema.
Hello John - I am a projektionist from 1973 Denmark - and I was at Sondrestrom airbase (Greenland) in the 80th - and the American soldiers cinema was operated exactly like you are showing in the video. I am having a hard time explaining to new projektionist how we did it in the old days. so many thanks. I am now operating a Kinoton digital projektor:-( It takes the fun out of the trade.
2000 ft spools; negative and positive carbons to strike up and to keep trim; changeovers; the smell of carbon dust/deposit and film always in the air; and the delightful purr of the mech. I trained on such gear in 1957 when a mix of nitrate film and safety film was still being shown in cinemas here in the UK. I finished my tour of duty in the industry working at Elstree, Borehamwood film studios for 5 years until 1974 when I became a self employed caterer. Retired now, but still an Old Proji at heart, I love to reminisce by watching these videos. But I'm sorry to say that the art of projection died a long time ago when tabs and stage lighting and spotlights, controlled by the projectionist, became a thing of a past glory. Showmanship is dead! I'm not sure that I would get the same feeling of satisfaction of putting on a faultless show as I did back then. Sad, but you can't halt progress!
As an aside, we also worked with mercury AC to DC rectifiers in the early days, until most of the theatres I worked in gradually changed to metal rectifiers. Thankfully I never did have one of the mercury bulbs blow on me, but I understand they made quite a mess if they ever did.
Crumbs mercury rectifiers, they sound quite dangerous, but I guess running nitrate film, horses for courses!.
I used to live in Bristol, and an old back street Arts cinema, was where I went. First time, at the break, the projectionist came out to have a chat. Asked did I notice any brightness changes? He explained whilst showing me around the box, that the left projector, the arc transport was broken, so he had to hand crank it, every once in a while. Good times.
I totally agree, that a fully automated show, is not the same, no skill required.
Great video! Brought back a lot of memories. He made one mistake however, he got the positive and negative carbon rods backwards. The positive rod is the long one inside the light housing, negative is the short one in the back.
The booth in Illinois where this was shot was fancy compared to the one I used to man back in the 70's. We didn't have any new fangled electric changeover switch. We did a simultaneous flip of the shutter levers and a separate switch for sound. Old school, baby.
I grew up hanging out with my dad who owned and operated the Lyric Theatre in Winchester, IL. from when I was 5 til it closed in '55 when i was 13. We had Peerless
Magnarc arc houses and Simplex projectors, and I, like you learned to load, thread, and run them. The biggest thrill was always striking the arc, and the most tense time was the changeover. Thank you for sharing ;a wonderful and rare experience. Dave
I have an operating Peerless in my garage. I may have to do a piece on it.
+DaveS901 I think every State in the USA had a town with a theater named LYRIC. Pretty popular name in the 50's along with STRAND, & ROXY. Our LYRIC Theater ( Billings, Mt.) was the Smallest of our 4 downtown theaters in the 50's. Just a Single floor with no Balcony. The projection Booth was just a few yards away from the concession stand and had 4 stair steps up to the Door. Every downtown theater we had back then used Simplex E7's installed in the early 40's and used all the way til the theaters closed or changed Venues in the late 70's. Our Lyric went through 2 more name changes before Closing and becoming a Parking Garage. The DOLLY around 1957 and The WORLD in the later 60's. Gone but not for gotten. Even as Small as it was it was still better than many of these Multiplex Theaters...
Very well presented . I used to be a projectionist when I was younger and I still have fascination with cinema and the technical aspects of projection.
Thank you for refreshing my memory for the '70's & early '80's when me buddy's family had a drive-in and had the carbon arc projectors.. with the bowl mirror to reflect the light onto the film... That brought back a lot of great memories of good times..out west.. always seemed the carbon arc had the best light for movies comparison to the bulb...
Beautiful job John! Exactly how we would show movies back in the '60s. This is what I did in 1967-68 at the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia for extra duty in the Navy, every three weeks. Wednesday night, Friday night, Saturday Matinee and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. What memories.
Wow! Brings back memories. Last time I worked in a projection booth was late 1972 on Long Island, NY. Being a "relief" operator I got to work in many different booths using Simplex XL, Century & Brenkhert projectors and Peerless lamphouses. Each booth was unique and had there own personalities. Going in "cold" to run a show was always and exciting yet stressful event. I loved it.
Great video!
Thank you for that wonderful walk back down memory lane. I was doing exactly the same thing thing over sixty years ago. It was an experience that gave me an avid interest in cinema and cinema technology to this day.
Thanks for this. Hadn’t seen anything like it since I was a kid hanging out in Drive ins while my grandmother worked them throughout the 70’s.
