Page 16 - CinemaRecord Edition 3-2003 #41
P. 16
Interior of the Benbow plant at Knoxville, east Adelaide. These machines were turned over to Defense work when the factory was
relocated to Pirie Street.
Competition Intensifies
Nineteen thirty-one was a busy time
for all projector manufacturers and their
advertising agents. At the start of that
year, 837 Australian theatres were
equipped for sound-on-disc and/or
sound-on-film, at an average capital
cost of £2,550 per theatre. (This
equates to $192,000 in today’s money.)
Weekly service charges were between
£2 and £4 per projector! At that time,
only 38 theatres were equipped for
(14)
sound in South Australia.
By this time Movietone sound-on-
film was easing out sound-on-disc, and
international manufacturers were
pushing their products very hard.
Western Electric’s advertising asked
operators - Do you want an orphan
projector? - warning theatre owners
that they should not even contemplate
locally made equipment as many
manufacturers had already gone broke
and consequently back-up and spare
(7)
parts were unobtainable!
Right: The enclosed sound head of the
Benbow Superior.
16 2009 CINEMARECORD
