Last Friday, Deluxe closed its last film processing bath. To mark the end, Dominic Case has woven the story of a company whose metamorphosis is now complete. And what a journey it has been, through lawyers, board room tables, deals and moments of inspiration that go back to the 1920’s.
The history of the lab that ended up as Deluxe Sydney, is long and convoluted. The business can, more or less, trace its antecedents back to 1928, when Henry Budden, a Sydney architect, invested in film laboratory equipment that a draughtsman in his company, Cyril Sharpe, and his friend Jack Bruce had brought back from a recent visit to America.
