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CUT AND PASTE - THE OLD WAY used principally to join rolls of motion
The very first film splicer I ever used was picture raw stock for printing in the film
the king of them all, a Bell and Howell laboratory. That meant it was used in
professional 16mm/35mm foot pedal absolute darkness, or at best low level
operated splicing table. This magnificent safe light. This machine, like the Power’s
monster resided at the Commonwealth Projector, could easily remove the top off
Department of Information Films a finger if the operator was not fully
Division at Toorak in Melbourne and was focused on the job.

The Bell and Howell foot operated
splicing table is the king of them
all. So, starting at the top, I first
used one of these incredible
splicers in 1947. The machine
could splice 16 or 35mm film —
with an option of straight or
diagonal splices on 16mm film.
The diagonal splice was stronger
but was very noticeable on the
screen. At the Department of
Information Films Division “The
Bell” splicer was often used in
complete darkness to join
Panchromatic or Kodachrome
printing stock. So, great care was
required in hand placement to
avoid decapitation of the
fingertips. The guillotine arms
came down with the pressure of an
industrial metal press.

Left: With pedals powerful enough to control a Jumbo
Jet, a similar degree of coordinated footwork was
required to splice a film on “The Bell”.

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