General Information

Serial #

310

Part Number

1

Total Parts

12

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Predominantly metal projector with glass and synthetic parts.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

161.0 cm

Width

55.0 cm

Height

166.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Photography

Category

Cine images

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Century

Country

United States of America

State/Province

New York

City

New York

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

ca. 1970-1980

Canada

For decades after its founding in 1941 the National Film Board was Canada’s largest centre for the production of films, the training of filmmakers, and the development of new film technology. Unlike the CBC, much of whose production was broadcast live, recorded on video tape, purchased from other sources, or limited to ephemeral news films, the NFB was dedicated to the production of original films for exhibition largely in the film medium. Due to its freedom from commercial pressures, its large permanent staff and its possession of its own studios and laboratories, the NFB was able to maintain high technical standards and encourage technical and stylistic innovation by its staff. From the early 1950s through the early 1960s, the National Film Board enjoyed a "golden age" with a string of award-winning documentaries and innovative animated films. Expo 67 and the NFB's showcase Labyrinth pavilion marked the apogee of the institution's political and financial fortunes. By the end of the 1960s, however, there was growing public and political disenchantment with the NFB over unsuccessful forays into feature films, a number of controversial documentaries and a decline in its output of educational and sponsored factual films. Over the next two decades, the federal government promoted the development of a commercial film industry by taking away the NFB's lucrative sponsored work (done for government departments) and providing grants and tax incentives for privately produced feature films. Henceforth the Board would increasingly limit itself to research and experimentation, the training of young filmmakers, and provision of technical and distribution services for independent producers. Board staff produced a steady supply of award-winning documentaries, dramas and animated films through the 1970s and 1980s, yet its role within the Canadian film landscape was steadily diminishing. In the last two decades, it has sharpened its focus on “social issue documentaries, auteur animation and alternative dramas” and has brought its distribution system into the digital age. Increasingly, its films are realized through a diverse range of community-based projects, programs for emerging filmmakers, and joint productions with independent producers and directors.

Function

A device with a light source and magnifying capability into which cine film is placed in order to project moving images on to a screen or other suitable surface from a distance.

Technical

This projector is capable of showing both 35mm and 70mm films. It appears to be a Century JJ model, which was common from the 1960s through the 1990s in movie theatres equipped for 70mm films as well as the standard 35mm prints. Releases in this large format were generally limited to a few widescreen Hollywood blockbusters per year and periodic spectacles at world fairs and the like. This example, housed in the main theatre at NFB headquarters, is equipped with a magnetic sound head (or “penthouse”) for reproducing soundtracks carried on magnetically striped film. The light source is a Strong X-60 lamp house equipped with a xenon lamp. Invented in Germany in the 1930s, xenon lamps matched carbon arc lamps in intensity and spectral characteristics but were maintenance free and clean operating. The first xenon installation in North America was in 1961. The NFB’s Labyrinth pavilion at Expo ’67 included two xenon-illuminated Century JJ-3 machines for projecting 70mm images. These were specially modified machines, however, and it is unlikely that this example is one of them. Gerald Graham’s history of NFB technical developments mentions a pair of 70mm projectors in the board’s main theatre that were used in the mid-1970s to evaluate footage for a widescreen 3-D demonstration film. This example is likely one of those and, in any event, represents the NFB’s ongoing institutional interest in the 70mm medium, which grew out of the Labyrinth project and would continue via co-productions with IMAX Corporation. Apart from our IMAX unit, we have no 70mm projectors in the collection.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Printed on glass doors: "Century"/ On the manufacturer's plates: "CENTURY PROJECTOR CORP./ NEW YOR[covered by NFB label]/ Cen[tury]/ MODEL JJ SER. NO. 310/ MANUFACTURED UNDER U.S. PATENTS/ 426847-426848 OTHER PATENTS PENDING"/ "Century/ TRADE MARK/ SOUND REPRODUCER/ CENTURY PROJECTOR CORP. N.Y. U.S.A./ DESIGNED IN COOPERATION WITH WESTERN ELECTRIC CO. INC./ MODEL R-50 SERIAL NUMBER 310"/ "Century/ TRADE MARK/ SOUND REPRODUCER/ CENTURY PROJECTOR CORP. N.Y. U.S.A./ DESIGNED IN COOPERATION WITH WESTERN ELECTRIC CO. INC./ MODEL R31A SERIAL NO. 51"/ On the back of the lighting unit: "[N]FB A26849/ Strong/ THE STRONG ELECTRIC CORPORATION TOLEDO, OHIO MADE IN U.S.A./ D.C. VOLTS 22-40/ D.C. AMPS. 110-150/ TYPE 81000-3/ SER. NO. 67622"/ Plate on the back of the projector: "ZIPPER/ ELECTRIC/ CHANGEOVER/ PATENT 1796790/ OTHER PATS. PEND./ MODEL CV599/ SERIAL 256B/ VOLTS 117 A.C./ AMPS. 2/ MFD. BY ESSANNAY ELECTRIC MFG. CO./ 861 W. GRAND AVE. CHICAGO, ILL. 60622 MADE IN U.S.A."

Missing

Unknown

Finish

Projector is predominantly olive green with black cables and black, off-white, red, and white parts, and red and silver-coloured manufacturer's plates. The projector has a grey and silver-coloured lighting unit on a dark grey base.

Decoration

N/A