KALEE 19 Serial Number 19196
This Kalee 19 projector's
history and from what cinema it was removed is not known.
19's were the for-runner of the very popular 20's and
21s. and themselves were a popular machine with projectionists.
They are streamlined and very
attractive looking finished in the bronze livery typical
of the latter Kalee range. The film and sound heads are
fully enclosed with glass doors for observation.
This projector is fitted with
a Varimorf anamorphic lens and to the rear of that lens
the necessary 'backing lens' . The Gaumont Kalee Arc Lamp
seen fitted to this projector is standard. The small projector
seen by the side of the Kalee 19 is an early black model
of a Debrie D16 16mm projector. The most modern of the
projectors in the Collection the model could be found
in many cinemas across the UK in the early 50's onwards.
They were highly diverse-able and could be easily adapted
for most of the image and sound development experienced
in the Industry including the latter digital sound systems
The PICTURE HEAD of the Kalee
19 is compact yet the film path is easy to thread. the
film smoothing system below the intermittent is very efficient
passing the film towards the. SOUND HEAD is a Westrex
usually fitted to the latter Kalee models. The film path
through the sound gate can be seen with the Exciter Lamp
and the Sound Lens unit. except for above and below the
heads the film path was almost totally enclosed ensuring
good protection from exterior influences.
The interior of the Arc Lamp
set up with the positive and negative carbons ready to
be energised for running. This arc lamp could run at between
45-50 amps DC which means that it would have perhaps have
been installed in a small to medium sized Cinema if, as
known, Cinemascope was shown.
