Projectors

As a longtime union projectionist, and working for a theatre supply company as a technician, I have come across many different projectors in various theatres. With the exception of the Norelco AAII, I think the American projector manufacturers have it over European or Asian makes and models. I think the greatest American projector was the Brenkert BX-60. It was an "economy version" that came out in 1951. Unfortunately movie theatres were closing in record numbers because of television, and these were the end years for Brenkert. The BX-60 proved to be more durable and reliable than the more deluxe BX-80 and BX-100 models! I have a pristine 1951 BX-60, RCA 9030 soundhead, RCA light duty base, and Brenkert Enarc carbon arc lamp set up in my house.

My favorite "popular" projector was the Century C. The simplicity of this projector coupled with durability makes it a favorite.

My least favorite American projector is the Simplex E-7. I don't care much for any Simplex models, but the E-7 has to be the worst.

Bad as the Simplex E-7 was, the ABSOLUTE worst projector has got to be the Indian made Cinecita and Monee projectors that started spewing onto US shores in the early 80s. These clones of the venerable and reliable Century projector were unreliable, noisy, hard on film, and made of substandard materials and castings. We have Cinema Film Systems (no longer in business) to blame for shoveling this garbage into quite a few theatres.

I was thinking about some of the theatres and the equipment they had.

The Capitan, Varsity, Olmos, Josephine, old San Pedro had Motiograph projectors.

The Fredericksburg Road, Trail, Valley Hi, Lackland, Kelly, Loop 13, Rigsby, El Charro, and Alamo, had Brenkert projectors.

The Towne Twin, Circle 81, Joy, Century South, Fox and San Pedro South screen had Simplex XL/35.

The Bandera Road, Judson 4, Cinemas at North Star and McCreless, Texas, Laurel, Prince, Majestic, Aztec, Galaxy, and San Pedro East and West screens had Century projectors.

The Woodlawn, Broadway, and Wonder had Norelco AAII 35/70 projectors.

The Northwest, and the Act III built theatres all had Ballantynes

The Colonies, and Alameda had Simplex E-7s. The Alamo Drive In started out with E-7s, but they were mercifully replaced before I first stepped into the booth.

Here's a couple of pictures of my Brenkert BX-60 projector.