I remember running projectors just like these back in the 80's...great memories!
thank you for making this video. my Dad used to work at the movie theater in town (Evansville, IN) and he always told me stories about working the arc projector's there. so thank you for showing us this amazing, but little known, feat of old-school movie magic.
Glad to do it.
Not shown in the video is that when the second cue mark appears, you pressed a foot switch that activated the changeover. A solinoid operated shutter would close on the previous projector and open on the starting projector to create a seamless "changeover." The douser operated with his left hand before the changeover was just to open the light path from the lamp house to the gate in the head while the film was moving so as not to burn the film. Then the changeover at the second cue as just described.
Thanks for a trip down memory lane. As a teenager my first part-time job was as an usher at the Tercar Windsor Theatre in Houston, TX. Always remember how nice the projectionists were and always interesting to watch them do a film change over on the old carbon arc projectors.
Best job in the world
Neat to show the new-timers how it used to have to be done before digital electronics and computers came on the scene. I also am a carbon arc lamp aficionado... before xenon lamps, nothing could beat a carbon arc for luminosity. Thanks!
Dude that was awesome thank you for preserving history and teaching how it used to be done you're the man thank you
Bring back that golden days of carbon arc and celluloid film projection
As a teen age kid , I learned to be a projectionist. What a great job that was.
Great video! When I was little I wanted to be a projectionist. It never came to pass but I'm still fascinated by projectors.
Me too!
This just brought me so much memory's I ran these kinda projectors back in the late 70's ty for sharing awsome
Like so many others commenting here I also ran projectors like this in the early 70's. Only I was in Germany on an Army airfield running movies for the troops and their families. Loved that job.
That climactic pan down through the projector mechanisms actually gave me goosebumps. Better than some films I've suffered through lately. Bravo!
Oh my word - such memories. Used projectors very similar to this whilst working at The Palace cinema in Alton, Hampshire in the UK. Always remember once mixing up the reels and showed 1, 3, 2, 4, 5 - there were some very confused punters that night! Also remember film get trapped and burning!!
👍👍Fantastic! I remember as a kid lookin back up at the windows back in the day and seeing the projectionist watching out the window. Now I know why. Another cool piece of the puzzle put into place. Thanks a Million as they said back in the day. 🖖😁
Great memories from my high-school days at the Drive-in running manual changeover and carbon arc.
Several years ago, I had a private tour of the Boulder City Theater in Boulder City, Nevada (The town that built Hoover Dam) The owner, Desi Arnez (Yes, Little Ricky Ricardo) still has the projectors in the room. They are not used anymore. but they are still there and still ready to be fired back up!
My first job was a projectionist on carbon arc. I was 13 yo and worked doing this until the company I worked for shut down in the mid 90's. VHS, Beta and vid disc was the new craze and basically killed the mom and pops theatres. What a trip down memory lane in this posting.
this was incredibly interesting. Thanks so much for preserving history
Hi, John! Very nice video. I'm really surprised to see a pair of Brenkert Enarcs still in operation. I only know of one other pair, in New England. And the leaky BX-60 projectors bring back a lot of memories! Haha.
Just one correction to your commentary, if I may: the carbon in the rear is the negative, and the one in the front (the larger one, with the crater) is the positive. :)
Great work! Please post more.
My parents worked at the Music Box Theater in Chicago until 1976. As a child I spent many hours in the projection booth with its Simplex carbon arc projectors. DC generators located next to the booth powered the carbon arcs. Cinemascope movies required replacing the regular lens with much larger Cinemascope ones. Cartoons and other shorts were often spliced together on one large reel rather than changing reels every 7 minutes. The Union projectionist was very well paid and worked 7days/week
This was fascinating thanks for sharing. I used to work in a movie theater and ran the projector a little bit although we use the more modern platter system. I still remember "building the film". We still had some of the old carbon arcs/reel to reel but we didn't use them anymore.
For me, the last cinema with one giant screen and a two-projector setup was in 1975. That was The Palms in Eau Gallie, Fla. and I'm fairly certain they snuffed the arc in favor of xenon lamps well before I was old enough to sit through a feature film. Of course, the lamp plus the platter made the multi-screen cineplex possible, and The Palms theatre was demolished in the 1980s.
The old arc 35 mm projectors are still in our old abandon Art Deco movie theater just collecting dust .
Grasshopper80s4ever .oldford I need parts for projectors. I’m starting to build one Brenkert but have two century projector heads. My theater could be completed with the three. Would you sell me the projectors?
Bought me a lot of pleasure man , great video and great presentation.
Great job it was an amazing time It was a real arc projector machine of a single cinema screen .
