International projectionist (Jan 1963-June 1965)

BETTERS TO THE EDITOR For a second time I find myself tempted to contribute something to IP of a nostalgic rather than scientific nature. | See WHO REMEMBERS WHEN? in IP for September 1959, page 20). However my recent acquisition of an old Powers 6-B mechanism as a museum piece brought to mind a most amusing incident of the silent days which I cannot resist passing along. In the early 20's I served for a time as projectionist I they called me "that operator" then) for a midwestern college where movies, open to the general public, were run each week-end in the gymnasium. The projectors consisted of a pair of used Powers, with hand-fed AC arcs energized bv one Bell and Howell compensator. (One arc had to be turned off as the other was struck, a procedure which gave a nice fading effect on changeovers. The "projection room"' which was located at and partially over the edge of a small gallery at one side of the gymnasium, was an asbestos board enclosure with holes sawed out. more or less rectangular in shape, for projection and observation. Drop fire-shutters were conspicuous bv their absence. "Ventilation" was provided by the simple expedient of leaving the door open so that "fresh" air from the audience would flow in through the open ports. Now this little incident that I am about to recount couldn't possibly have happened had it not been for a series of existing conditions to all intents and purposes completely unrelated. (Note: Those of the younger generation who never ran a Powers projector will either have to use the imagination or refer to the early editions of Richardson's Handbook of Projection to visualize some of the action. ) Here, then, were the existing conditions: 1. There was no glass in the ports. 2. There was a shelf extending from just below the mechanism of each projector to the bottom of its port, forming a convenient place for tools, oil can, etc.. but when the ensuing events took place there was ■Just try to scratch or destroy the harder than glass front coating of a TUFCOLD FLAKE AND PEEL-PROOF FIRST SURFACE COLD REFLECTOR —then you'll see why it's Guaranteed 2 Years -TWICE AS LONG against coating deterioration Replace uour old reflect or 4 now nothing on the shelf of the righthand projector. 3. The Powers mechanism ( we oldsters will recall I had two removable plates on the front. One carried the lens mount, and a smaller one below bore the patent information. I had removed the latter to facilitate cleaning inside the mechanism. 4. The Powers mechanism had a "loop-setter." Again, for the younger generation, let me explain that this device consisted of a roller between the intermittent and take-up sprockets around and clearing which the lower film loop was formed. If the lower loop became lost, the tightening of the film lifted the roller which in turn threw the take-up sprocket out of gear until a new loop formed. The re-forming loop permitted the roller to drop back to its normal position thus starting the take-up sprocket again. "The whole train of operation is automatic — its results instantaneous." ( Richardson's 4th Edition Handbook of Projection, page 649, Instruction No. 40.) Now for the action. One evening when the first show was well along and I was threading the left projector, an unearthly scream sounded from the audience. I thought little of this, however, since the feature was a mystery melodrama and there was a large sprinkling of youngsters in the audience. But all of a sudden an usher rushed into the booth shouting: "Stop the show, quick!" Not being unduly excitable I asked him: "How Come?," since I had a good picture on the screen and the machinery sounded normal. He got as far as: "A woman . . ." when another scream hit the air. Coincidently my eye caught a strip of film gliding snake-like from the open mechanism of the right-hand projector along my empty tool-shelf and out the open port. Instantly I flipped the dowser, shut off the motor, and rushed out to the edge of the gallery and looked over. By this time the house lights had been turned on and all eyes were focused on two dear old ladies who were sitting under the gallery just below the right-hand projector port. They were petrified with fright, with \ irtually a hundred feet of nitrate film entwined about their necks and arms with more draped over their laps and on down around the floor! I rushed down and extricated the ladies, tried to calm them down, apologized for the annoyance, cleaned up the film and then went back upstairs to see what had actually happened. Then I discovered that the loop-setter had been activated and then become stuck, thus immobiliz International Projectionist July, 1963