Entertainment : Reminiscing 25 Years at the Palace

Kevin Bookmeier, Matt Salger, and Austin Karr.

By Marcy Horst

The original managers, Lu Karr and Jan McLeod, were assisted by a handful of projectionists - the first three were Austin Karr, Matt Salger, and Kevin Bookmeier, who were also instrumental in the Palace renovation and re-opening.

Matt said, "I remember meticulously hanging the fabric on the walls with Austin. I can't remember the exact number, but 3" staple, fold, 6" staple, and repeat ALL the way around the theatre."

The theatre has seen many transformations throughout the years, but that fabric still hangs in the auditorium!

Projectionists

In those days, tasks were divided - managers handled the front of the house, projectionists patrolled the auditorium, and then headed upstairs to start the film.

The film rested on a giant round platter threaded into a 35-millimeter projector. But that's not how it originated. Film was delivered weekly by a courier like UPS or Fed Ex. Movies arrived in a large heavy case with a handle. They were not fun to manipulate. I hauled more than a few up to the projection room myself, but whenever possible I left that job to the projectionists.

Inside the box were four to seven 18-inch reels of film, depending on the length of the movie. Those reels had to be connected, in order. To do so, the projectionist would splice them together one by one onto one of three 50-inch platters next to the projector.

What could go wrong, right?

Thursday nights were the night. The on-duty projectionist was charged with putting the film together. Often, staff and volunteers would hang around to preview the new movie with the projectionist, after the Thursday night show. Each new film had to be viewed to be sure a reel hadn't been rewound backwards by the previous theatre or reels weren't spliced together out of order. If you were the Thursday night projectionist, you went in early to put the new film together and stayed late to watch it.

Matt Salger recalls "stringing thousands of feet of movie film through the theatre to correct a center wrap." Indeed, I believe almost every projectionist from the 35-millimeter days dealt with a center wrap of some sort.

Abby Cronk was still Abby Hilton when she became the first and only female Palace projectionist in 2006. Abby remembers center wraps.

"The dreaded center wrap!! I loved the film projector. It was very mechanical and there was something special about a movie being played on a tangible machine, where you could see each frame pass over the lens. It felt magical in a dorky way. But those stinking center wraps could stop a movie for 20 minutes or more depending on how bad it was and if we caught it before it became a huge mess. And I remember the humidity had to be just perfect otherwise the film would stick together thus contributing to the center wrap. Each movie we received from the film companies had to be all taped together, and if the tape wasn't just so, you guessed it, center wrap. I never had to splice a movie together, but {veteran projectionists} did show me how. And I know one or two of the times I had a center wrap, there was a fellow projectionist in the audience to help me. Nothing will make your stomach drop like a sold-out audience waiting on you to fix a tangle in the movie."

A center wrap occurred when the film splice somehow got clogged or snagged on the platter or inside the projector. This caused a full stop of the system, violently yanking the film to a halt. The frame that caught inside the projector at the time of this event burned up on the screen for the audience to see. A wrap during the movie, while stressful, was usually easy to fix. The damaged film was cut out and removed (only about 10 frames at the most, or 2/5ths of a second) and then you just started the film again.

The type of center wrap Matt Salger is talking about occurred while splicing the film together on a Thursday night, but a phenomenon called a platter fling, when the film loses its circular form and is flung from the platter, happened to my husband, Gerald, and Roger Uthoff. They literally spent all night re-spooling and splicing the film, spread down the stairs and all throughout the theatre, because Ger somehow let the film fall off the platter when tearing down the previous movie. Roger graciously stayed to help him clean up the mess, which included almost 100 splices! When I hesitantly called the studio to explain what happened, they thanked us for letting them know so they could take the "fixed one" out of circulation.

As Ger noted, "Every time a film came to the theatre, a projectionist spliced that movie together and a few frames would be cut out, thus slightly shortening the film for the next user. We used bright yellow tape to splice the film so you could easily see the splices."

37-year-old Abby was quick to point out, "These kids today don't know how easy they've got it, just pushing play."

Which brings us to digital cinema, dear reader. Join me next week to learn about servers, hard drives, silver screens, and more.

Anniversary Celebration Update

In the meantime, a very gracious thank you to all patrons who have already generously contributed to Light Up the Palace Theatre! In one week, we've collected $3,195 toward our $25,000 goal! Donations may be made online at www.vintonpalace.org, or checks written to ACT I/Palace Theatre, 210 W 4th St, Vinton.

Abby has been busy putting together a preshow video to commemorate our 25th anniversary, and we are working on window and indoor poster case displays. In doing so, we've discovered that 1999 and 2000 were great years for movies! This week, on Wednesday, November 13, at 7pm, we'll be showing "Runaway Bride," the first film played at the renovated Palace. In October, for Halloween, we screened "The Sixth Sense," the second movie shown at the theatre. Next month we'll celebrate with a Christmas selection from our first year and plan to continue that trend until next November.

Check out our website at www.vintonpalace.org to reserve your "Runaway Bride" seat today, or as always, doors open for ticket sales one hour before the show.

Schedule Update

Focus Features contacted our booker, Frank, on Friday to let us know they were opening critically acclaimed mystery thriller "Conclave" to one-week runs. As a result, "Conclave" opens Friday, November 15. Rated PG and running two hours, this film boasts an excellent cast, led by Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini.

Synopsis: After the Pope dies of a heart attack, Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with one of the world's most secretive and ancient events - participating in the selection of a new pope. Surrounded by powerful religious leaders in the halls of the Vatican, he soon uncovers a trail of deep secrets that could shake the very foundation of the Roman Catholic Church.

Never a dull moment! We hope you'll join us at the movies soon.