That looks like an RCA 16mm sound projector from around 1958, see https://youtu.be/v4H-H0EA-48
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Projectors in movies (as opposed to the other way around) ... continued
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It's Memorial Day here in these United States.
*M*A*S*H* is a show that went other places than usual when considering the sacrifices made by members of the Armed Forces, not just in combat but in the aftermath, and among the people who serve in non-combat roles.
Small gauge film was pretty common in *M*A*S*H*. The movie nights in the mess tent were a gathering point for the characters and quite a few conflicts came to a head during the Movie. There were a couple of episodes about the struggles to get a certain print and the tensions of having the same bad movie many Saturday nights in a row! (One of these was a captured Chinese film....with Korean subtitles!)
There were also home movies. All of these characters had families back home: we knew their names, where they lived and a lot about what they were like. We were often read letters to and from them. We were also allowed to "meet" them through home movies. Radar's Mom sent over movies from Ottumwa showing herself and Uncle Ed and Ranger, Radar's dog. Mrs. O'Reilly bore a striking (-some might say "disturbing") resemblance to her son!
In another one, BJ Hunnicutt is away from home for his and his wife's first anniversary apart, and he's despondent about it. Hawkeye secretly tape records him talking about what his anniversary would be like if he was home. BJ's wife Peg films to match this narration and the Medical Staff shows BJ the results in Colonel Potter's office so he still gets to celebrate.
-a reminder of all those too far from home, wherever and whenever they may be.
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Thanks, Janice!
I have a lot of respect for *M*A*S*H*: they succeeded in getting more life out of the series by getting very creative. Most of the time that's not how it goes.
For Memorial Day, one of the cable channels had a *M*A*S*H* marathon. One of the episodes was one where the 4077th has sat through multiple showings of State Fair and it's wearing a little bit thin. Hawkeye and BJ hear tales of kind of an adult movie called "The Moon is Blue" and go to the film office at HQ to make it happen. In a blazing hot summer, they find the only army office in Korea to have air conditioning ("We store film here!"), and talk the guy in charge into sending the film their way first. When it comes, he breaks his word and sends it to a General instead ("That's show-business, baby!"), but the Doctors bribe the clerk in the outer office to switch labels on the two prints before they ship out.
-unfortunately Colonel Potter also intervenes behind the scenes, the cans labeled "The Moon is Blue" are shipped to the 4077th, and they wind up seeing...State Fair...AGAIN!
I found a screen grab from Radar's home movie:
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Gee! Everyone back home looks swell!
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My favourite still has to be AT THE PHEASANT 1958 IN Bedworth UK now demolished. A private projectionist takes his 9.5mm Specto 500 to the English Inn and projects films as many people are staying home watching tv instead.
The film is one of many on the BFI dvd set.
A great addition to your viewing.
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