This was my first job at age 15 back in 1971 at the Seneca Theater and at the Fort Hill Drive -In in Petersburg West Virginia. Hard to believe that was half a century ago.
Still some working changeover setups around the world! I am still running 16mm changeovers almost daily!
The crazy thing is the fact that this video was made at a time when film was still the primary way theaters showed film.
It amazes me how ENORMOUS those projectors were in theatres (and maybe are still there?)...yet the projectors in our schools were smaller than a suitcase!
Good to see there are others still operational, too. I am part of a volunteer group running an old cinema in southern germany. Our projecting room is sort of a museum with a pair of Bauer B8s, a Bauer B14 and a modern digital machine all in running condition and pointed at the same screen. I always enjoy operating the old machines, unfortunately not often these days. There is just nothing like the smell of a carbon arc lamp
To me those old projectors had better pictures and sound than today’s digital projectors by a long shot.
So let me get this straight, in the back of the restaurant was an intact movie theatre not used in 30 years? That is beyond cool, I think there is something like that near me, 2 towns over was the Fords cinema, Fords NJ, in the front are some businesses, and I remember reading that the theatre was still in the back untouched.
Great video. But--at least on a Peerless Magnarc--the positive is the longer, thicker carbon and is the one opposite the reflector. I don't know about a Brenkert.
When we threaded, we threaded at the "8" mark as well, but 8 feet, not 8 seconds. Don't know if that was what you meant.
Nonetheless, it is great to see those old machines still running.
My first job at El Raton theatre in Raton, no. Great memories and thank you John!!
i remember those cue marks….you had to keep your eyes glazed and eyes wide open (don't blink) and then when you saw the first, start the other projector running, cue mark two, hit the relay that closed the shutter of the first projector and opened the shutter of projector two -- and people in the audience never really knew that a switch over had occurred. Those days are over…I think we used a Symplex 35 too…but can't remember. I just remember threading them wasn't that much fun.
We used to use droppers on the reel to help remind us!
droppers?
Small metal rods inserted into the reel where the cue marks were.
So did the movie theaters have to keep many cases of these carbon rods in stock? Seems like a big expense. Do you think a projector that hasn't run in decades could be fired up with not too much hassle? Parts still available?
@@IcelanderUSer I suppose that was the cost of running the business, and per your second question, I think it could still work as long as you find the rods, there is a video somewhere around here that showcases a carbon arc rod and generator from 1900, so it would be safe to say the projector could still work =)
Hey John, your clip is great! Now I understand more of what I saw as a child - young man back in Columbus, Georgia. Really great stuff!! Thanks so much.
What a Great Video, I was lucky enough to have a Friend that was just 15 and i was 14 he taught me how to Set up the Movies with Cartoons and Ads and how to run these old Carbon Arc Projectors in 1966. My Friend decided he was tired of doing this he wasn't being payed nearly enough plus he was under age and was payed Cash under the Table and I needed a Job my friend had already got his new Job lined up so one night in the Middle of the Movie he called the Manager, a Greedy Ass to come up to the Booth and he Quit on the Spot and walked out needless to say I was sitting just out side the Booth when he did this the Manager said you cant Quit and he Kept walking the Manager is Screaming now and there were alot of People listening to Him so I stood up and said Oh do you need a Projectionist and he said well yea until I can get a standby because I cant run these Machines and tonight is a ship out Night. Guess what he Hired me on the Spot I worked there until I was 17 and then went into the Army went to Germany and worked at the Theater on Post running the Projectors they were the same Kind in 1969 in europe it was a Great experience.
I cannot believe that the same thing happened to me when I was 13 when the guy that I was helping asked me to run the film while he went outside for a smoke and walked off never to be seen again. I had to run the next (evening) show with an audience of nearly 2,000 people.
I went on working part time for the next 8 years and returned again to the London theaters in 1970, where I went on to be appointed as the chief engineer and ran 14 Royal film performances.
Sadly the art of film presentation died after automation took over in 1987 and I moved on to the film studios. But those days in the cinema, particularly running 70'mm were the best days of my life.
Dear JOhn,
Thanks for the very cool film..I enjoy it immensely... : )
I last used carbon arc in April 1983 at the Whittwood Theatre. They were Ashcraft Core-Light lamphouses.
