All 9 reels were in great shape and stored in their original cans.Īt the time, after commercial viewings, films had to be returned or destroyed. An old cinema projectionist had a nearly complete 35mm nitrate print of ‘Mamba’ in his collection. 1930s film MAMBA movie credits.įor 80 years, the 1930s classic film ‘MAMBA’ thought lost was found in Australia. It was in an Australian private cinema similar to this one that a previously lost film was discovered.
Like many of the projectors around at the time, the first projector held the first 40-60 minutes of the movie and the second projector held the next 40-60 minutes. This cinema contained a little pair of 16mm Bell & Howell movie projectors from the 1970s. It was truly a sight to see.Ĭinemas like these are rare and were mainly built by projectionists or enthusiasts,… and they would go all-out making their cinemas look as grand as possible! Its owner had decorated it with lengthy yellow and red cloth with foam and PVC cladding inset with golden ornamental accents. Nothing about the property gave any indication of what was inside.Īs we entered, we could see it had been meticulously transformed inside. They’re rare - only about 4 or 5 still exist in South Australia, so we were keen to take a look.įrom the outside, it looked just like any other suburban shed a grey square structure with galvanised cladding. We’d received a tip-off about a small cinema that was sitting disused in a suburban backyard.
