:I

nrAn:I

1il:L I ,My Days as an Assistant Projectionist

l\ ,/f, interest in fi hns began about I 955 when living in rhe cenrralL V IVictorian lr-ru rr ol'Bendigo.I attended Bendigo East Prin.rary School and at the time l6mrreducational fi1rns u,ere screened approxirnately once a month.

I recall helplnq a Mr Hlcks unload the projcctot'and hcal1, transfot't1tcr fronr his cat' to set up inthe hall. I alwavs got to car$, thc hcar v canvasbag r.r,ith the cans ollllnr.When it rvas tinte fbr nry class to r.ier,r'a filmI rnadc sure that J u,as sittins at the back to.,r'atch Ml Hicl

r?RTH?LE TARADI)TTrams in front of the Plaza,

irrt

On occasions whcn an usher u,as bus-v I haclto obtain a kcv fl'om the bor officc and vn,alkdou,rr an allcv u'ay all the rr'av to thc backstagecntrance. At thc timc VistaVision fbln-rat fihrslvcrc shoun so at thc prccise t.ttot'nettl thc ftatrn'ehrt thc screen I had to pnl) on a rope cablc altdhook it dou'rr oler a lo'uvcr peg to raise thc topsclccr.r r.nasking; in tinrc s'jth the sidc n-raskingrr|(lltid hr tlrc p|ojectrUIli5t LIP\litil:.This operation r.r,as carriecl out

"r'ithout an1'lights being su itchcd on back stagc. as the areabe'hinci stage r'r.as u,ell lit up br, thc image of thepictulc passing thror-rgh thc rnany small soundirolcs ir-r tl.rc screen.In the u,intcr'nronths. befblc criting the stase. Ialso had to check the r'r'ood fitrnace to see il'an\rlogs had to be put in.

1 959 and e\am tilre u'as approaching at theBendigo Tccl-urical School I

"r-as attenrling

and one r-right as I uas preparing to ricle hornean nsl.rcL u.ho r.,nas changing a postet boardenquircd n'ith me as to u'hat I rvanted to clcrr,,hcn I lctt school. I told hinr nrv dacl r'r'orkcdon thc railuavs and hc r.r-anted nre to obtain aposition as a trlrincc tlain driver. but I really\\tlttCJ ltr rr1r1'L 111 llti tttrrr iC:.

The usher cor-r-rllrcnted "That it u,ould bcgreat tl'orl

P9RTil9LT TARADIST

u So rry life as an assistant projectionist began.The projcctionist I couinenccd r'r'ork u'ith u'asJohn Leggo, he harl obtained his projcctionistliccnce ri,hilc u,orking at the L1'ric. and hadopcned the Snan Lake Drive-In in Sale (Vic),and r,r,orkecl at thc Rex Theatre in Davleslbrd(Vic) beforc u'olkir.rg at the Plaza.

Movies ncrc- showrr those da-vs. N'londays toSaturdal,s onlv. as cinemas \\'ercn't allot'cd to\c|ccrr r)lrr\ ic\ (rll Stllldl\ s.There wet'c rratinccs at 2pnt ar-rd eveningscreeuings at 7.3[)pm. i had hall a day off eachSatulda-v. altcmatitrg u'ith thc matincc off ottcSaturda-v, and the night sessiot-t off the ncrt.

A tl,pical start each da,v u'as I pm. first job cleanthe glass projection ports. s\vecp the floor. oilthe projcctors aud run thcnr for a r'r'hilc. Aftera \\';lnn r4r. sr'r,itcl-r off altd lr'ipc dorvn atly oildlips and then tltt'cad thc rcels of filrn.

Tl-rc projectors wet'c a pair of Anstralian tradeC'rurnrit-r-{.lis and \Vilsorr Iuoclel E t.nottntc-d on\\'estern Electric Utrivcrsal Bascs tl'tat -rvereinstalicd since thc Plaza lr'as constl'ucted ill1934. and a pair of Pect'less Magnarc cat'bottarc lantps that r.r'crc installcd u'hcn VistaVisionopened in 195:1. The slide pro.jcctor \\:as anancient aflair: it u'as a \.cl'tical carbon arc lalllpthat had to be ntattnallv operalcd u hilst shou ingthe slidcs.

