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.