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from 16mm stock. Rod had found a nice little Again Rod
market for 8mm prints)- and all of this was accepted the
done in his spare time. "Fortune favours the lucrative
bold" and it certainly favoured Rod on a day in contracts and
late 1955. set up two more
Cinevex
Television Broadcasting was about to start in Laboratories,
Australia and because of his Film Laboratory this time using
set up, ABC TV in Melbourne offered Rod a the latest "you
contract to process and duplicate all of its TV beaut"
News films. Rod accepted the offer and set up equipment
Cinevex Film Laboratories in Elsternwick to from overseas.
cater for ABC News and Documentary But the home-
production. This was closely followed by made
requests from both commercial TV Stations equipment at
Channels 7 and 9 for the same service to be
established at their studios. Above: The 210mm projection lens for the 70mm
machine compared with a standard 16mm Bell &
Howell

Elsternwick often saved the day when
the "UB" imported gear could not
cope. Rod's home-made machines
were more versatile. I believe Rod
retired a rich man and today Cinevex
is still one of Australia's top Film
Laboratories.

Warren Thompson is a second
generation Pictureshow Man. His
father started the Avro Theatre at
Balmoral (Brisbane) in 1914. This
popular cinema had survived many
changes since those early silent days,
including two World Wars, the Great
Depression and the upheaval
associated with the introduction of
sound in 1929.
The next technical revolution came
with the introduction of CinemaScope
in the 1950s. Again the Theatre was
converted, this time for Wide Screen
and CinemaScope presentations.
Left: Warren Thompson's "Homemade"
70mm Projector. Being left hand threaded,
the shutter blades face the lamp house,
and the lens mount (now missing) is sup-
ported on the left hand side of the gate in
this picture.

REEL DEALS September 2022 9