In the early days of motion picture exhibition, two men were usually employed in the booth per shift: one man for each machine. This was something that had been in place since the beginning. The union projectionists continually fought battles with theatre owners, who were always trying to get this cut back to just one man.

The projectionist's argument was one that could not be taken lightly: public safety. Since nitrate film was highly combustible, they argued that it was absolutely necessary to always have a man standing by the operating machine. The idea being that, in the event of a film break, a man would be right there to quickly kill the machine and prevent a fire. Whenever an operator's machine was at rest, he was free to tend to general booth duties.

The projectionists pulled no punches in accusing theatre owners of greedily putting profits above the safety and well-being of its patrons. "The public's safety should be the first and only consideration", the projectionists said, "therefore, there MUST be two men per booth to satisfy this requirement." The operators maintained that they allowed no compromises when it came to the public's safety. None. "Safety must be insured at all costs."

Who could argue with that?

In 1950, safety film came into widespread use and the fire threat was eliminated. So, with the public completely safe, the union would have no further opposition to one-man booths, right? After all, as was repeatedly stated for the record, they had only been concerned with the public's safety.

In 1952, the IATSE expressed their concern for the public by introducing a resolution opposing the use of safety film.

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Better Projection Pays!

If true, "introducing" a resolution could have been the effort of a small minority of IA members in fear of losing their jobs. Did the resolution pass and become policy?

I don't know what happened beyond that.

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Better Projection Pays!

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