Philips DP70 On going restoration
The on going restoration of the 2 Philips DP70 Projectors from the Odeon Hanley/Queens Cinema Newcastle on Tyne.
In the begining
These projectors were installed in the Odeon Hanley in 1958. The first film was South Pacific in TODD-AO .
Also installed was the latest stereophonic sound system from BT-H and the Mole-Richardson 490 High Intensity arc lamps.
The projectors were removed from the Odeon in September 1964 and sold to ABC. The Odeon retained the 2 Mole-Richardson 490 arc lamps which were subsequently installed on the 2 Kalee 21's that replaced the DP70.
ABC installed the DP70's in the Queens Cinema Newcastle on Tyne for the single strip Cinerama using 70mm wide film.
The Queens closed in 1980 and it was assumed that the 2 DP70's were scraped when in fact they were bought by Goshal who was a second hand equipment dealer in London.
The projectors were stored in one of 9 run down garages that Goshal owned in south London. There had been up to 6 other DP70's stored or just stripped for parts judging by the amount of parts that were thrown about the floor. One of the DP70's had been sat in a depression in the floor that filled with water every time it rained.
How I came to own them.
It was a Monday in May 2005 when my friend Ben called me asking me if I still wanted a DP70. I said I did. He tolled me of the 2 DP70 in a garage in south London which would have to be moved on the coming Saturday. We arranged that he would stay with us on the Friday night. I arranged to borrow an old Post Office parcel van from a friend down the road and at 7am on the Saturday morning we drove to London.
When we arrived at the garages it was a shock as here were 9 garages full of cinema a studio equipment a lot of which was new and in 4 days time all 9 garages were to be knocked down under a compulsory purchase order.
We loaded up as much as we could with the money and room in the van. We came away with 2 complete DP70's, a spare projector head and boxes of parts, 3,000+ carbons, A Philips FP3 and 50+ lenses.
It was not until I checked the list of serial number on the DP70 web site some weeks later that I discovered where the 2 DP70's had come from.
Also installed was the latest stereophonic sound system from BT-H and the Mole-Richardson 490 High Intensity arc lamps.
The projectors were removed from the Odeon in September 1964 and sold to ABC. The Odeon retained the 2 Mole-Richardson 490 arc lamps which were subsequently installed on the 2 Kalee 21's that replaced the DP70.
ABC installed the DP70's in the Queens Cinema Newcastle on Tyne for the single strip Cinerama using 70mm wide film.
The Queens closed in 1980 and it was assumed that the 2 DP70's were scraped when in fact they were bought by Goshal who was a second hand equipment dealer in London.
The projectors were stored in one of 9 run down garages that Goshal owned in south London. There had been up to 6 other DP70's stored or just stripped for parts judging by the amount of parts that were thrown about the floor. One of the DP70's had been sat in a depression in the floor that filled with water every time it rained.
How I came to own them.
It was a Monday in May 2005 when my friend Ben called me asking me if I still wanted a DP70. I said I did. He tolled me of the 2 DP70 in a garage in south London which would have to be moved on the coming Saturday. We arranged that he would stay with us on the Friday night. I arranged to borrow an old Post Office parcel van from a friend down the road and at 7am on the Saturday morning we drove to London.
When we arrived at the garages it was a shock as here were 9 garages full of cinema a studio equipment a lot of which was new and in 4 days time all 9 garages were to be knocked down under a compulsory purchase order.
We loaded up as much as we could with the money and room in the van. We came away with 2 complete DP70's, a spare projector head and boxes of parts, 3,000+ carbons, A Philips FP3 and 50+ lenses.
It was not until I checked the list of serial number on the DP70 web site some weeks later that I discovered where the 2 DP70's had come from.
Mail: mymail@mailservice.com
Phone: 555-555-5555
Mike Todd and the TODD-AO prosess
Mike Todd wanted away to fill a big screen without the use of multiple projectors as used in the Cinerama process at that time.
He replaced the standard 35mm wide film with 70mm wide film.
To discover more about Todd-AO and other wide screen process visit In 70mm or The Wide Screen Museum at http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/
To discover more about Todd-AO and other wide screen process visit In 70mm or The Wide Screen Museum at http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/
Things I still need to find.
I still need to find :
2 of the G B Kalee auxiliary water cooler.
They can be seen in the on the floor in the main DP70 photograph above with the two pipes going up to the arc lamp. These are a box approximately 14in by 14in by 12in that would be placed on the floor under the arc.
I would also like to find 2 of the water flow indicator that fitted on to the lamp shelf just under the arc lamp door. It has water pipes in and out and it had a glass dome though which the water flowed. The photograph of the Odeon Glasgow DP70's in the Gallery shows it very well
I also need the carbon image screen from a Mole-Richardson 490 or a super 70 as I am told they are the same. A good quality photograph would do.
Finally any odd bit of 70mm film as most of my films were destroyed in a house fire in 2006.
The Philips DP70 projector.
The finest cinema projector ever made.
Philips cinema division had an excellent reputation for building top quality projectors. When Mike Todd and the American Optical company approached them to build the DP70 projector that had to have the ability to show both standard 35mm at 24 frames per second and 70mm wide film 30 frames per second.
Philips came up with the Oscar wining DP70. Acclaimed as the worlds finest film projector.
Philips came up with the Oscar wining DP70. Acclaimed as the worlds finest film projector.