A couple of rveeks later a gentleman itl apinstlipecl surt anned u,ith a brief cttsc cal'Ilc Llpto thc bio and bcgan taking nly personal detailson a fbnr. hc handed tne i:r pcn and tapped thctbrm and said "sign it". I enquired u'hat for atldhe said "You are joining thc utriott". I saicl r-rothanks I clon't rvant to.ioin. hc gruifll,' saicl 'Signi1. or you rr'on't har c a job". I signcd.

Movie progt'ams sometimes consisted of aCinemascope ftature and the filn-r rvould arriveaccompanied by a rvoodcn box that contained apair of anamorphic lenses u'hich t'ere attachedonto brackets that were alrcady fitted to the fi'ontofthe projectors.These lenscs remained there till the end ofthat week's program, and then removedand fonvarded onto the Capitol TheatreWarmambool. The Plaza and the Capitol u'eleleased at the tirne by the Thomley Brothets.A couple of months later \\,'e teceived a neu'pair of Bausch & Lomb anamotphic lenses,as thcy had nou' purchased another pair for\Varrnambool.

For the Plaza, Sanu'day matinees u'el'e a changeof program, and it r'r,as common to have llln'rsarive in l000ft cans, spool one col-rsisted ofpart 1A and another can pal't 18. rvhen joinedtogether made up the complete spool one, andso or1.

Many a Saturclay r'r,e scrcened the shorter t'eelssingly without joining them" so that u'e couldbum up the smallcr oarbon btttts to usc them up.

(ln occasiot-ts we ran cartoolls that $'ere onhighly flarnmable nitrate filn-r. I rcmembcr aPopere ca1'toon that had quitc a fer.v joins andhad brokerr and caught fire in the film gate.John the pro.jcctior.rist quickly rippcd out a fer'vfeet of fihr from the top spool and thl'elv it otrthe floor and tipped sand ovcr it to snuff, it outTherc rvere tu,o red buckets of sand rl,ith littlehand scoops hanging on the back bio u'a1l read,vfor tl.ris type of problem; this is the only timethat they werc used.Thc sn'rolte u'as thick and smelled tel'r'iblc, and

the stickl, bumt film u'as difficult to ret.nove offthe nicely stained red gum floot'.Or-r the Mor-rday a phone call to Pararnount toreport the ir-rcident. and after that no more nitratelilm r,r,as sent again.

By nou, I had rccerved a small gt'een foldedcard from the Department of Public HealthCinematograph Opclators Regulations it's titleread "Approval of a Traince" This card whenp1'escnted to any manager of another cinelna thatI r,isited, gavc me approval to look tluough otherbio boxes u,here staff rvere allvays u'elcoming.A visit to Melbournc or.t occasious I saw biosiike the Plaza Cinerarna, Centurv Sr'r'anstot.tStreet and the Padua Brunsu'ick.

:T

lir

tII!:

@ ,ot 3 cINEMAREcoRD

I

ptffi

&!

s.{'

&x

tl:&twi*r.&

. *t_ &t a'

I TgRTH9LI TARADDT

r\bout every- fbur months thcre \\'ere r-isits b-v\\ c:tler Sctr ie etttett to e trr-r uLtt i1 \el\ icc ollthe proiectors and sound rack. I lealred quitea fer.r tips on serr,icing on the equiptrent fionlt\\'o gents I remcmber. Rotl Hayntes and RotlLolin'rer.

'\t rcgular times I attencled ttnion lneetings atthe Trades Hall buildings in \'.ieu, Street. onSunday monrings along u,ith other theatren'orkels fiom all of Bencligo's cinemas. It rvasa great social gathcrirtg even though all cillen-rasu,erc operatcd by scparate compatties" all staffgot along.

