A Camera With No Name.
The Globe Films Mystery 35mm Cine Camera.
This 35mm Motion Picture Camera appears to be an early design, but no makers marks can be found anywhere on the camera. It was more than likely produced anonymously to avoid a patent dispute, as during the “patent war” period it was nearly impossible to make a movie if you weren’t part of the Motion Picture Patents Trust. Acquiring a camera to shoot a movie with was very difficult as there were restrictions on the import of cameras not made in the USA by members of the Motion Picture Patents Trust.
This camera is a coaxial design with two top mounted external 400’ film magazines. It was found with its Goerz Hypar Focus 2in f3.5 lens (No. 390588) and three film magazines inside the makers case. It has a removable side finder with slide in framing masks, the original 2 in mask still in place. The original brass hand crank mounts on the rear and a heavy leather strap goes over the film magazines. There is a rear port for viewing the image directly on the film allowing critical focus and framing. The Lens housing has a sleeve connected to the iris with a long rod to allow the operator easy access to the aperture. The rear of the body has a dial with an adjustable scale for focusing the lens. There is also a second shaft for the hand crank on the side that is geared for single frame shooting.
35mm hand crank motion picture camera
Globe Films on location in Hackensack, NJ in 1926 with the very same camera.
Sometime beginning around 1925 this camera was used to shoot a film that premiered in 1926 at the Main Street Oritani Theatre in Hackensack, New Jersey. It was produced by Globe Films and the included photograph with the cast and crew features this very camera prominently at the Theater entrance.
Globe Films
Globe Films in New York City was established in 1924 and closed operations in 1926. They produced four films including;
I Love your Truly (1926) in Providence, R.I., New Castle Adopts a Baby (1925) in New Castle, Penn., The Reporter (1925) Altoona, Penn. and A Story without an End (1925-1926) shot in Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania…the later most likely the film that premiered at the Oritani Theater in 1926.
The Globe Films crew includes:
Directors: Jack Allen, J.B. Launt
Cameraman: Phillip J. Armand
Casting Directors: Charles E. Fulner, Roy B. Jones
Oritani Theater
The Oritani Theatre first opened on May 6, 1926 with Irene Rich in “Lady Windermere’s Fan” & Lloyd “Ham” Hamilton in Nobody’s Business". Organist Stanley C. Wallace opened the ‘mammouth’ organ. It was designed by architect’s David Lehman & William E. Lehman. Named for a local Indian chief, the theatre had a single floor auditorium..
Not long after its opening it premiered the film shot with this camera…unfortunately no records are available, but according to the book “Main Street Movies” by Martin L. Johnson, Globe Films was a player in the relatively new concept of making films in a community utilizing local talent so you have an invested audience of ticket buyers for your films.
Main Street Movies
Local Films, or “Main Street Movies” are really nothing new. Localizing films began at the very beginning of the moving picture. But starting around 1910 local films begin to transform into something new. Theaters are starting to become more common place in local communities which furthers the movement of Main Street Movies. Producers would go from town to town casting locals for various roles and utilizing the community as extras in their films and featuring businesses or local hot spots. They then premiered their films at the local theater to packed houses all looking to see if the made the cut.
Film Stunt Stirs All Louisville
Exhibitors Trade Review, July 29, 1922
“Then the paper came out with the announcement that, unknown to them, the crowds had been worked into some of the scenes, and there was a stampede for the Mary Anderson Theater to see who was in the picture. As a result an investment of $160 brought in so much money they had to raise the salary of the receiving teller in the bank where Sine makes his deposits.”
A Camera With No Name.
John H. Dunnachie
John H. Dunnachie
The camera came from the estate of John H. Dunnachie. It was contained in the makers case with Dunnachie’s name and address on the exterior of the case.
A cameraman in the heyday of newsreels, he was born in Scotland and had lived in Middlesex for 18 years before moving to the US. Mr. Dunnachie was a photographer at Henry Charles Studios in Edison for seven years, retiring in 1970 as the Vice President. He was a reel boy in Glasgow and became a projectionist, working at the Palace Theater in Ayr, Scotland. He came to the United States as a newsreel cameraman, working for Pathe News and Paramount films. He was a member of Local 485 of the Union County Projectionists.
Dunnachie shot a silent short film, Sightseeing in Newark with the very same camera shortly after the Movie Premiere at the Oritani, in 1926. The film appears to be a marketing film for Newark…but not much is known about the film or why it was produced.
Sightseeing in Newark
If anyone can help identifying the maker of the camera or any additional information about its previous owner, please contact me at the email link at the top of the page..
