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Some thoughts about owning and collecting Pathe 9.5m/m Projectors and film
I Just wanted to put down some of the events that lead to my interest in Pathe 9.5m/m film and projectors. My father was a photographer - he opened a shop in the 1950s - but before that he worked for Boot's, doing all sorts of itinerant photographic stuff, including some cine. During my early childhood I used to show his films on an editor (Haynor) and was occasionally allowed to work the projector, a Eumig P8 which he bought in 1954 and which I still have. One day in his box of 8mm films I came across a reel that just looked wrong. The film was broader, and the sprocket holes were in the centre! Very odd! My father explained that it was a different kind of film, and that it could not be shown on the Eumig. I was very curious!
A short 'bus ride from where we lived at the time, there was a road with many antique and junk shops; Christchurch Road, which I occasionally visit now to this day, but it is a mere shadow of its former self. Gone are the rows of seemingly unending shop windows of items that held such a fascination for me. Gone are the piles of old records and the horned gramophones, the boxes of pianola rolls and the many other things that one could so readily loose one's self in. Many years ago I saw in one such shop two diminutive hand-cranked projectors mounted on a wooden platform (probably home-made) and I knew instinctively that these must be for that other type of film. They looked so magical, and I wanted to own them so desperately that day. The proprietor told me how much they were, and although I don't recall now, it was probably much more than the 15/- I had only just managed to save up for a starting pistol I bought at around the same time. I recall asking my father to 'phone the shop, and recall the conversation with my father offering an amount well below what was being asked for, and the man (according to my father) saying he "really wanted your son to have them" but it was to no avail. I would have to wait several years for my first 9.5m/m screening.
I was probably around 13 when I saw the pair of Pathe Baby Projectors in Boscombe, but I was 19 when, during a choir outing I found a shop in Glastonbury that had a Pathe "Lux" amongst pianola rolls, wax phonograph cylinder records and a myriad of other interesting things. I was in my second year of University, studying chemistry in Exeter, and had sung in the local church choir since my arrival. The "Lux" cost £30, and of course I had no money, but the rector, John Godeck rushed to my aid with his cheque book, and the item became mine. The shop-keeper commented that it was unusual to see a priest with the word 'God' in his name, and I suppose it was.
Astonishingly the old projector came with a working bulb, a resistance block and an instruction manual. The second biggest shock I had was that it still worked! The least said about the first, the better. I had no real idea how to get it going properly, but it was my initiation into the wonderful world of Pathe, and those "other" films. Later I acquired a few more films from a collector in Dawlish, and even a camera (H motocamera) and during my teaching practice, a few years later, I used the "Lux" in some classes, playing a piano accompaniment to a film ("The Simp" SB30042) This involved keeping the class, and the projector in order as well as being inspired enough to improvise effectively. Somehow I managed. It was shortly after this, with the exception of purchasing a few more films, a Specto B projector and an occasional screening, that the first part of the story ends. After a gap of what must be over thirty years, my interest was about to be re-kindled; actually “turbo charged” would be a better way of putting it. Here's how it happened.
My teaching career over, three house-moves later and me in my early sixties, I had amassed a wonderful collection of musical technologies: thousands of sound recordings of many formats with some lovely examples of machines to play them, a fine reproducing pianola with a good collection of the special rolls – as well as regular 88 and 65-note ones, and a 33-rank Aeolian Pipe Organ that I had brought back from America during one of my many visits. I play most days, and am never happier when improvising at the keyboard. Over the years I have used my gifts in this area to play live improvised accompaniments to vintage silent films at several venues. Such films as “Sunrise”, “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Metropolis” were among my repertoire, and naturally I developed a very intimate relationship with the movies as I used the emotions they elicited in me to inspire the music that seemed to flow from my fingers.
My collecting interests had not diminished in the least, and now included air guns, crystal receiver sets, watches and clocks and Seltzagenes (soda siphons) and whilst on the look-out one day my eyes rested on a box of vintage films which contained what appeared to be a complete set of “Metropolis” on 5 reels: SB745. I was not to know until later, that, like a lot of Pathe's films it was a cut-down version of the 35m/m cinema format, but, none-the -less a wonderful thing to own, along with many dozens of other films, long and short. I almost missed the on-line bidding, but prompted by my good friend Tony Sandison, I pressed the mouse button at the right time, and became the lucky winner of lot 546.
The 9.5m/m projectors had sat, covered in dust – I am ashamed to say – on a high shelf in my Victorian town-house for longer than I can really recall, and now, with “Metropolis” and her companions in five boxes, it was time to get them going again. The Specto came back to life immediately, and so taken was I by its classic lines and smooth workings, I bought 4 more, all very cheaply, in the various gauges and styles in which they were made. The “Lux” had a swollen fly-wheel by now, and needed some remedial work, but it, too came back to its former nature, showing the wonderfully quirky notched films with aplomb (“cork et its Manufacture” being quite a favourite) Strangely, I had not shown the “Metropolis” film, because I felt its first screening here in Exeter will be something of an occasion, which will need to be relished and savoured before kindred spirits and may form part of a “Metropolis” party later in the year.
What happened next will form the second part of this narrative, and was as unexpected and delightful as any of my collecting adventures. It involved a spontaneous “comfort purchase” prior to a trip to the dentist, films of a woman making wax flowers to charming, but utterly inappropriate music, a brilliant pianist who emigrated to Australia in the 1930s and the Latin words for 'above' and 'voice'
To be continued...........
