Page 19 - CinemaRecord Edition 3-2003 #41

A week later, at the end of the show
also for sale, but we couldn’t afford it.
The seats came from the Royal
Pictures at Windsor, we were told.
Some old forms from the Paramount
were reused in the front rows, so now
we could seat more than 50 people.
Audience numbers swelled and a
Saturday matinee was introduced. A
4.00pm intermediate session soon
followed. Day sessions were all kids,
but the night session attracted close to
half adults. The adults often brought
along a guitar or accordion to add to
the entertainment. Such acts needed a
spotlight. We soon made one, but the
only suitable lamp we could get was for
110 volt. We overcame the problem by
connecting the lamp in series with half
a toaster element. Did that element
glow! The power supply was not
properly earthed and shocks from the
equipment, especially the P.A., were
frequent.
Slides - writing scratched on to 35
mm leader film - were screened using
the old Lion projector. None were
commercial of course, but one always
raised a laugh - ‘Don’t dig out that old
tree, blow it out with TNT’.
The thriving candy bar sold home-
made ice cream kept frozen with ice
and butcher’s salt. We also had a source
of Coca Cola, which was a coup for a
back-yard operation.
The Crown had a brick floor. In
winter we lit fires on the bricks then
scraped out the ashes just before
session time. Never mind the smell or
soot deposit on our screen, we knew
our audience wanted their theatre
‘comfortably warmed for your added
enjoyment’. A projector progression. Clockwise from involved a fight between the brothers
Always on the look out for ways to top: The toy Lion 35 mm projector. Kodak and the rent collectors. The owner of
improve presentation, we bought a EE 16 mm and a Pathé H 9.5 mm; all the house, ‘old Jack’ had no
Pathescope Son 9.5 sound projector. We silent projectors.
mounted a sign, ‘Look for the big Kodak and Pathé images are from the
surprise next week.’ Mike Trickett Collection.
some of the audience asked, “What was
the big surprise?” They hadn’t realised
they had been watching silent pictures
all this time!
Audience numbers were such that
the Herald boy found it worthwhile to
come around and sell his papers before
the evening show. We were all working
by now, John in a dental laboratory. He
borrowed the firm’s 16mm Ampro
projector and some dental films. These
were screened one night at the end of a
regular show. A Midnight Horror Show
had nothing on this; after a few minutes
the audience and projectionist were out
of the place, the film rolling on in an
empty room!
Despite the popularity of the shows
anything unexpected would put us in
the red. Public transport was always
used to collect our films. Once, back on
the tram, we realized that a reel was
missing. Speed was essential. The cost
of the taxi trip wiped out all profit.
The next step was to show our own
films. With a GIC 9.5 camera we made
several home movies, including a short
comedy about golf set to Exhibition
Swing. We also shot scenes of the
district and children's football games.
This lured an audience.
Our big decision was to make a
western - in colour. Since 9.5mm
colour film was not readily available
we bought a Bell & Howell Standard 8
camera. The story line was a mix of
ideas from hours spent in the darkness
at the Regent Thornbury, the Circle
and the Gowerville. The Barton’s Ride
was the title, the screenplay largely the
work of another school friend, Colin
Hood.
At one point in the story the
brothers are in jail doing hard labour.
This scene was filmed in an old quarry
near where Bell Street Preston crosses
the Darebin Creek. The brothers are
smashing rock until two riders
overpower their guards. The Bartons
leap onto the horses and escape. This
action sequence, the film title and a
subtitle were filmed.
The next scene had the brothers
holding up the town rent office. This
was rehearsed at a relative’s house and
understanding of film-making.
CINEMARECORD 2009 19