Printing Equipment in the Movies

[Jeff Zilles [jeffo]]

Sunday, 28 November 2010

Researching early Charles Chaplin movies today I turned up the first one ever that he appeared in for Mack Sennett's Keystone Company.

Released on 2nd February, 1914 and called 'Making a Living' or alternatively 'A Busted Johnny'   there are a number of scenes in it featuring a battery of Linotypes - I counted four.

The print is not as good as could be wished but is quite viewable and a gem considering it is better than ninety-six years old - that I should be worth looking at at that age,

The link which should get you straight to it is --
http://www.archive.org/details/CC_1914_02_02_MakingALiving
I've embeded the video on the post below to save you clicking over to the Internet Archive - Admin

I tried it through my oldest browser and it worked for me.

His "Little Tramp' character was not to appear until a film called 'Kids Auto Race at Venice' which was released five days after this one - in this first role he plays a top-hatted dandy con-man.

Anyone want to hazard the model identiies of the nearest two linecasters?

Enjoy anyway   ----   jeffo

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[Dave Hughes]

Thanks for that Jeffo, to save everyone having to head over to the Internet Archive, I've embeded the clip here:

Watch the video all the way through, the linecaster shots get better.

Difficult to guess the model though, without getting a good look at the magazines.

[Dan Williams]

Model 1 no doubt. Its the only model with the delivery air cushion cylinder mounted at front right.
Lots here to contemplate; Charlie Chaplin was alive during my time, although certainly not active. Of those few newspaper photos from the 70s, I recall that he seemed overweight, mustachless, white hair and looking very much un-Charlie Chaplin. Disappointing? Well, I was just a kid. And poor old Charlie was probably pushing 90, certainly not up to skittering around or doing backflips.
Another movie with a Linotype is "Park Row" by Samuel Fuller, about 1952. Kinda campy but an interesting flick.

[Dave Hughes]

I presume the distinguishing feature of the Model 1 that you are referring to is the cylinder that can be seen to the right of the assembly belt on this picture:



By the way Dan, like the new avatar picture, old black and white photos from the family album seem to be becoming de rigueur on this forum!

[Dan Williams]

Line drawings of Models 2 and 4 in my 1916 version of "Suggestions to Linotype Machinists"  show no front cylinder. Model 1 ceased production in about 1902 and model 2 ceased in 1906, however both still available on special order as late as 1916. Perhaps that explains absence of cylinder in my 1916 line drawings of models 2 & 4 - just a general progression of design.

[Mechanic]

I thought Charlie Chaplin dictating his story to the Linotype operator a bit far fetched  until I ran across the following photo.

Workers setting up type with Linophones which are a combination of phonograph and linotype machinery.

http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/HV0251-001/Hulton-Archive

The position of the line delivery cylinder was the same for all machine prior to the model 4. Check out the photos "Early Machines" this site. Although I think the photos of the model 2 and 3 may have been interchanged and only models 1 and 2 had the cylinder on the front of the machine. See Linotype.org for an overview of Linotypes in general which describes the model 2 as a two magazine machine and the model 3 as single magazine and the forrunner to the model 5.

http://www.metaltype.co.uk/photos/photo15.shtml

http://www.linotype.org/Misc/models.html