Paul Morris, Exeter
I Just wanted to put down some of the events that lead to my interest in Pathe 9.5m/m film and projectors. My father was a photographer - he opened a shop in the 1950s - but before that he worked for Boot's, doing all sorts of itinerant photographic stuff, including some cine. During my early childhood I used to show his films on an editor (Haynor) and was occasionally allowed to work the projector, a Eumig P8 which he bought in 1954 and which I still have. One day in his box of 8mm films I came across a reel that just looked wrong. The film was broader, and the sprocket holes were in the centre! Very odd! My father explained that it was a different kind of film, and that it could not be shown on the Eumig. I was very curious!
A short 'bus ride from where we lived at the time, there was a road with many antique and junk shops; Christchurch Road, which I occasionally visit now to this day, but it is a mere shadow of its former self. Gone are the rows of seemingly unending shop windows of items that held such a fascination for me. Gone are the piles of old records and the horned gramophones, the boxes of pianola rolls and the many other things that one could so readily loose one's self in. Many years ago I saw in one such shop two diminutive hand-cranked projectors mounted on a wooden platform (probably home-made) and I knew instinctively that these must be for that other type of film. They looked so magical, and I wanted to own them so desperately that day. The proprietor told me how much they were, and although I don't recall now, it was probably much more than the 15/- I had only just managed to save up for a starting pistol I bought at around the same time. I recall asking my father to 'phone the shop, and recall the conversation with my father offering an amount well below what was being asked for, and the man (according to my father) saying he "really wanted your son to have them" but it was to no avail. I would have to wait several years for my first 9.5m/m screening.
I was probably around 13 when I saw the pair of Pathe Baby Projectors in Boscombe, but I was 19 when, during a choir outing I found a shop in Glastonbury that had a Pathe "Lux" amongst pianola rolls, wax phonograph cylinder records and a myriad of other interesting things. I was in my second year of University, studying chemistry in Exeter, and had sung in the local church choir since my arrival. The "Lux" cost £30, and of course I had no money, but the rector, John Godeck rushed to my aid with his cheque book, and the item became mine. The shop-keeper commented that it was unusual to see a priest with the word 'God' in his name, and I suppose it was.
Astonishingly the old projector came with a working bulb, a resistance block and an instruction manual. The second biggest shock I had was that it still worked! The least said about the first, the better. I had no real idea how to get it going properly, but it was my initiation into the wonderful world of Pathe, and those "other" films. Later I acquired a few more films from a collector in Dawlish, and even a camera (H motocamera) and during my teaching practice, a few years later, I used the "Lux" in some classes, playing a piano accompaniment to a film ("The Simp" SB30042) This involved keeping the class, and the projector in order as well as being inspired enough to improvise effectively. Somehow I managed. It was shortly after this, with the exception of purchasing a few more films, a Specto B projector and an occasional screening, that the first part of the story ends. After a gap of what must be over thirty years, my interest was about to be re-kindled; actually “turbo charged” would be a better way of putting it. Here's how it happened.
My teaching career over, three house-moves later and me in my early sixties, I had amassed a wonderful collection of musical technologies: thousands of sound recordings of many formats with some lovely examples of machines to play them, a fine reproducing pianola with a good collection of the special rolls – as well as regular 88 and 65-note ones, and a 33-rank Aeolian Pipe Organ that I had brought back from America during one of my many visits. I play most days, and am never happier when improvising at the keyboard. Over the years I have used my gifts in this area to play live improvised accompaniments to vintage silent films at several venues. Such films as “Sunrise”, “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Metropolis” were among my repertoire, and naturally I developed a very intimate relationship with the movies as I used the emotions they elicited in me to inspire the music that seemed to flow from my fingers.
My collecting interests had not diminished in the least, and now included air guns, crystal receiver sets, watches and clocks and Seltzagenes (soda siphons) and whilst on the look-out one day my eyes rested on a box of vintage films which contained what appeared to be a complete set of “Metropolis” on 5 reels: SB745. I was not to know until later, that, like a lot of Pathe's films it was a cut-down version of the 35m/m cinema format, but, none-the -less a wonderful thing to own, along with many dozens of other films, long and short. I almost missed the on-line bidding, but prompted by my good friend Tony Sandison, I pressed the mouse button at the right time, and became the lucky winner of lot 546.
The 9.5m/m projectors had sat, covered in dust – I am ashamed to say – on a high shelf in my Victorian town-house for longer than I can really recall, and now, with “Metropolis” and her companions in five boxes, it was time to get them going again. The Specto came back to life immediately, and so taken was I by its classic lines and smooth workings, I bought 4 more, all very cheaply, in the various gauges and styles in which they were made. The “Lux” had a swollen fly-wheel by now, and needed some remedial work, but it, too came back to its former nature, showing the wonderfully quirky notched films with aplomb (“cork et its Manufacture” being quite a favourite) Strangely, I had not shown the “Metropolis” film, because I felt its first screening here in Exeter will be something of an occasion, which will need to be relished and savoured before kindred spirits and may form part of a “Metropolis” party later in the year.
What happened next will form the second part of this narrative, and was as unexpected and delightful as any of my collecting adventures. It involved a spontaneous “comfort purchase” prior to a trip to the dentist, films of a woman making wax flowers to charming, but utterly inappropriate music, a brilliant pianist who emigrated to Australia in the 1930s and the Latin words for 'above' and 'voice'
To be continued...........
Paul Morris, Exeter
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