As the sound era became a reality, William Fox recognized the need for better quality images in his movies. His Fox Case Corp. team, led by engineer Earl Sponable, developed the 70mm Grandeur photographic process to solve this problem. The Mitchell Camera Corporation was contracted to build a 70mm version of their successful Mitchell Standard, dubbed the FC (Fox Camera). The 70mm FC incorporated all of the sought after features of the Standard, including the world renowned Mitchell movement, rackover L-base, floating iris, adjustable four-way mattes, effects disc, Veeder footage counter, four position lens turret, and a magnifying erect image viewfinder. In celebration of the 90th anniversary of “The Big Trail” (1930), Raoul Walsh’s monumental Oregon trail epic, we thought we would revisit our restored Grandeur camera, serial #8. Rescued from a dark, damp warehouse in San Diego, the camera was cleaned, restored, and brought back to working condition. We searched far and wide to find the correct accessories to outfit the camera, and even managed to find the matte box with the matching serial number. A recently restored FC pan tilt head and two elusive FC mount lenses were added to complete the shooting package. For its time, this was one of the most advanced wide screen cinema cameras available.