Great film, great days...LOL. I worked in a local cinema around 1970 here in the UK and was trained on Kalee 12 projectors, Kalee Vulcan arc lamps, British Acoustic soundheads, Gaumont-Kalee amps... At another, Peerless Magnarcs (the supreme lamp!), Kalee mecs, GK 4-track magnetic and optical sound, and when I ran a preview theatre in Wardour Street, London we had AEI xenon lamps, Westrex mecs, and ran double-head mag and optical for preview work.. No skill or soul needed with digital! Steve
Memories! I started my working life as a trainee (rewind boy) back in 1957, and left the industry after climbing my way through the various projectionist grades and finished in the business in 1974 after 5 years working at Elstree Film Studios, England. Miss the showmanship of the old cinema days but wouldn't want to work in the industry in today's environment.
During my days working on openings of many films in London's west end, including 14 Royal Film performances, I visited Bill Rowe at Elstree to finalise the UK dubbing on several occasions.
This was between 1970 and 1987.
Visiting the cinema today, is about exciting as shopping in Tesco's. No one even knows the meaning of presentation, let alone preparing and timing pre show music with split second accuracy. I mostly used complete classical works, in consultation with the films director or composer of the score.
Dear John, thanks for this wonderful video. Carbons and two projectors - really terrific! I am sad that soon 35mm and 70mm film will be shown no more in cinemas around the world. I am sad too that its the end for Cinema Projectionists. Many thanks to all Cinema Projectionists! Video has replaced Film - a terrible pity. In the end - digital will destroy cinemas.
I ran projectors like this at the Belvidere theater in Central City, Colorado in the 70s
If it's on 35mm film the answer is yes! Sadly the studios will no longer make film prints after December of this year, 2012. So many theaters are now closing because they simply can't afford $100K for a digital projector per auditorium. Digital won't work for drive-ins which were slowly making a comeback. I mourn the passing of film. Digital will never hold a candle to the beauty that was film.
Nice work, very interesting, thanks for sharing!
Old is gold .I am very interesting this time of system projecter. Thanks to maker and all supporters.
Hey John, brings back some old memories, cause as you know, I've operated a few of the old Simplex Peerless projectors in my time...
Tom
There is still something about the way Carbon Arc projected light verses Xenon Lamps;especially on B&W Films. Those old Strong Mighty 90's that were used
in many Drive-in's back in the Day could really throw some light on those outdoor screens that were sometimes a couple hundred yards back....
Carbon arc is very close to 5600° K. Xenon is around 7000° K which is a bluer light.
John Gilbert Very Kool Presentation John; The sad part today is that many of these old Projectors(Simplex,Century,Brenkert,etc.) are literally being thrown in the Dump rather than Salvaged, Digital has made such a sweep through the MP Industry that almost all your Film Studios have ceased distributing 35mm Film.A future generation will probably see these old projectors maybe in the Lobby as Nostalgia Display Pieces or in a Museum. Being in an old Projection Booth as a kid in the 1950s was quite a thrill. In Fact I was in the Film Booth of a Downtown theater here that still exists when they showed the very 1st 3D Film in Town 1955 Creature from the Black Lagoon. The projectionist was a close friend of our Family and he let me watch him in the Booth. I was only 6 at the time but I remember him telling me the Projectors were interlocked and both L&R reels had to be Qued up exactly on the same frame. The projectors were E7 Simplexes
and everything went flawlessly that night because Jim Nelson was an Old School Projectionist that knew what he was doing. He however was not thrilled about having to do another 3D Film again...
Thanks, we ran Peerless lamphouses and Simplex heads but hey, pretty much like I remember
holy shit! this was three years after I was born.
John, thank you so much for this video clip. I'm in Dublin, Ireland. Our local Movie House or Picture House as we kids called it is still standing and used as a Bingo Hall. I recently gained access to the Projector Room and was astounded to find the two original projectors in place. It used a Peerless Magnarc High Intensity Lamp. I plan on gong back to do a video of the place. Thank you for sharing your knowledge of the workings of the projector with me.
Martin. You've found a rare jewel there! You don't know how I'd like to get my hands on those projectors! I'm not far from Dublin, well, Dublin, Georgia! Yes, please post photos and video!
Hi John, will do. My email address is martincoffey@yahoo.com. I've written three books on the history of the area in which I grew up with 7 brothers and 7 sisters. Each book contains many, many old photos of the area and its people. Thank you once again...Martin
@@artcoffey Back in my younger days, I visited Dublin (We live in London) to see the Plaza Cinerama theater shortly after it opened.
I went on to become the chief engineer at a major London theater and took early retirement when carbon lamps were replaced by the inferior xenon lamps and presentation standards declined worldwide.
Visiting the cinema today is about as exiting as shopping in Tesco's.
@JohnMGilbert I still get metal reels occasionally from private archives. The worst are the ones that don't even bother with reels so you have to use a split reel to get them off the shipping cores onto house reels.
