CINECOLOR 35MM BI-PACK MAGAZINE

Mitchell Camera Corporation, West Hollywood, California and Glendale, California 1932-1955

35mm Bi-Pack magazine, manufactured by Mitchell Camera Corporation. The particular unit was used in the Cinecolor process, marked with red "C"s on the magazine lids and found with its "Cinecolor" transport case. The magazines bear both of Mitchell's West Hollywood and Glendale addresses.

Cinecolor, Inc. was founded in 1932 by William T. Crespinel. The Cinecolor processed was used between 1932 and 1955.

One of many bi-pack 2-strip processes of the era, Cinecolor was a subtractive, two color process that originated with the Prizma Color process in 1913. The process uses two black and white negatives that are photographed through red and blue/green filters. Each "color" strip is then printed on a single, double-sided (emulsion on both sides) film strip to produce the finished effect. The process is considerably more involved than this simplistic description, and although the bi-pack arrangement was central to a number of these color processes, there were many differences between them in how dyes, emulsions, filters and developers were applied and in how the final product was projected. I suggest consulting Wikipedia and other websites for a more detailed explanation of the general process, or for a specific color system. Between 1899 and 1977, there were no less than eighty-six different color processes.

As seen in the photos below, one of the spindles in the upper magazine is equipped with Mitchell's Contractible Film Spool. For more information on this patented improvement, look for it under the Cinematography section on this website.

Mitchell Bi-Pack magazines from this era are not frequently encountered, and any motion picture equipment marked "Cinecolor" is rather rare today.

From the American Cinematographer, June, 1932