One da1, Allan. tbe assistant frortt the Llriccontaotcd me. hc nanted to knor'r' if I couldhclp hin-r catch some pigcons that u'el'e in thcariditoriut-t-t oitlre Lt'ric. I said ok so hc alrangcdto meet rnc at I lan the next mot'ttittg as by thistir-nc the thcatre clcaner"s r'r'ould havc finishcdthcir cleanit-tg.

I mct him nerl rnonrittg and he r'r'as arl'necl u'itha metal rubbish can ancl lid. and satd "let's go upto the bio". I askccl hinr "Holr'ot't carth \\'as hegoing to catch thcm u ith the bin'.)"I follou,ed hinr lrp to thc bio u'hich r.vas a smallroor.n u'ith limited space betrvcett the pro.jectorsand lighting ditrnrcrs. He rcuoved a pane olglass from onc ofthc plojection ports. aimed adesk light onto the openin-e. and belorc trtrningout the thcatre li-ghts u'e notecl therc $'ere liYcpigeons inside.

It lvasn't lon-rl beforc thc fir'st pigcon appcaredon thc windo$' si11 squinting in the bright light.Allan grabbcd it and after about 20mir-rutcs hadall in the rubbish catt. He thcn saicl that it's no*'tir-nc to dong them ot.t the hcad. Lle took olle oLltand lvrur-tg its neck ancl droppcd it back in. Allansaid "Do r-oLl \\'rult to clo ot-tc"'l Even though Ihad never done this befbre, I saicl "Y-eah rilr-vnot".Unfortnnatell' I had not realised thc strengthneedcd to do this. I pulled the poor things headlight off and promptly let it go.There u'as a lot of cttrsing tl'on-r Allar-r as theheadlcss pigeon flapped around u,ith f'eathcrsfloating around thc bio u.ith us both tr-"-ing tocatch it. I told him "That's it von do thc rest".

tr*q;;

t ,i .i

x

nc.'- '

cTNEMAREcORD 2 013 o

I,

I

VICTORIAT]EPATTTMENT {}F PI.IFLIC HEALTT{

ffrsjt& *crr

Cr'nerl"l*x*ogrdp& Operatonc .ffiegulatr$ms

Hpprs&nX of & ffirmrffiee

hax111-,rFr t lap

,-.--t-]:]'l-:-il1..lL,'.-.,]}:..,.'i:--=

oixerrrance by hirn of suchlrovisir,'r:= r,f i'!'"; f,lgmY*otw'as relx{e to the 'dutie* cf '?f*in*es.

tsarf ir:u1arr tl.tr ernplc,\.111.L1,i duri:rg prirrd eft?a*ning"

n *gffi$re #&s f rtr:n#1gfr.ql$4*"k:1 !f Esn: .S-6 t I : *l t o " 5;: t. i--{.$

#*{e oJ ,trrue 4$'rl ffl&,l**TE.-This e*,rd m:Int tB

en**rsem*at 'os fh.*ng$.::6*{Si,r$P g fe r} ? ;n*"rr{*'ls-; Lt;' ,

reRTHeLt r RADI)I

John the Plaza projectionist aud I r.vercinterested in photography. and soou afterpurchasing a Kodak developing otltfit \ve weresoon der.elopirtg prints in the bio rvhile r-unningthe shou,'. To try ar-rd keep the room as dark aspossible u,c had pieces of rag and old claybillshanging on pal'ts of the larnp honsc u'hete bitsof light were spilling out.

One matinee the phone t'ang and the messagetl'orl dolvnstairs r.r,as that the Healtl-r Departrncnth-rspcctor" was on his lr,ay up to thc bio. Fora moment thcrc r.r'as a pattic, all the pieces ofrag ar-rd postcrs. developing trays chemicalsand ncgatives u'crc shoved ar'r'ay in cupboards,under bcnches lvith seconds to spare bcfble theinspector came in.

