9.5 mm Bing British / Bingoscope film rolls (early 1930s – 1939)

In the 1930s, a number of tiny 9.5 mm gauge film rolls of 15 foot length were produced for use in toy projectors produced under the name Bing British and later Bingoscope.

These short films (around 30 seconds long) were often extracts of films from older Pathéscope titles, and came as rolls without a spool. Like the films they came from, they were all on safety film (cellulose acetate) and were silent and monochrome. Due to their short length they had no titles. Many of the clips were animations including Mickey Mouse or Popeye, while others were mostly live action comedy clips such as Charlie Chaplin or Snub Pollard.

It appears around 75 titles were released, some in red boxes and labeled as being for Bing British safety cinemas, while others were in red or green boxes labeled as being for Bingoscope safety cinemas.

A number of projectors were made under the Bing British and Bingoscope brands, only some of which could use the 15 foot rolls and it seems unlikely that the format was marketed beyond the 1930s, though at least one new title was released in 1939.

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