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form of hiss and crackles – great system, but
when the sound reappeared in the scene, there
was a substantial delay in the sound track
reverting to normal, causing the first few
words or bars of music to be quite distorted.

In common with 35mm’s transition from
full frame silent to sound on film in the late
1920s. Pathé's 9.5mm sound films utilised a
portion of the picture area for the sound track,
necessitating a change to the placement of the
image within the frame.

Pathé not only sold films outright, but they
established an extensive chain of film
libraries in the UK. Publications from the
1950s show various businesses offering Unfortunately, the Australian distributors
9.5mm film hire, often several in the one town. appear to have been want to make copies of
some of the films. Examples exist of very poor
In Australia, the Melbourne distributors were dupe copies, complete with dust / dirt / hairs
Home Cinemas. They offered a wide range of printed onto the film.
both sound and silent films, as well as
projectors and cameras. Footnote.
What could have been!

Some years ago, out of curiosity, I purchased
a couple of 9.5mm sound films which had
been cut down and re-perforated from 16mm
prints, (possible because the frame sizes and
pitch of the two gauges are almost identical).
At the time there was a company in the UK
offering this service for those looking for
something a little different.

When screening these films on my much
modified PAX sound projector, the image and
sound quality equals that of 16mm. It is such
a pity that Pathé didn’t realise the potential
of their gauge; had they produced better
quality films and equipment, who knows, it
may still be around.

All images are from the author’s collection

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