Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Need Help Researching Projection Booths of Fox West Coast Theatres.

This is topic Need Help Researching Projection Booths of Fox West Coast Theatres. in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 07-02-2003, 07:30 PM:

OK gang:

I am doing some historical research for the Tucson Fox Theatre Foundation regarding the projection booth 1930-1974.

Going back to origonal newspaper articles of 1930, the theatre was origonally designed to use Simplex Grandeur equipment/presentations. Since Grandeur failed, I assume that new Supers/SH1000s would have been installed. The origonal sound system was Western Electric, but I am not sure if U-Bases were installed? If U-Bases were installed, could it have been a combination of Sound-On-Disk and optical...or just one or the other?

I recently saw the remnants of the booth. There were some spare Super parts that were totally beyond hope, as well as a couple of Simplex X-L exciter lamp power supplies installed in the 1950's or 1960's...I forgot.

I am friends with a few of the old IATSE projectionists here. Ironically, the father of one of these guys was also a Tucson IATSE projectionist who worked the Fox. This guy has some photos of the booth, which I will hopefull get to use for reference (his Mom has them). One of these photos has been posted in the Tucson Fox Theatre website. It shows LL-1 pedestals (confirmed by one of these former-projectionists), and Peerless Magnarcs. It is hard to see, but the heads look like Supers/SH1000s w/2000 ft magazines.

What year were LL-1 pedestals first introduced?

Sometime in the late 1950's or early 1960's these two guys installed a waterfall screen in the theatre, but they forgot the year and date. It has been so many years, that these guys have forgotten much.

Anyone who may have more info and insite would be most welcome!

Posted by Robert Throop (Member # 61) on 07-03-2003, 09:42 AM:

The LL1 was introduced in early 1937. I don't think the SH1000 came out until 1938.