Page 22 - CinemaRecord #87
P. 22

RECOLLECTIONS OF A COUNTRY EXHIBITOR

                                                                         by Tiff Rayner



                                            Tom  was  accident-prone  and  had  been  hit  Tom was an interesting man, honest as the day
                                            with electric shocks so many times. The old  is  long,  he  was  clean  living  and  sought  a
                                            arcs at the Memorial Hall were always a trap  livelihood  in  the  way  he  knew  best  -  hard
                                            and one had to be careful that both switches on  work.  He  was  as  tough  as  old  nails  and  I
                                            the wet rectifiers were off or one would get a  remember  once  seeing  him  fight  a  man
                                            hell of a belt when changing the carbon rods.  younger than him in front of the show. When
                                                                                it was over, all of his knuckles were skin bare,
                                            Bill and Tom’s relationship dated back to the  but his opponent had disappeared.
                                            war years when a large prisoner of war camp
                                            was  established  in  the  district.  This  British  We  had  to  brush  between  the  wall  and  the
                                            camp  was  manned  by  the  Australian  Army  number one machine to get to the back of the
                                            and held 1000 Italian officers who had been  bio. Tom the assistant was standing between
                                            captured in the Abyssinian campaign early in  the  two  old  C&W  P6s  with  the  monitor
                                            the  war.  There  were  two  compounds  as  the  speaker rattling at him with excess volume. To
                                            political  divide  was  rife  amongst  the  the right was a small stage lamp with a scissor
                                            prisoners. The Kings Men and the Fascists had  arc and a small fold-up table that held a 78
                                            to be kept apart. Bill had the contract to show  RPM pick-up and a stack of glass slides. The
             ay,  way  back  in  the  late  fifties  like  pictures once a week at the camp. They would  front brick wall was covered with notes and
        Wmany       other   young   lads,   now
        grandfathers,  I  had  a  small  eight  millimetre
        cine camera and projector. It was the envy of
        my mates and had been given to me by my
        grandmother  who  was  well  aware  of  my
        interest  in  such  things,  having  watched  me
        with a torch in a shoe box making shadows on
        the wall at age 12.
        The small gauge film was OK but my passion
        was  the  35  mm  projectors  at  the  local  hall
        operated by a man called Bill Jennings.  Bill
        had been a picture show man since his youth
        and had been a member of a travelling silent
        show that toured the Upper Murray in the very
        early days of the century. He was a juggler as
        well  as  projectionist  and  entertained  before
        the  picture  shows.  I  had  made  a  film  of
        interesting events in the town with my 8 mm
        camera and screened it publicly in a hall much
        to the delight of those who came along with
        word  soon  reaching  Bill’s  ears  that  I  was
        interested in moving pictures.
        The  following  Saturday  night  an  usherette
        came to me and asked me to go to the bio as
        Bill  wanted  to  see  me.  As  I  walked  up  the
        steep staircase to the small room at the top I
        could not believe that I was at last to see what
        was inside. The smell of the carbon arcs and                          H   A  L  L  F R O N T A G E
                                                                                            Myrtleford Theatre c. 1963
        the heavy hum of the wet rectifiers plus the                                       1963
        amplified soundtrack blaring out at the same
        level as the backstage speaker only increased  head  off  late  afternoon  and  transport  numbers  all  chalked  in  black  with  short
        my anticipation.                    equipment to the camp some 12 miles away.  carbon  butts.  I  later  saw  that  the  length  of
                                            The  same  machines  were  used  for  another  some special films was recorded for posterity
        Bill was standing on the landing at the top of  show Bill owned at a nearby town.  on this wall.
        the stairs waiting for me while the show was
        kept  ‘on  the  air’  by  an  assistant,  Tom  Tom  carried  the  heavy  machines  to  the  There was an old electric wireless set going
        Langshaw, who had been with Bill for years.  entertainment  hall  in  the  number  one  with  race  broadcasts  and  an  aerial  wire
        I was welcomed and asked did I want to come  compound  and  helped  with  the  projection,  stretched across the back of the room.  Bill
        in for a look. Oh boy, did I ever!  then pulled the plant down again and moved it  was a lover of the ‘neddies’ and even owned
                                            to the number two compound, some feat when  racehorses  through  his  lifetime.  This  radio
        Tom spoke to me as I came in as he knew me  you think of the weight in the rectifiers and  was picking up so much interference from the
        well. He lived close to us. He was a colourful  projector  heads.  This  continued  through  the  old arcs nearby I still wonder to this day how
        character  and  the  best  handyman  one  could  war and Bill often told me he would buy treats  Bill got the race results.
        have. Tom could fix anything. That’s why Bill  for  some  of  the  inmates  and  items  such  as
        maintained   his   close   friendship.  stockings for them to send home to their wives  Tom  would  run  up  and  down  the  stairs
        Unfortunately Tom was quite hard of hearing  and girlfriends.           rewinding  each  spool  of  film  while  Bill
        and had been like that for most of his life.                            ‘minded’ the arcs. Then, as the reel ran, Tom

        22    CINEMARECORD  # 87
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