The Projection Room

The beating heart of the cinema. The projection room is the heart of the cinema. The projectors - needed to show film - are large and noisy. Early film was also flammable. It all needed to be housed in a fireproof room separated from the audience: the projection room.
Time capsule.
At the back of the auditorium, behind the glass of the viewing portholes is the Broadway's projection room. It is one of the best-preserved Golden Age projection rooms in the country. It contains two Gaumont-Kalee Model
20 projectors - which replaced the original 1930s Ross-London machines in 1956 - and Westrex sound equipment.
Can the last projectionist turn out the lights?
The last Broadway projectionist was Mr V. Fortune. When the projector eased to a stop on its final reel of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1976, the machines were cleaned and the sprockets greased. Dustsheets were thrown over the top. They slumbered like this for nearly 50 years.