There r.r,elc regular inspections those days bythc Victorian Department of Public Health(Operators Boald) thcy checked on things likeaislc lighting. cxit l ights and outside erit lighting.as u,ell as making sulc that pro-jectionists andassistants u'cre properly licenscd.A rcgular inspcctor rvas a Mt' Clurzon Scegersu,ho u'as ahr"'ays a nice polrte man. alr,va)'sstayed for a u'lrile and r.vas ahva,vs intcrestedirr having a chat. We did not dcvelop any morephotographic prints after that.

One lnorning Jolrn and I altd the head nsherJack Campbell. affectionally know to thc localIads as "Plaza Jack" arrived earlv to lou'er thechanclelicr in the main entt'ance, 1o leplace itsglobes ar-rcl to give it a gencral clean.Afier thc chandelicr u'as rvinchecl dou'tt fron-tthe ceiling tu floor lcvel the lan'rps lvct'c char-rgedancl thc lou,er I'ralf unlockcd aud suuug clou'n.so that I coLtld star-rd Lrp insicle it to clean tl-tcglass panels.

Tirne was getting on and Mr Malgan appearedand said tl-rat u,e would havc to get a lrto\re on asit u,as soon time to open for the matinee.In n-ry haste I was a bit hear,y handcd on a paneof glass and it fell out and smashed on the floor.

Ml Margan \vas not pleased, and he pattcd meon the back ar-rd said "Oh well done^ nou' youcan go round to Searles (glazier) and get anotherpiece of glass cut. I tan to the glaziel'at-rd got apiece cut; he had a similar looking frosted glassbut not the samc colour.With a phone call to a local panel shop he dida bit of paint rniring and spray painted the newglass r.r,hich nT atched perf-ectly.

A handful of cinema conrplin-rentaryr ticketsfor the glazier and pancl shop '"vere all that ittook for the replacernent. Tl're chanrl'^1ier r'r'aseventuall), rvir-rcl-red up u.hile the first lot olpatrons rvere buying their tickets.

In the early 1960s the electricity supplier theState Electricity Commission expcriencedlcgular power strikes frotn the ur-rior-rs; thisafl-ccted thc Plaza as u,e did not ha\ie a standb.vgen13rator.We could only sit on the bottom foyer stairshoping fol the stlike to be prouounced over.and watch patrons learre to go to the L1'ric ot.Princess as thev had their ou,'n por.r'cr.

In 1962 Bendigo's first television station BCVEopencd. and dcsp:ite some people saying that ltu,ould or-rly be a fad and wouldn't last, peopleu,ere buying TV sets on a regular basis.Patlonage to the cinen-ras almost overnighlbcgan to dwindle u,ith claily matinees being curback to Wedr.rcsdays and Saturdays.

The Princess \\,as the hlst to close, and washulldozcd trr tttake urv lot' ltl Atttoco Serr ic.Station. The Plaza and tl.re Lyric were holdingol-1.

Joha Leggo at the Bendigo Plaza 1960.

@ ,013 cTNEMAREcoRD

: llt3

ta

15.tt,'-r,'

XM

March of 1962 I got a message Mr Marganwanted to see me in his office, I was thinkingthat this is it; is the Plaza going to close as well?But it was different news, the directors of thePlaza had instructed him that as I had turned18 increasing my'nages by two pounds ($4),that he was to put me off and put a junior inmy place.Ken confided in me that he had always promisedto make a projectionist out of me and he wouldwork a couple of usher shifts to save the extrabeing paid to me.I felt uneasy about my job from then on and itwas only a month later Ken had said that thedirectors asked again "Why was he still on thebooks?" I felt sick about the situation thinkingthat working in the movies for me was about tocome to an end.

My dad was delighted, "Go and get anapprenticeship on the railwaYs".

Just as I was making enquiries with the unionabout my situation I was in luck. The AssistantProjectionist position came up at the localGolden Drive-In and I quickly contacted themanager Kevin Houlahan and told him of myplight, and after chatting to him for a while hetoldme I hadthejob. Dadwas very disappointed'

I loved the change to the drive-in; no more lightfittings to clean; only changing blown globesalong the bottom of the screen, area avenuelights and speaker post down lights.

