Gaumont Kalee cinema projectors - Typical cinema projectors that were installed at some historic cinemas in Kenya (including Regal in Msa)

watch Gaumont Kalee projector on youtube:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1zxwl8WQ-g

The Gaumont Kalee projectors were very versatile and lasted a long time. 

In the Regal, Mombasa these projectors were installed in the early 50's and lasted till the mid 80's when the cinema burned down. Like most equipment and appliances made in those days top quality steel was used. Nothing broke!!. 

The old timers indicated the projectors were provided by 20th Century Fox on an installment basis as part of their drive to encourage the growth of independent cinemas. In fact I recall a 20th Century Fox sticker on the outside of the top cabinet holding the film reel,

2 of these projectors were installed in each theatre. A typical English movie had 5 reels. You can see the top and bottom circular container above. The movie would be placed in the top container and manually placed thru the sprockets all the way to the take up reel at the bottom. Each reel lasted around 20 minutes. 2 additional reels would be played each show in the beginning. The first would contain the National Anthem followed by a 10 minutes or so Kenya Newsreel. The second reel would contain 2-3 trailers of coming attractions. This would be followed by the interval before the main feature.

At the end of the first reel, the projectionist would watch for a mark (usually small circular) on the right hand side of the screen. This would be his cue to start the next projector with reel # 2. At the sight of the second mark a lever would be released to change from the first to the second projector. Actually there were 2 levers. One for the sound and one for display. Experienced projectionist would make the changeover seamlessly!

The back cabinet housed the light source and reflector. A mirror or reflector, circular and with a radius of around 6 inches was found right at the back of the cabinet. The middle had a hole. The light source would be triggered by using knobs outside to move the carbon rods towards each other. The smaller negative carbon rod was placed on the left next to, and perpendicular to the reflector. The positive carbon rod would be placed to the right. 

Needless to say the projectors emitted a lot of heat, noise and various smells. In the heat of Mombasa it was a challenge to keep the  projection room cool and bearable.