Los Angeles Theatres: Fox Wilshire/Saban Theatre: the projection booth

A 1930 Mott Studios look at the booth from the California State Library collection. It appears in their set #001443784 with seven other photos.

The original booth equipment included 3 Super Simplex projectors with Western Electric soundheads and WE Universal bases. The lamphouses were by Hall & Connolly. That's a Brenograph at the far end of the booth.

The house left end of the booth showing the houselight dimmers and generator controls. The 1930 Mott Studios photo is one of eleven photos in the California State Library set #001443449. The two photos here on this page are the Library's only booth views.

A detail of the Westinghouse board from the previous photo.

Current booth equipment:

Film Projection: 2 Simplex 35/70s and a Christie Autowind platter system. There's Dolby Digital, analog Dolby optical, 4 track mag and 6 track mag capability. Processing is via Dolby 650 and 750 units. Three Crown DS 1000 amps are in the booth for balcony surrounds, the other amps are backstage. The throw is about 165'.

The current projection equipment was installed in 2014. The theatre had once before been equipped for 70mm. It got an installation in 1959 for Disney's "Sleeping Beauty." The assumption is that the equipment was Simplex XL 35/70s of the generation that was sort of "hand-built" by Howard Straight. Fox also put Simplexes in the Vogue when they were equipped for 70 in 1959. The 5th Avenue in Seattle, another Fox house, also got the 35/70 Simplexes sometime before their run of "The Sound of Music."

The Fox Wilshire also had a run of "Solomon and Sheba" in 70mm in 1959. The theatre played a number of long-running reserved seat 70mm engagements including "Exodus" (1960), "Sound of Music" (1965), "Sand Pebbles" (1966), "Far From the Madding Crowd" (1967), "Star" (1968), "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1969), "Fiddler on the Roof" (1970) and "Man of La Mancha" (1972).

Projection angle: 13 degrees, according to F.H. Richardson. He visited the newly opened theatre in 1930. His report about several L.A. area theatres was in the November 8 issue of Exhibitors Herald-World. It's on Internet Archive.

Screen: The current 20' x 46' screen hangs about 3' upstage of the asbestos.

Digital Projection: A Christie Solaria Series 4K CP4220 (22K lumens) is on the balcony rail. The throw to the screen is approximately 70'.

Followspots: 2 strong Xenon Super Troupers

Booth access is via doors at the top of the balcony leading to stairs to either end of the booth. Here we're peeking in from the top of the house left stairs. At the left it's a switchboard section that replaced the dimmerboard. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

Looking back down the house left stairs to the auditorium. On the screen it was a test pattern as they were getting set up for a film night. Photo: Bill Counter - March 2024

A Brenograph in a storage room on the east side of the stairs. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018. By the time of a 2024 visit the room had been cleared out with the Brenograph gone and the two carbon arc Super Troupers repositioned along the booth back wall.

Looking across at the 2 Strong Super Troupers and, in the middle, the 2 Simplex 35/70s. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

A better view of the rear of Simplex machine #1. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

Looking across the platter to the amp racks in the corner. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

The rack in the center of the image is from a Simplex optical system from the 40s that replaced the original Western Electric equipment. In 1953 there would have been a 4-channel mag update before the November premiere of "How To Marry a Millionaire." Beyond is one of the Ampex racks installed for the 35/70 mag system in 1959. The rack for the power amps has been removed. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

In the Ampex rack are preamps for 4 and 6 channel mag, a Dolby 650 processor, a THX unit used as a monitor amp, a Dolby 750 Digital processor, 4 Crown amps used for balcony surrounds and, at the bottom, an Ampex exciter supply. On the gray panels in the middle are the old Ampex Ledex switches for changeover and format selection. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018

Looking back across the booth to where the dimmerboard for house lights used to be. To the right of that switchboard is an inverter for backup power for the house lights. Photo: Bill Counter - 2018