Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Alltech Cinema Service closed

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Posted by Bud Shepard (Member # 357) on 03-31-2006, 09:20 AM:

Sad day for us "old timers" that knew of the rivalry between ACS (formerly Altec) and RCA theater service (currently National Cinema Service). Years of history between our two groups for superiority in the cinema service industry dating back to the 40's. Regrettably, Alltech Cinema Service (Bruce Schroeder and Steve Geiger) have closed shop and taken positions with Starplex in Texas as in-house techs. Bruce carried on the ACS tradition (purchased the company a couple of years back) but ACS was devastated with losing General Cinema and currently the Loews / AMC merger have hurt them financially. Best of luck to Bruce and Steve from an old RCA tech.

[ 04-02-2006, 08:02 AM: Message edited by: Bud Shepard ]

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 03-31-2006, 10:53 AM:

Ditto from here. I was raised in the mold of RCA and Altec, later ASC. I was no fan of Bob Gandolphi but Bruce is a very good friend.

Good luck.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 03-31-2006, 11:46 AM:

So long to a bygone era.

I was hired by Norm Schneider, Sr who was my district manager in Atlanta in 1971. His son owns SMART. Norm Senior apparently never worked for anyone other than Western Electric, ERPI, and then Altec. (Gandolphi wasn't smart enough to purchase the name "Altec.") His first job was "labor" at the Biograph...first sound theatre. BTW: Gandolphi was our accountant...and a bad one at that.

I guess I won't collect THAT debt! Louis

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 04-01-2006, 06:34 PM:

Well said, Bud.

I was afraid this might happen. Bruce and Steve are good friends and I was really hoping it would work for them. They really gave it the ol' college try, but I guess the chips were stacked against them. Starplex will certainly benefit from their continued service, however. That much is good news.

Nearly my entire service career was spent with ASC Technical Services... first under Lamarr Michael in '82, and later Bruce Schroeder. As noted, the loss of General Cinema was the impetus to the former ASC's demise. As Louis said, it truly is the end of an era. The company went back to 1937.

While we're raggin' on Bob Gandolfi... I'd gotten laid off when the GCC-to-AMC deal finalized, so I put that on my application when I began driving a truck. The trucking company called Bob to verify my info, and he told them that I'd QUIT! (But then, says I, how was it that I was getting UI, if I'd quit?) [Confused]

Fortunately, I had them call back and talk to Bruce. [Razz]

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 04-01-2006, 06:56 PM:

I, like others have stories about Bob.

A Million years ago, before TAP, I used to assign calls for Universal, WB, Columbia and others. I did as many as 150 screens for various films. It was always a scramble to find good techs
for each city.

All the srvice groups gave me lists of techs with phone numbers, but not Bob. He insisted I send him the list and he would do the assignments. According to him, all his techs were excellent and equal. Since it was my ass, I found my own people.

The reason he would not cough up the list is he as afraid I would make side deals with the techs and he would be cut out. What a dirty mind!

It came to a head in St. Louis when I unknowingly sent the late Vern Klingman of RCA into an ASC house. Even after that, he would not cough up a list.

Let's just say he wasn't a people person. Everyone else at ASC was, in my experience.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 04-01-2006, 09:15 PM:

EVERYONE else was!

Posted by Bud Shepard (Member # 357) on 04-02-2006, 08:00 AM:

I've had the pleasure of working with a lot of Altec/ACS technicians. Everyone as professional and knowledgeable as the next. I really enjoyed working with former Altec guys and exchange stories. One of my favorite's was "Robbie" Robins in Maine. At one time he covered the entire state of Maine and had over twenty drive-ins. I find this amazing because today there is only one drive-in in the state. Robbie was a great guy and his sons were projectionist at GCC Maine Mall for years. I also have dealt with Bruce, Steve Geiger, Jonathan Bartow, Tim Reed and others that make you proud to be technician in this industry. It's amazing how many people in this industry had worked at one time or another for either Altec or RCA.

Posted by John Eickhof (Member # 323) on 04-03-2006, 12:16 PM:

The oldest comes to a close...ALL TECHNICAL SERVICE CO. founded in 1925...Oh well, I worked at Altec Service / then ASC too Bruce is a good friend, I hope all fares well! Hi Sam!! And a note for TIM REED...I start with Montana Express May 1 driving dedicated loads to CA, MT, AZ, WA twice weekly! I can't wait to get out of this office and see the country again!!!

[ 04-06-2006, 03:51 PM: Message edited by: John Eickhof ]

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 04-06-2006, 03:54 PM:

Good to hear that, John. I was wondering if you were still truck dwelling or not. Dedicateds are great, can't get much better than that. Stay safe.

HAMMER! [Big Grin]

Btw, are you on any of the trucking forums? TruckstopUSA.com is pretty good. None of the CB-style abuse there, like on some other "net"s. [Wink]

Bud: Likewise. [Smile]

Thanks!