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Ken Draper interviewed
We were sad to hear of the passing of Ken Draper, one of the
first Cinerama projectionists at the Casino in London in 1954. We are
pleased that the Projected Picture Trust have granted us permission to
reprint this splendid interview with Ken. |
Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter
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Written by: Mikael
Barnard. Content copyright: The Projected Picture Trust.
Reprinted with permission |
Date:
09.02.2017 |
Ken
Draper. Picture from the PPT
We are very lucky at the PPT to have at our disposal an astounding and
prodigious pool of expertise in a wide number of fields related to our
activities and mission. Our curator is surely one of our greatest assets and
he brings a tremendous wealth of experience and knowledge concerning the
technological history of cinema. Among his many achievements can be listed
his time as a Cinerama projectionist at the London Casino where he was
present at no less an occasion than the format’s UK début. In this
anniversary year Ken was kind enough to share the following reminiscences.
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More in 70mm reading:
in70mm.com's Cinerama page
This is Cinerama...at
the London Casino
DP70 at the Casino in London
PDF: Ken Draper interview
Internet link:
ppttrust.org
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How did you come to be a Cinerama
projectionist and what training was
required?
I answered an advert in Kine Weekly – Cinerama projectionist wanted for the
London Casino, only chiefs or first projectionists need apply! I started
work at the Casino on 19 September 1954, eleven days before opening night on
30 September. We had to pick it up quickly but we did many rehearsals and
were well prepared.
How difficult was it as a system, particularly to make up?
As you probably know at the Casino each panel (Abel, Baker and Charlie) was
operated from separate boxes. Abel and Charlie boxes were a pretty decent
size but Baker box was rather squeezed in the middle. The films for each
panel arrived on individual 8000ft spools; there would be two of these per
box and they were changed during the interval. These were fitted with
academy style leaders (with Ken Draper interviewed by Mikael Barnard each
frame being six perforations high of course) and we would lace up to the
start mark.
Did you ever experience any breakdowns? If so how was replacement footage
required and how was this dealt with?
We had a chap named Les Gardiner responsible for dealing with damage and
repairs and he had a separate room. When I was there projectionists worked
two shifts, we never had a breakdown on my shift and I never heard of one on
the other. Nevertheless, the repair man was kept busy examining the films
for damage and keeping them clean. When a particular section looked to be
getting a bit worn a replacement section would be ordered from America,
these usually ran from fade-out to fade-out, the Cinerama travelogues being
well suited to this.
How was the Cinerama equipment at the Casino laid out?
We had the three boxes – Abel, Baker and Charlie and the ‘spot box’. This
was at the top of the Casino and housed the projector for the This is
Cinerama prologue and the sound equipment.
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The
Casino in London playing
"Custer of the West" in Super Technirama 70 as a CINERAMA release. Picture
from the PPT
Did you run Cinerama anywhere other than at the Casino?
No. I started with the début screening of "This is Cinerama", and then in 1956
we ran "Cinerama Holiday". I left in 1957 for a job at MGM British Studios at Borehamwood where I worked in the preview theatre, post sync theatre and in
the music/sound dubbing department.
Cinerama screenings, particularly in the earliest days, were notoriously
well sold. Were you always sold out at the Casino?
Yes, in the early days we always had full houses. One particularly memorable
screening of "This is Cinerama" that I was involved with saw the Queen and
Prince Philip in attendance. Front of house management would deal with the
day-today business of ticket sales. A set amount were held back for
purchasing ‘on the door’ – the Casino was still treated as a theatre and
Cinerama involved individual programmes, not continuous shows as was
standard practice in general cinemas. I cannot recall if there was a waiting
list as such but then it wasn’t my department.
One piece of equipment seen in documentary footage of American Cinerama
theatres at the time shows special cranes for lifting the reels into the
spool boxes, did you have these at the Casino?
We had no cranes at the Casino. We had to lift the spools manually and would
swing them up!
How was the equipment synchronised at start-up? Was it with a mark on
leader like sound on disc?
The cross on the projectors was first set in the usual fashion. All the
equipment was interlocked with Selsyn motors and everything was set off by
the man at the control console which was in front of Baker box in the
cinema, another reason Baker box was so truncated. There was a talk-back
system between the projectionists and the controller. We had a cue switch in
the box, when we were ready we would flip this and a light would appear on
the controller’s desk. He would get four lights – Abel, Baker, Charlie and
the sound box. Once this was done the only thing left for us to do was check
the cooling pumps and strike the arc. Initially I was in charge of Abel box
but later I was promoted to the sound box (the old spot box) where I was
responsible for the seven track magnetic soundtrack and the 35mm projector
used for the This is Cinerama prologue. The controller would flip a switch
when he wanted it to start, a little light would come on in the box and that
was my cue. I would run the projector and as the picture came onto the
screen the controller would open the curtains to a 4×3 ratio. Towards the
end of the prologue the controller would start the other three projectors
running, the projectionists would open their dowsers and the controller
would hit the button for the electronic shutter and open the curtains to
their full width just after Lowell Thomas announced ‘Ladies and gentlemen,
this is Cinerama.’
Ken, thank you so much for sharing your Cinerama
experience with us.
Content copyright: The
Projected Picture Trust.
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"Custer
of the West" in London
Click to see enlargement
"Films and Filming" dated November 1967.
From the files of Gerhard Witte, Berlin
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"Custer
of the West" in London
Click to see enlargement
"New York VARIETY" dated Wednesday, 15 November 1967,
From the files of Gerhard Witte, Berlin
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