Duties around the cinema (Florence Barton)

Florence Barton interviewed by Unknown: H.M.J.

Projectionist Florence Barton describes the work that she was expected to do around the cinema.

Well you were responsible for keeping the machinery clean, greasing it and oiling it. The machines had to be cleaned every day because one little tiny piece of dirt on it going through the machine would scratch it. The only thing you didn't clean was the screen that had to be done by special experts but otherwise you were head cook and bottle washer of the whole blithering place. The heating, the lighting, the ventilating of the theatre, the care of the films, getting them ready and packing them away, doing all the book work for it you had to put down what condition they were in and where they came from and where you'd got to send them. And if you had a film for the first time then you rehearsed a little bit of it. Well my argument is this; if you can't do it properly don't do it at all. The only thing I ignore is housework.

Title

Duties around the cinema (Florence Barton)

Subject

routine

Description

Projectionist Florence Barton describes the work that she was expected to do around the cinema.

Creator

Coventry History Centre

Source

Interview with Florence Barton

Publisher

University of Warwick

Date

20/03/2017

Contributor

Coventry History Centre

Format

.mp3

Language

English

Type

Sound recording

Coverage

1960s-1970s
Covntry
Leicester
Sevenoaks, Kent

Interviewer

Unknown: H.M.J.

Interviewee

Florence Barton

Date of Interview

19/12/1985

Location

Unknown

Transcription

Well you were responsible for keeping the machinery clean, greasing it and oiling it. The machines had to be cleaned every day because one little tiny piece of dirt on it going through the machine would scratch it. The only thing you didn't clean was the screen that had to be done by special experts but otherwise you were head cook and bottle washer of the whole blithering place. The heating, the lighting, the ventilating of the theatre, the care of the films, getting them ready and packing them away, doing all the book work for it you had to put down what condition they were in and where they came from and where you'd got to send them. And if you had a film for the first time then you rehearsed a little bit of it. Well my argument is this; if you can't do it properly don't do it at all. The only thing I ignore is housework.

Original Format

One-to-one interview

Duration

00:00:55

Bit Rate/Frequency

320kbps

Additional Information

Clip (c) Coventry History Centre. Used with permission.

Citation

Coventry History Centre, “Duties around the cinema (Florence Barton),” Cinema Projectionist, accessed April 19, 2024, https://cinemaprojectionist.co.uk/items/show/463.

Output Formats