I worked as assistant manager and mostly a union projectionist at all palm springs theatres in the 1970’s Camelot, village, Plaza, palm springs drive-in, Sunair Drive-in, Cinemart, and the Palms to Pines 3-plex.
The original projectors were not Norelco, they were Century. The main theatre had a CenturyJJ 35/70mm projector with 6 Bogen 100watt amplifiers. 5 massive speaker boxes behind the screen and about 28 speakers in the ceiling. F. Hugh Thomas was the manager and projectionist at Camelot from its start to the late 70s. He had customized the main screen so that it had 5 format settings. By pushing a button the black masking would change from a small Flat screen to 70mm wide which was about 12" wider than the original installation. I have been to many many theatres in my 65 years but nothing has ever been as spectacular as the opening from trailers to the main feature at the Camelot. When the first Star Wars film came out we added Dolby optical stereo sound. I sure miss those days and Mr. Thomas a true Master Showman.
Stanley Diaz
I worked as assistant manager and mostly a union projectionist at all palm springs theatres in the 1970’s Camelot, village, Plaza, palm springs drive-in, Sunair Drive-in, Cinemart, and the Palms to Pines 3-plex. The original projectors were not Norelco, they were Century. The main theatre had a CenturyJJ 35/70mm projector with 6 Bogen 100watt amplifiers. 5 massive speaker boxes behind the screen and about 28 speakers in the ceiling. F. Hugh Thomas was the manager and projectionist at Camelot from its start to the late 70s. He had customized the main screen so that it had 5 format settings. By pushing a button the black masking would change from a small Flat screen to 70mm wide which was about 12" wider than the original installation. I have been to many many theatres in my 65 years but nothing has ever been as spectacular as the opening from trailers to the main feature at the Camelot. When the first Star Wars film came out we added Dolby optical stereo sound. I sure miss those days and Mr. Thomas a true Master Showman. Stanley Diaz