Originally posted by abruzzi
If the film was loaded backwards with the paper in front of the film, the spools would turn in the opposite direction, so I doubt it would pretend to work.
I was wondering about that, but my cassettes have film in them so I'm a bit under-enthused about testing them. However, if the take-up spool is wound in the normal way with the film backing side out, it would behave the same. The feed spool is, I think, controlled by drag and not a pawl, so it might operate normally even though the film is passing over the roll instead of sharply up and over the platen from under the roll. I accidentally started to do this once and it was obvious that something seemed wrong.
For this setup to be realized, not only would the user have to install the film backwards while not noticing (maybe in a film changing bag), but the removed take-up roll would look different and he as well as the developing lab would have to not notice. Further, how would the initial winding to the arrow be possible if it was underneath the visible surface?