Wow good olden days 🤗🤗
The first Simplex I ran had the shutter outside the projector and in front of the lens. We "changed over" with one hand on a toggle switch for sound and the other on a slide bar covering one or other of the booth windows.
Very nicely explained
I used to rewind the reels before sending them back to the supplier. And, they were all metal reels back then (I never did use a plastic reel). When a new movie came in, I'd have to come in before the first showing and manually wind each reel thru a white gloved hand to ensure no broken sprocket holes or tears. Fun stuff.
That was great! I liked and subscribed.
I alwaysw wondered how this worked thank you for a great video.
Yes. Each magazine had an arm with a roller that rode the film. With 90 seconds to go, the arm dropped and struck a small bell to alert the projectionist.
I have never seen those here in the UK.
We had something similar in late Kalee projectors, where a cam on the rear of the top spool-box spindle operated a pendulum which started hitting a small bell as the speed increased to a critical point just before the end of the reel.
I ran 35MM carbon arcs in college at a drive in. Much later ran 70MM Imax at a theme park with 12KW water cooled lamps on a 72'x96' screen. And separate 35mm synced six track sound film. That thing was a BEAST!
But now I'm helping a local arts group restore a 1936 movie house in Newberry, SC called "The Ritz". We are hoping to find a 1936 era projector to display in the lobby if anyone has any leads on one? It could be a tax deductible donation.
Fantastic !!!!!
Thanks for posting, cool video!
Royal Theater, Laurel, MT. 1960s. Owned by the Groshelles. Earned $2.00 per show, $3.00 for a double feature. Miss seeing the que marks in films nowadays.
I remember doing that as a projectist for Harkins Theaters in Phoenix , Arizona back in the days ..it was a fun job that then didn't pay well as I was not in the Union ....also was a assistance manager.
my father was a carbon arc projectionist in Delhi, India, when i was child i used to go there and really that machines was amazing and i still love those machines, when i was child i want to become a projectionist
That was cool. I enjoyed that video.
Great video.
Obrigado por suas amáveis palavras. Estou feliz por te trouxe boas lembranças. Eu amo filmes e equipamentos de cinema. Felicidades para você!
Thank you.
I always left open the upper magazine door and kept the take up magazine door closed. Good ol fashioned drop ding.
@bvick777 I know exactly what you mean! My dad ran a drive-in theater in the early 80's. I would hang out with him in the booth. At that point in my life I could run the equipment just from watching him but I have forgotten everything over the years. Those days were very cool now that I think back.
I've read somewhere about the little marks on the film as being cues to the projectionist around 18 - 20 minutes from certain scenes or the start of the film etc but didn't really realise what exactly was involved.
I run older movies. Older movies have a silver soundtrack whereas the newer films have a cyan soundtrack. Cyan works best when read by a laser. While cyan can run on a white light exciter lamp meant for silver soundtracks, the sound is very poor. A laser reader can reproduce both silver and cyan equally well.
This is the real art of projection. Take a good look, folks, before it disappears.
great video thanks
Old mechanical equipment is much more fascinating than digital.
Negative is the smaller rod. Positive rod faces the reflector. Enarc lamphouses. Ran plenty of Brenkherts RCA 9030s and Enarcs.
Is the 9030 similar to 9050 RCA soundhead??? How do I wire the reader if it’s infrared. I have the sound converter and the surround system made by ultra stereo
Exactly how we did it back in the seventies EMPIRE THEATRE in Rarotonga Cook Islands
I never knew fire brought light to the films!
It looks like a flame although it's not. There's no chemical reaction but instead an electric current arcing between the ends of the carbon rods. The intense heat burns away the carbon rods over time hence the need for manual adjustment to keep the gap small.
Nice video.
IMHO you could use a few more perfs of film between lower projector sprocket and the sound drum (try threading a leader's picture start in the gate and sound start on the sound drum to see exactly how much should be there), and a good deal less between the soundhead's constant speed sprocket and holdback sprocket (it's not at all critical but looked like the film was coming close to rubbing on the front wall).
I still have a small carbon arc lamp but never use it anymore.
I learned to run carbon arc projectors in the ‘60’s showing old three stooges and laurel and Hardy movies on Sunday afternoons. Got pretty good at swapping reels
In India there were some long movie's reel would go upto 20 reels. 15, 16, 17 reels use to be normal length.
Hope your still up and Running
I love the video. I just bought an old theatre that has the old projection room intact. the theatre auditorium burned down in 1981. The building is the old Paramount Theatre in Cheyenne Wyoming. it is a 4 story office building now. I would love to find someone that could tell me if the projectors can still function.
Great Very!!!!! film projector like this!