The local radio station 3BO was tuned in tothe RCA amplifier sound system and with ascrewdriver in the back pocket setting offon aramp tramp, checking for any faulty or missingspeakers and replacing them'

Opening in 1957 the Golden Drive-In had moremodem projection equipment than I worked onat the Plaza. Super Standard projectors thatwere Australian made in Adelaide by FittonEngineering works, RCA rotary stabilisedsound heads, andlarge arc lamps called BTH, orBritish Thompson Houston, of Rugby England'Everything was branded RCA including the fourracks of valve ampliflers.

Protruding in a large waist high cabinet outthe front of the projection room was an ACgenerator which was driven by a V8 petrolengine; no more missed sessions due to powerstrikes.From April 1962 to February of 1966 I spent amemorable time at the drive-in.

Time was spent studying for my projectionistlicence which I could sit for when I reachedthe age of 21 . I actually got married just a weekbefore my licence exam, so I spent time onmy honeymoon brushing up on Ohms Law inreadiness for the day.

On the exam day a power strike was announcedwhich threw a spanner in the works, arriving inMelboume at peak traf,0c time there were trafficjams as no trams or trains were running.The exam was being held at the RMIT and I wasnearly an hour late and was told that the examshad already started and that I might miss out.Fortunately there were five of us in the sameboat so they put us in another room and let uscommence on our papers.

The subjects covered were Fire Regulations,AC power, DC power, Sound, and a ptaclicalexam on the projectors at the RMIT' I can stillremember my projection test, I was asked toscreen a Fox Movietone Newsreel its main itemfeatured the first Holden FX car rolling offtheproduction line at Fisherman's Bend, followedby aTechnicolor trailer ofThe Garden ofAllahstarring Charles Boyer and Marlene Deitrich;both were nitrate.

After this test, one by one we entered a largeroom that had transformers, all types ofelectricalswitches, AC and DC motors with their casingscutaway so that the insides were fully visible'Here Mr Curzon Seegers tested us on ourrecognition and operation of various pieces.After an exhausting total of five hours of examsfor the day, it was time to drive home.

After a long two weeks wait, a letter arrivedin the post with my percentage pass rate on allsubjects; I had passed, now finally achieving myCinematograph Operators Licence, I was nowable to be in charge of my very own projectionroom! f

Photographs from Michael Purdon, with additionalmaterial from the Kevin Adams Collection.

Heolth Act l95B (No. 6170)Ci nenratograph Operrtors Regulati on s I 965-Sch ed u le V-

CINEI,IATOGRAPH OPERATOR'S LICENCE

STATE OF VICTORIA

?,;iwi,*

Accountont,of Health

NOTE-This aicnre must be kePt readl for insPction by any authorized ofliser and mlst be

1-r 'l , i, r'

Eftin Sirru* $thufiriptt1 that t" -- lL+'a-L ' .l I l'eq;L't' 4* ' .'(whore signature appears in the margin hereof) has satisfied the Board of Examiners as thi, .o*p",un.y in rhe operation of the cinematograph aPParalus specified hereunder' anis authorized by the Connmisrion of Public Health to act as cinematograph gPratorconnexion rherewirh for the year ending the tt i.ty-tirrJ"lor o"."*uI.,'[9 6''t"

Description of APParatus.---,

r .':aSAj-I- r-''1":'

. t.:'*tPMEbff- -;;t'r;:'i* : -,-,, i :*r1ll.*1

LICENCE FEE

day of.-- ,-,-,.. .

(FiftI cents) paid at Helbourne this, -J_t>

cTNEMARECORD 2 013 @

i

*c)

x.)iR,i

\'NI

tLi

\.J.J

\lJ\t

\ ..!\'tl

rlooq-orp

{oo

C.!!

IMG_20140504_0001IMG_20140504_0002IMG_20140504_0003IMG_20140504_0004IMG_20140504_0005IMG_20140504_0006