Early Cinema

    A Pathé Fréres 28mm film projector

     

      At an auction I bought this Pathé Fréres 28mm film projector, of 1912, and at the same auction also a box of 28 mm films.
      Now it rarely happens that you can buy one 28 mm film, so a box full of 32 movies is definitely a sort of miracle
      Now the movies really didn't look too good in this box. But, after coming home, cleaned and properly rolled,
      those films were surprisingly in excellent condition. 

      This was all the more surprising because some of the cans were totally rusted. How lucky can one be? Even better,
      all films have English titles, As well as being non-flammable, which is another plus.

      I have just made an example of a 28 mm film frame with a 35 mm frame.
      Except for size, the transport teeth are also different. 
      The 28 mm wide film had one sprocket hole per frame on one edge of the film, 3 on the other.
      The 35 mm has four perforations on both sides of the frame.

      As usual, the machine was taken apart at home, and this was necessary, as evident by the bottom shelf,
      to be fully cleaned and lubricated.
      This projector featured dynamo lighting which was “powered by a belt from a large flywheel connected to the main shaft,
      ideal for  projection on any remote location.

      Fortunately the metal carrying case was also included and in a very good condition, as shown on the photo.

      Even this machine works again like a charm, and can hopefully continue doing so for another 100 years.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    

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