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Topic: Wenzel Projectors

Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-01-2001 08:34 AM

Here's a name I'll throw in here cause there used to be a pile of Webers sitting on his shelf.........Lee Artoe. Anyone remember him. Oddly my dad remembered him as a player for the Chicago Bears Football Team. Lee had quite a warehouse full of goodies. By the last time I was there in the mid 90's all the good stuff was pretty well cleaned out. There were 4 floors of stuff plus the remnants of his "Theatre Burner Xenon Lamphouses and Rectifiers"). Apparently one theatyre burned down and he was sued and then shut down the operation. All the stuff simply sat there. Dealing with Lee was pretty much like dealing with Mr. Scrooge. he had good days now and then though when he would let you just "take that" but not very often. Anyone know if he is still around?
Mark @ GTS

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Geoff Bradley
Film Handler

Posts: 12
From: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 05-01-2001 10:28 AM

Hi Dave.
The Crystal Lake Drive-in closed a few years back. The RCMP used to make it a regular stop after the famous 91 riot at the Drive-in.
The owner was a very nice gentleman who had suffered a heart attack in 92. His son nor his daughter wanted to take over the business. He owned two indoors as well.
He was converting the land to an RV campsite and he wanted to sell. No buyers came along so the plug was pulled.
I drove by on business one day and saw this screen poking out about 2 miles away from the highway between a cluster of trees.
I turned off the highway and drove up.
He said I could take everything for $700.
That's about 10 dollars American. (Just kidding)
I came back with a cube van and loaded what I could and made the 3 hour drive back home.
Two of the projectors are fine. The spare he kept in the back looks pretty bad.
Water damage has rusted the mechanisms.
I thought I would have it for parts but I don't think so.

Sadly, the Wenzell's from Unity are no longer usable. The Drive-in was vandelized
the night before I got there. The projectors are a write off, I sold the sound heads and I kept the 2 Strong Mighty 90's however, the vandals smashed the reflectors on both and smashed pretty much anything that was glass.
Suprisingly, they missed or didn't think about the lenses on the workbench and left them alone. The full set of lenses were OK.
Most of the film that was left in the booth for over two years was sitting in water in the back room however there was a copy of Trinity Is Still My Name in shipping cans on a shelf. Any fim left on the bench was thrown or unwound onto the floor.
Sad.
I was told where I could find a pair of Simplex XL's but upon talking to the owner, they had dug a hold in front of the booth and buried them.
I almost want to dig them up.
My projectors will be for my home theatre.

Paul, you're right. This is a great site and thanks Brad for the chance to ramble about what makes me happy in life.

Cheers.

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John Eickhof
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 588
From: Wendell, ID USA
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 05-01-2001 12:44 PM

Geoff, Unfortunately, Wolk discr=arded all the genuine Wenzel Parts! I do have a rather
large inventory of Wenzel & Simplex parts. (They interchange exactly) Let me know if you need anything!

Mark...When I was in Chicago last month, I tried to contact Lee Artoe, apparently he is alive and fairly well, but he 'had no time' to visit with me!!! Good old scrooge!

------------------
John Eickhof President, Chief Slave
Northwest Theatre Equipment Co., Inc.
P.O.Box 258
Wendell, ID. 83355-0258
208-536-5489
email: jeickhof@nteequip.com

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-01-2001 05:16 PM

Hi John,
He has had no less than 4 double hip replacements in the past couple of decades. I guess he played a bit too much football way back when! I am amazed that he is still around.......
Mark

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Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 05-02-2001 09:57 AM

On the Wenzel issue I still find there old hand rewinds had the best gear ratio of any hand rewind out there

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Dave Bird
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 777
From: Perth, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2000

posted 05-02-2001 03:16 PM

Can't imagine burying your projectors, why I wonder? At least if you tied a rope to them, you could use them as boat-anchors!!!

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John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 05-02-2001 03:20 PM

There's an old superstition about burying a small statue of a saint in the front yard to help sell your house faster. Maybe they were trying to sell the theatre by burying Saint Simplex.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

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