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A screen was hung up at the front of the 11-passenger hydroplane, and a DeVry
Suitcase Projector was powered by the low voltage DC aircraft electrical system. (Pic
8.) The DeVry Corporation went on to produce thousands of professional sound 35 mm
theatre and portable projectors as well as making movie cameras.

One of their most famous news-
reel cameras was the square
‘lunchbox’ model (Pic. 9.) and it
was an example of this tough little
35 mm camera that was chosen in
1947 to be installed in one of the
captured German WWII V2 rock-
ets for a test flight into the outer
atmosphere. The 100 foot film
was retrieved intact and gave the
first real view of the earth from
space.

So the DeVry Suitcase Projector I
first saw demonstrated in 1964
has a great pedigree. It is worth
noting, however, that these small
machines still posed a significant
Pic 9. The famous DeVry ‘Lunchbox’ 35 mm newsreel
fire risk due to the almost univer-
camera.
sal use of highly inflammable Ni-
trate film base.

So why was Nitrate in use even up to the 1950s? Simply put, because it was far more
durable and scratch resistant than Triacetate ‘safety’ film. For professional exhibition,
projection positives were carried between theatres on a very regular basis, and had to
be speedily laced into the projector…they had to stand up to hard use.

Safety Triacetate-based films were mainly used by amateurs in the smaller gauges. For
this fire risk reason the small DeVry suitcase projector was also lined with white
asbestos but, even so, with the great heat generated internally, they could still burst into
flame. According to veteran cinematographer Kev Franzi (who has recently restored
one of these) the advice given to operators of the DeVry suitcase unit was ‘If a fire
breaks out in the projector, quickly unplug the unit and take it promptly to the nearest
window and toss it out of the room. Failing a window, take it outside to an open space
to burn, all the while keeping calm and controlled so as not to stampede the audience.’

This article first appeared in Back Focus, the journal of the Australian Photographic
Collectors’ Society Inc. It is reproduced with the kind permission of the author and the
Back Focus editor.

24 REEL DEALS March 2018