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Author Topic: Booth access by ladder only Ken Layton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1452 From: Olympia, Wash. USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 06-08-2000 05:50 PM                     How many of you with older theaters have access to booth by a ladder only? The Fox Theater in Centralia, Washington had access by ladder only until it was chopped up into a tri-plex in 1981. Then they built a stairway (fire code) to the booth. The old Washington Junior High School (built in 1922) here in Olympia, Wash. still has it's booth and the only way in and out is by a metal ladder. BTW, this school's booth was set up for 35mm!  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-08-2000 08:03 PM                     The Eastwood theatre in Toronto originally had a ladder to get to the booth that was later replaced with acircular stair case The Gay and the Landsdowne were ladders  |  IP: Logged Joe Smith Film Handler Posts: 56 From: Dale City, Va. USA Registered: Oct 1999 posted 06-08-2000 08:52 PM                     The old Lyric Theatre in Lexington, Va. (gone now, turned into condo's) had a ladder only booth access thru the mens room. In order to get the film cans to the booth, a pulley and rope with a very large hook was used to snare the handles from above. The booth was completely shielded inside by metal, even the floor, (fire codes) and was painted a dark green. Very ugly... At least it had a separate bathroom for the projectionist.  |  IP: Logged George Roher Master Film Handler Posts: 266 From: Washington DC Registered: Jul 99 posted 06-08-2000 11:44 PM                     I worked in a theatre that had a metal ladder for one of the booths. The ladder was only 5 or 6 feet high, and wasn't any big deal. But hauling clamped prints in and out of this booth was a major pain. You had to lift the print up over your head and set it in the booth, then climb up. Film cans were no problem.  |  IP: Logged Ari Nordström Master Film Handler Posts: 283 From: Göteborg, Sweden Registered: Jan 2000 posted 06-09-2000 01:49 AM                     I remember one theatre with a ladder, from the days I first started projecting films: the Kronan ("the Crown") in Gothenburg. The theatre was by far the oldest in town and first opened after the turn of the century. Little had been done to the auditorium in all that time so entering it was a bit like going back in time. New seats had been installed a couple of times, and a somewhat wider screen to run CinemaScope films, but that was more or less it. It was a theatre where you actually could buy a seat placed partly behind a pillar. Unfortunately, the theatre has now been closed down, in spite of efforts to preserve it. The ladder was a vertical 8-feet thingy that made it pretty hard to lift a print up to the booth, but the booth itself was the real ordeal. It was so small that, in order to fit two projectors, one was threaded from the right side and the other from the left. Cool, huh?  |  IP: Logged David Kilderry Master Film Handler Posts: 355 From: Melbourne Australia Registered: Sep 1999 posted 06-09-2000 07:15 AM                        The Rapallo in Melbourne had a ladder only for access (actually there was another ladder access on the other side). We ran on towers in those days - 13,000ft spools - and it was murder moving prints in and out of that box. The six screen Russell complex also has ladder access to one twin box.  |  IP: Logged Bill Purdy Expert Film Handler Posts: 139 From: Seattle, WA Registered: Oct 1999 posted 06-09-2000 12:24 PM                        The Lincoln Theatre in Mt. Vernon, WA, has only a ladder into the booth which itself looks as though it was added after the theatre was built. It protrudes into the house from the rear wall. It has been a long time since I was there, but as I remember it the ladder was so positioned that when you got to the top the booth entrance was behind you so that you had to step across a couple of feet of space to get in. There was a small block and tackle for hoisting the film cans. Here in Seattle, the Harvard Exit has a ladder going between two stacked booths, but it is not the only access to either of them. ------------------ Bill Purdy Component Engineering  |  IP: Logged Scott D. Neff Theatre Dork Posts: 919 From: San Francisco, CA Registered: Oct 1999 posted 06-09-2000 02:20 PM                        A former employee - also my former roommate - she worked at Century's EMPIRE Theatre 3 in San Francisco. I never witnessed this myself -- but the options to get into the booth were through a very narrow fire escape that ran up the back of the building. (Not fun in the rain I'm told) and there was also a ladder that ran up into the booth from the back row of theatre #3. I wish I coulda seen this - but she got herself laid off before I could go and visit / take pics.  |  IP: Logged Marty Hacker Film Handler Posts: 17 From: Los Angeles, CA, USA Registered: Jun 2000 posted 06-09-2000 02:37 PM                     Ladders to access the booth??? I am for anything that helps keep theater Managers out of my booth!  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-09-2000 04:35 PM                        I've never seen any booths that required entry via a ladder. I do feel sorry for the poor folks who had to drag projector bases and such up and down, though. The two strangest booth entrances that I've seen are in two of the theatres in which I have worked: the Cape Cinema (pics on this site) has a very steep iron staircase; the Williamsburg Theatre (also with pics on this site) booth entrance was in the mens' room, though this will probably be changed as a result of proposed renovation work (which reportedly includes replacing the 35mm Centurys with JJs!).  |  IP: Logged Tom Ferreira Expert Film Handler Posts: 203 From: Conway, NH, USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-09-2000 05:50 PM                     The booth of cinemas 6 & 7 at the Mt. Valley Mall Theatre in North Conway, NH has a steel ladder with four rungs to gain access to the booth. Cans can just be tossed up there, but moving an entire print is an effort. I also can't count the number of times I smashed my knees on that ladder-hurts like hell.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-09-2000 07:30 PM                     There used to be a theatre here in Toronto that at various times both Rick Long and I serviced and dragged equipment to It sat half way down the theatre and hung down from the roof You got to it via a steel ladder up the back of the building and then walked across the roof and then down through the roof into the booth I installed a pair of Westrex machines with peerless and a hortson and then removed them via that route and rick had to move a Vic 8 in that way Since it was below roof level major rainstorms wer fun  |  IP: Logged Rob Brooks Film Handler Posts: 57 From: NY, U.S.A. Registered: Oct 1999 posted 06-10-2000 11:49 AM                     In NYC before platters there were many booths that only had access by ladders. The worse for me was a regular theater I worked at in Brooklyn called the Avon. You had to go outside and up the ladder to get into the booth. In the winter ice would accumulate on the very long ladder. And since there was no bathroom in the booth, I had to take a physical risk everytime I needed to relieve myself. Also The Olympia which was a porn theater in Queens had a ladder at the back of the balcony. Since the Manager didn't trust us with carbons, I would have to come down the ladder every few hours to get more carbons. Everytime I came down the ladder It was a surprise to bunches of guys who were busy with themselves. ------------------ Rob  |  IP: Logged Daryl Lund Film Handler Posts: 88 From: Chehalis,WA, USA Registered: Feb 2000 posted 06-11-2000 12:23 AM                     Ken The Dream theatre across from the chehalis ( Pix theatre then). Had a ladder to the booth from the lobby. It was located in the washington hotel and closed shortly after the PIX opened  |  IP: Logged Sean M. Grimes Expert Film Handler Posts: 247 From: Lunenburg, MA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 06-11-2000 02:40 AM                        One of my favorite booths that I have had the pleasure of working in had two ways up... numberone you could walk around to the back of the theater and walk up the stairs to the booth (or one of the two apartments up there... sometimes felt sorry for those people) or you could squeak through this ten rung ladder up to the booth(lots of fun with cans in you hands but not those damn fox boxes) The best part about the booth is that you could run the changeover from the toliet - which was about three feet back from the projectors. oh the marvel of architecture....  |  IP: Logged

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