Page 22 - CR

Another incident that I remember was Robert sold me the Simplex plant at a give-away
the booking of a 16mm copy of Cecil B. price for possible use at my school where I had
DeMille’s 1927 silent version of King of 16mm contracts with all of the film distributors
Kings which ran simultaneously with the for weekly screenings to the boarders.
city release of what was perhaps unfairly
lampooned as ‘I was a Teenage Jesus’ with This plant, the first of two Simplex pairs
the heart-throb Jeffrey Hunter. which I owned, was later installed in my
private “Regent” home theatre to augment
The sound-track had the original score, the heavy duty (and very heavy) Bauer
(probably recorded by the symphonic Selecton IIW 16 mm transportable projector
orchestra of the Roxy Theatre in New York), with three hours non-stop screening capacity,
and a two-colour Technicolor sequence of the which I had used for the screenings at the
resurrection of Jesus which is quite moving school and which I still have.
(even for a non-religious person) and may
be seen on YouTube. It did huge business, Robert, ever keen to exploit every new
especially as the newspaper critics of the opportunity, had realized that there was a
time preferred it to the re-make. huge potential audience in the young surfers
and skiers of Melbourne, and we showed
As time went on, and the timing of surf films at the Dendy, on the oval at Lorne
mainstream bookings remained a problem, in summer and ski films at Falls Creek in
the Prince George’s policy was transferred winter using my Bauer, so when the 70 mm
to the Dendy and the cinema closed, later plant was being installed in the Dendy, the
to become Robert’s cabaret for Melbourne’s nightly screenings were continued by rigging
bright young people, Basin Street. the portable screen we had used at Lorne up
Robert realized that he had two problems. in front of the Dress-Circle and the Selecton
The first was that the family owned two Some weeks after the theatre went dark, the IIW at the back of the balcony in front
cinemas a few hundred metres apart in the popular film A Man Called Peter opened at of the bio box.
same street, and that if he were to improve the Dendy. I was in my quarters at school
distribution matters he would have to source when I was surprised to receive a call from
his own supply of quality films. Robert asking me to come down to the
Prince George, open the theatre and screen
In short, the general run of new releases the film there, as queues which had no hope
was transferred to run exclusively at the of admission stretched around the block into
Dendy, and the Prince George was to Well Street!
become Melbourne’s first true full time
‘art-house’ cinema. He was also prepared to Fortunately I was free for the evening
play the distributors at their own game by and I opened the theatre, dusty seats
booking films which often, like New Faces, notwithstanding, and ran two spools behind
a cabaret film with Eartha Kitt in four track the Dendy. ABOVE: Temporary screen in front of new one.
CinemaScope, ran for many weeks.
By this time, the Powers plant which I first BELOW: New proscenium and giant screen.
encountered in the Dendy had been replaced
by Simplex projectors on RCA rotary sound
heads and was in turn being upgraded by the As many fine films were available only on
installation of 70/35 Cinemeccanica Vittoria 16mm, the highest standards of projection
8 projectors with a huge new screen. The were required and Robert acquired a Bauer
Dendy’s standard academy ratio 1.33 screen Selecton IIO which, like my IIW, had a true
was Melbourne’s largest, and widescreen maltese cross intermittent movement and a
films were actually smaller, but displayed high quality anamorphic lens.
Eartha Kitt in “New Faces”. at their correct ratios by vertical as well as
horizontal masking. It had an integral high intensity carbon arc
designed to give the best possible illumination
of the small aperture. That particular model
was physically the most beautiful cinema
projector that I had ever seen and the screen
results were truly excellent
Alongside the Cinemeccanicas and the later
Christie plate film feed (one of the first such
installations) it made for one of the best
equipped projection rooms in the world.

New 35/70mm projector.

22 2012 CINEM AREC ORD