We wanted to take a moment to bid a fond farewell to the Fox Grandeur camera, Mitchell FC #8, which has found a perfect new home at the John Wayne Birthplace Museum in Winerset, Iowa. There are a few camera projects that I have loved working on and hate to see leave, but it’s more important for them to find homes where they can be cared for and protected. The mechanical restoration of the camera, the hunting down of parts to complete the Grandeur system, and the research into its history occupied more than a decade of my time, so while I am sad for it to leave, I am particularly happy to see this camera find such a fitting permanent home. I don’t know what became of the pictures of me restoring the camera, they may have been lost in our move, but on our blog, you will find several posts of the work I did on the Mitchell FC friction head, as well as some of the history we found of the camera and the development of the Grandeur system. Bon voyage!
We must extend our gratitude to the many people that have helped us in our research: the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the USC Cinematic Arts Library, Marilyn Ann Moss, 20th Century Fox, Tom McCutchon and the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the California State Railroad Museum, Joan Miller and the Wesleyan Cinema Archives, the Arizona Historical Society, the Montana Historical Society, the Research Center of the Utah State Archives and Utah State History, the Wyoming State Archives, the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, the Los Angeles Public Library, Michael Madden, Ralph Sargent, John Hora, Carol Grey, and Corbis Images. Your help was invaluable.