Page 36 - CinemaRecord #83

From Weapons to

Westrex

- or -

From Bullets to

Biograph

By Gordon Evans

The Lithgow Small Arms Factory’s

place in the Australian Cinema

Industry

he idea for this article stemmed from the and picture projector head are of the Simplex The factory commenced operation in
TCATHS Research Group who had obtained brand. These and the arc lamp were not made January 1912 and the main product was the
a copy of what looked like a newspaper or trade by Western Electric. The turntable at the rear of Lee-Enfield .303 rifle together with its
magazine item which showed an impressive the base was coupled to the projector accessories. The outbreak of World War I in
line-up of Western Electric "universal bases" at mechanism by means of a shaft and gearing. 1914 guaranteed a ready use for the factory's
the Small Arms Factory in Lithgow, New South The driving motor had an electronic speed output.
Wales (see opposite page). control which was normally set to automatic to
move the film at 90 feet per minute. The control The declaration of peace in 1918 meant that
Before delving into the why and wherefore of also could be switched to manual (more on this the demand for rifles etc. fell away although,
this odd connection of equipment and its later). in the early 1920s, the production of the
manufacture, a short description of the Vickers machine gun was investigated but
Universal Base is in order. With the frantic world-wide conversion of not completely commenced until the end of
movie theatres to sound, demand for equipment the decade.
The introduction of “talking pictures” in the late such as the universal base required vast
1920s required theatre owners to supplement manufacturing facilities – enter the Lithgow With a reduced demand for military
their existing silent film picture projectors with Small Arms Factory. hardware, the factory needed to turn to other
the means of reproducing the accompanying outlets for its production if the workforce
synchronised sound. This, in the transition In 1907, Prime Minister Alfred Deakin decided and accumulated expertise were to be
period before sound-on-film became the that the fledgling Commonwealth of Australia retained. To this end, repetitive "outside
standard, could be either disc recordings or should have a defence supply system which was work", also known in the factory as
optical sound tracks printed on the film itself. independent to that of Britain as far as possible. "commercial work", was performed.
Big items such as capital warships and heavy
The sound-on-disc system, initially adopted by guns were beyond Australia's resources or Items made included shearing combs and
Warner Brothers for their Vitaphone expertise but items such as rifles, ammunition handpieces, artificial limb parts, bottle
productions, required a turntable to be etc. could be made locally. openers, toasting forks, Zircaloy spanners,
mechanically coupled to the projector and a Slazenger golf club heads, parts for
pick-up arm and stylus to reproduce the grooves On 16 April 1908, the Commonwealth Gazette refrigerators and parts for Sunbeam
of the sound record. The sound-on-film system listed a “Purchase of Land for Defence Purposes Mixmasters.
needed an optical sound reader in the film path at Lithgow, New South Wales" and
and this was done using a sound head positioned approximately one hundred and twenty two Much later in the 1950s, non-military
under the picture projector head. acres was bought for £2,776-17-6. Lithgow, products encompassed Pinnock sewing
then as now, had abundant supplies of coal for machines, handcuffs, railway parts, sporting
The Western Electric company entered the energy. There was also iron, copper and rifles and shotguns, and component parts of
market for sound equipment with the so-called limestone, and rail and road links to the coast. Admiral brand record changers
"Universal Base" which gave the theatre owner
the ability to play both types of soundtrack and The Gazette of 14 November 1908, invited The "outside work” of interest to cinema
provided the economy of using the existing "Tenders for the Supply of a Plant for the history enthusiasts is the aforementioned
picture projector heads and top spool boxes. Manufacture of Small Arms, Bayonets, and W.E. Universal Base whose manufacture for
Scabbards" and after a lengthy Tender Western Electric of the USA commenced in
The above illustration shows a complete sound evaluation process a contract was let to the USA the 1929–1930 financial year.
projector on a universal base. The top spool box machine tool company of Pratt and Whitney.

36 CINEMARECORD # 83