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Odeon Leicester Square
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Four projectors for "Napoleon" shown before the Royal Film Performance March 1982
The fourth machine, Victoria 4, was added so we could show the last two reels of the 1924 silent film
"Napoleon"
The penultimate reel is a normal 1:1.33 ratio single picture, but the last reel is a three strip affair
using three 35mm reels each having a third of the picture on them
The three Victoria 10s were interlocked using Selsyn motors, and the two outer machines were turned inwards with the
right machine showing the left picture, the left machine showing the right picture, and the centre machine showing
the centre picture
At the end of the reel on the Vic 4 we then did a changeover to the three Vic 10s, and opened the screen
masking to it's fullest extent, about 50 feet wide.
We also had a live orchestra playing in the pit under the baton of Carl Davis
When the film had finished we had about 5 minutes to get everything back to normal so we
could show the Royal Film Performance film, "Evil Under the Sun" to the Queen
This is the film that you can see on the Tower
This had to be positioned behind the centre projector
It was kept to one side during the showing of "Napoleon" to keep it out of the way
Did not want any of the six projectionists colliding with it, they might have damaged the film
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