The Norelco AA-II projector, arguably the finest 35/70mm projector ever made, is the original Todd-AO projector and was specifically designed to run Oklahoma! It comes equipped with twin motors, one for normal 24 frame-per-second films and one for the 30 fps speed used only on the first two Todd-AO films. This projector is one of several pieces of equipment left behind by GKC Cinemas when they pulled out of the Virginia. It was not installed with the advent of Todd-AO in mid-fifties, however. It was put in, in the late '70's or early '80's to run some of the various films which were available as 70mm blow-ups from 35mm negatives--a common practice of the time.

With only two films ever shot in 30 fps Todd-AO odds are good that this is the first time this projector ever ran one. You might think that the 30 frame per second motor was glad to finally get its 15 minutes (well, 145 minutes actually) of fame after waiting 40-45 years. Alas, that was not to be. Because of the need to run the silent film The Last Laugh at 20 fps, the 30 fps motor was replaced with a special electronically controlled motor and the drive from the 24 fps motor disconnected. The electronic drive not only made it possible to dial in any speed needed but could also be programmed for very gentle acceleration which made for less risk of problems at startup, particularly at the platter which always must turn at its fastest speed when a film is starting. The electronic drive was in place for the last film Friday night and every film thereafter.

Speaking of The Last Laugh, it came through the projector hot enough to burn your fingers. Despite dialing back on lamp current (the large, more optically efficient squarish aperture combined with the smaller picture size considerably reduced the illumination need) with a lamphouse of this size and no heat filter, B&W film running at lower than normal speed gets hot very quickly. Why? The dyes that form the image on color film are transparent to infrared light. It gets warm too, but only from the energy of the visible light that is absorbed and not passed. Not so B&W film whose image is formed of silver molecules which absorb IR as well as the visible spectrum. This heating tends to warp the film slightly as it passes through the projector gate, making it difficult to keep the image in sharp focus as the warping varies dynamically with darkness of the image and the amount of heat absorbed. And burning one's fingers is no exaggeration. Touching it just below the projector gate and at first it merely feels warm (not much thermal mass in film) but let it pass continually between your fingers and you will have to let go after just a few seconds or you will indeed get burned.

The 6-track sound format for Oklahoma! called for 5 screen channels (Left, Left-Center, Center, Right-Center, Right) and a single channel feeding the surround speakers on the theatre walls. Unfortunately, the new Dolby CP-500 is designed around the more common modern track layout of 3 screen channels, separate left and right surrounds, and a subwoofer channel. This was easy to get around as we let the processor think the two extra screen channels (LC and RC) were the two surround channels (LS and RS) by rerouting the amplifiers to these extra speakers. The real surround channel was handled with a bit of temporary wiring.

The Todd-AO process combined several ideas:

• 65mm film (camera negative) with 5 sprocket-hole tall frames had been used years before on films like The Bat Whispers. The first Todd-AO cameras were old units pulled from storage.
• 70mm film (release prints) was used in a late 1920's process called Grandeur on films like The Big Trail. However that 70mm had completely different frame dimensions, soundtrack, and placement of sprocket holes.
• Magnetic sound on the release print was introduced in the form of 35mm four-track magnetic prints with the CinemaScope process in 1953.
• A deeply curved screen and panoramic photography was what the triple film, triple projector Cinerama process was all about. Hence, Michael Todd's desire for a Cinerama that "came out of one hole." Alas, this was the one aspect of Todd-AO that never worked out. The super wide-angle "bug eye" lens had severe distortions and few shots were usable. Todd-AO was primarily exhibited on flat or slightly curved screens.
• The higher frame rate (30 fps) was experimented with over the years. The Cinerama travelogues ran at 26 fps. Because 30 fps does not convert readily to 24 fps to make general release prints, Oklahoma! was also shot on alternate takes in 35mm CinemaScope. The 35mm version, with distinctly different performances is the more widely seen version. The 2nd film, Michael Todd's Around the World in 80 Days was shot with alternate takes at 24 fps and 30 fps, in both cases on 65mm film.

Care to learn more? Please visit the Todd-AO Section of Marty Hart's award winning American Widescreen Museum which is a terrific Internet resource about widescreen processes, sound, and color systems. You should know that Marty just happens to own one of the original Todd-AO "bugeye" lenses.

Also, check your library for a copy of Michael Todd Jr.'s biography of his father, A Valuable Property which covers much of the history of Todd-AO including how it came to be used on Oklahoma!