KALEE 11 Type 'T' Serial
No. 1032 Fitted with BTH Carbon Arc lamp,
BTH Sound Reproduction Unit (Disk) and BTH Sound -on-Film
head
A classic projector set up
at the beginning of the sound era. By the early 1930’s
both sound systems, Vitaphone Disk and Photophone Optical
were the norm. If a cinema exhibitor had installed the
disk system or had gone for the newer optical system he
could only show films with that system, however quite
soon the solution was to hand with the Kalee 11 Special.
The 11 was adapted to show
both systems and by using a universal stand the Vitaphone
was accommodated to the rear of the projector and the
Photophone fitted in what became the usual place, below
the picture head. Thus no matter what the sound system
was that accompanied the film an exhibitor could show
it.
This projector is the No.2
of the two projectors installed in the Palace Cinema,
Bridport and spent all of its working life in that cinema.
No. 1 is in the Museum of cinema Technology at Bletchley
Park. The arc lamp is the BTH and the sound head is a
Kalee type 243.
Because of the need to house
the new components required when sound came in Western
Electric Co. introduced a 'Universal Base' which could
accommodate the driving motor, film take-up, sound unit,
turntable and the first stage amplification for the photo-electric
cell. Whereas previously these had need to be separately
installed around the projector the Universal Base allowed
a selection of different picture heads and sound etc to
be installed to the exhibitors wishes. This projector
has it's components installed on a Universal Base.
When the 'talkies' emerged
commercially only sound-on-disk (Vitaphone by Warner Bros)
was available the first ones being "Don Juan" 1926 (musical
score only) "Jazz Singer" 1927 part-talkie and the first
complete talking picture (on disk) "Lights Of New York"
1928. Following shortly afterwards however was Fox's Movietone'
"In Old Arizona" 1929 a 100% talkie with the sound photographed
optically on the film ensuring complete synchronisation-sound
with picture.
The K11 type 'T' was a special
model designed to enable the exhibitor the best of both
worlds though by 1931 the optically recorded system was
universally adopted. This particular projector is the
number two of a pair which was installed in the Electric
Palace, South Street, Bridport, Dorset when that cinema
went over to sound in 1930. Subsequently the name changed
to just the Palace and according to the records for 1980
the pair of Kalee 11s were still in situ at that time
with seemingly the same BTH sound system unbelievably.
No. 1 is also still in existence
and is at the PPT National Museum of Cinema Technology
at Bletchley Park. The BTH Carbon Arc lamp is a type 'B'
and carries the serial number R253. It has a rating of
45-50 amps which even for the day seems to be small though
for a cinema of 600 seats overall this was presumably
quite adequate. As additional feature the lamp has a slide
attachment and by prism slides could be shown from the
projector. (Not visible).
Kalee 11 Type 'T' sound
-on-disc Reproduction Unit. BTH Sound Reproduction Unit
type S233 serial number R2312.
Fitted to the rear of the Universal
Base the sound-on-disc reproduction unit consists of a
heavy turntable, heavy duty electrical sound pick-up or
reproducer and drive mechanism. Each reel of film had
it's attendant disc which was 16 inches in diameter and
driven at a speed of 33.1/3 rpm.
The pick-up was placed in the
centre of the disc on a synchronisation groove then linked
to the projector head. The turntable is fitted into a
large pot filled with oil which acts as a damper. As the
film runs at 90ft. per minute there had to be a way to
enable this synchronisation of picture to sound to take
place. Without a Universal Base this was usually achieved
by a flexible shaft drive. With a U/V base a direct flexible
driving rod from the projector gearbox to another gearbox
on the turntable propelled the free running turntable.
The pick-up arm and head were
sufficiently heavy enough to traverse centre to outside
of the disc to prevent problems but were nevertheless
finely balanced and calibrated.
Further technical information of the
sound-on-disc systems are available from the Curzon Collection
Kalee 11 Type 'T' sound-on-film
BTH 'Photophone' soundhead
It is uncertain exactly when
the sound-on-film head was fitted to the K11. We can assume
that it came with the projector when the Electric Palace
changed over to 'talkies' around 1930 which gave the cinema
versatility with two sound systems. For instance they
could show say "The Singing Fool" by Warner Bros and Fox's
"Movietone Follies" in the same programme.
The head we see is a BTH sound-on-film
head, on the Photophone principle, with the exciter lamp
compartment and the sound lens system and the sound gate
clearly visible. Primitive by today's standards it worked
well as a system, though of course modified, until Dolby
systems made their appearance.
To reproduce the sound from
the film the rays from the exciter lamp are condensed
into to the sound lens which are then masked into a thin
pencil of light which is focussed and projected at a reduced
width of .001 onto the sound gate. In this model the photo-electric
cell is housed in the sound gate which includes the Movietone
Sprocket.
After leaving the picture head
path it is smoothed and passed around the sound head through
the sound head gate where the focussed slit of light is
interrupted by the films' optically photographed sound
track. After leaving the Movietone Sprocket the film is
met with a series of sprocket and pressure rollers and
onto the take-up system. The interruptions caused by the
'exciting' of the beam of light by the film sound track
are caught by the photo-electric cell and transmitted
into electrical impulses and through amplification to
sound.
The system of film sound reproduction
today has its has its foundations in the primitive Sound
head pictures here.
Further information about the
sound systems and how they worked is available from the
Curzon Collection.
An example of the precision
engineering that made the Kalee projectors so revered
in the cinema industry. Kalee's manufactured by Kershaw
of Leeds hold dear to many past projectionist's heart.
It has a useful easy picture
gate opening which would open right out when the projection
lens was lifted up out of the way. How many projectionists
can own up to forgetting to release the lens after threading
up a reel with the subsequent result.
The identification plate can
be seen below the lens mount. With the advent of the Universal
Base manufactures were quick to realise the advantage
of them and re-designed picture heads to take a straight
drive from the gearbox which allowed the gears to run
in an oil bath as opposed to outside gears which were
noisy and prone to dirt etc. The top of the gearbox on
the Kalee 11 can just be seen below and to the left of
the head itself.
