Sistema Duplex(1910–c.1913)

The invention patented as “Pellicola cinematografica multipla e processo per ottenerla” [“Multiple cinematographic film and process for obtaining it”] (Italian patent 102.939, 1910) was the work of chemist and Italian cinema pioneer, Carlo Rossi, who was of Armenian origin. It outlined the printing of two rows of small images, one above the other, onto a single strip of 35mm film. The 1910 patent did not imply the subsequent separation of the two sets of images, but rather their projection in succession, involving a process of inversion at the end of the reel, projecting the scenes on the lower half, following the projection of those printed on the upper half of the film. The primary aim that motivated Rossi was to develop a cinematographic format capable of utilising standard 35mm film stock – the most widespread format since the turn of the 20th century, which became the industry standard after 1909. This approach had the potential to provide significant economies over existing methods, doubling the space available for the printing of images compared to standard 35mm prints in use at the time – while maintaining a high-quality image on screen.

Carlo Rossi arrived at the design for his patent following several years of intense activity in the film industry. His interest in cinema “arose from his business dealings with the Paris-based Pathé Frères around the year 1905” (Bernardini, 2015: p. 416) and he subsequently became very active in his native Italy. In Turin, in 1907, he founded – along with Guglielmo Remmert, an industrialist of Prussian origin – the production company Carlo Rossi & Co., “a new grandiose factory of film and photographic equipment” (Bernardini, 1981: p. 105). Despite quickly expanding into international distribution, the new production studio didn’t survive its first year of trading due to a dispute between the partners. From the ashes, however, in 1908, arose Itala Film, headed by Carlo Sciamengo and Giovanni Pastrone, the latter of whom had previously been employed at Carlo Rossi & Co. Finally, in 1909, Rossi joined the board of management of Società Italiana Cines, in Rome.

During these years, Rossi continued to cultivate his passion for invention: after a brief period experimenting with radiotelephony, he fully immersed himself in the development of motion picture technologies. With the intent of commercially exploiting his patents, on September 12, 1910, he founded “a Cinematographic corporation by the name of Duplex-Rossi” (Anon, 1910), with registered offices in Plainpalais, Switzerland (Canton of Geneva) – Rue de l’Arquebuse 22 – and an administrative office in Turin, Italy – Corso Vittorio Emanuele 78. 

After patenting his first two inventions in 1908, respectively a mechanism for the advancement of film in cinematographic cameras (Italian patent 95.255, 1908), and a panoramic platform for shooting photographic and cinematographic vues (Italian patent 99.843, 1908). In 1909, Rossi applied for a patent for his Duplex film to the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce of the Kingdom of Italy, for which he was granted industrial property rights in 1910.

The Italian patent was followed by a number of other inventions, patented in 1910, where Rossi continued to make explicit reference to this “multiple film” and which contributed to refining and perfecting some of the technical aspects, in particular with regard to its projection. Specifically, these industrial patents were for: a device for joining the ends of the film together (Italian patent 109.305, 1910), aimed at speeding up and simplifying the loading of reels into the projector, thereby considerably reducing the pause between the projection of the upper and lower sections of the film; a support system to enable the projection of standard film and Duplex film with the same machine (Italian patent 109.306, 1910), through the rotation of the respective lens and mattes, along with the possibility to switch from vertical projection to horizontal projection; and, finally, an apparatus capable of projecting a continuous loop the film (Italian patent 110.210, 1910), which foresaw the advancement of the film, the head and tail of which were joined together, inside a special collecting reel. This last invention proved to be the most significant technical improvement, as it resolved the issue of having to interrupt the screening at the end of the reel, as well as representing “a predecessor of today’s platter system, developed by Kinoton and subsequently by Cinemeccanica, which consists of a specialised take-up spool that collects the film as it is projected, winding it onto a centre hub from which it is once again ready to be projected” (Caranti, 2006: p.26). All of the above innovations were integrated by Rossi in the patent extensions of the “multiple film” deposited in France between 1909 and 1912 (French patents 406941, 1909; 12688E, 1910; 15357E, 1912). 

The stated intention of Rossi’s invention was to double the number of frames in comparison to standard 35mm film, making it possible to “reduce costs and facilitate the production and consultation of films in didactic or scientific settings” (Bernardini, 1982: p. 75), conceiving of his invention as facilitating the use of cinema in education and in the production of scientific films, an area that was regarded as a high priority in Italy at the time: (Prolo, 1951: p.10).

Further proof of third-party use of the multiple film is found in the negotiations that took place between Rossi and the French Ministry of Education to adopt the “Duplex system (Scholastic Cinematography) in the schools of the neighbouring nation” (La vita cinematografica, 1912).

It is also plausible to assume that Italian photographer, director and producer Luca Comerio adopted the technology introduced by Rossi to print a number of copies of his documentaries, with the years of his productions coincided with those of Rossi’s patents: surviving proof of the collaboration lies in Comerio’s Milano dalle guglie del Duomo (1910), the oldest known surviving work to have used Duplex film.  

The adoption of Rossi’s invention was, nevertheless, limited to the first half of the 1910s after which its use dwindled “due to the difficulty in adapting lenses and the deterioration caused to the film by having it pass through the projector twice as often” (Prolo, 1951: p. 98). The limited success of the patent may also have been linked to the industrial context of the period. When it came to the production of film stock, Italy remained “at a level that was still more artisanal than industrial, consisting of extremely competent and creative individuals who were unable to find fertile ground […] to reach levels of competitive effectiveness in the market” (Caranti, 2005: p. 30) and, further, who were not well supported by a robust native chemical industry. 

In the years when Rossi was developing his project, the idea of a multiple film was also being explored by Frenchman Ulysse Pierre, who, in 1908, patented a dual-image format where the frames were arranged vertically and parallel to the centre line of the film (French patents 398220, 1909; 11317E, 1910; 12942E, 1910). Emulating these same characteristics, Rossi proposed a second version of his Duplex film in the patent described as “Cinematographic film with two series of frames” (Italian patent 113.384, 1910).

Ironically, a few years later, in 1915, the US company Duplex Corporation created Split Duplex, a film format where the frame was rotated 90 degrees, occupying half of a conventional frame, in exactly the same manner as described by Rossi’s patent.