A light-tight, temperature controlled system, controlled by a controller, for processing a photographic film housed in a film cartridge detachably secured upon a spool caddy having a plurality of processing spools mounted thereon, includes: means for rotating a spiral shaped wall about a rotational axis, the spool caddy being detachably mounted upon the rotating means in a predetermined positional alignment; means for combining an emulsion side of the film with processing webs from the processing spools along the spiral shaped wall for preset dwell times by sequentially in a preset order removing and replacing each of the processing spools and the film cartridge from and to the spool caddy, unwinding and rewinding the processing webs from and to the processing spools, and unwinding and rewinding the film from and to the film cartridge; and means for securing the processing spools and the film cartridge along a channel formed by the spiral shaped wall while the emulsion side of the film is being sequentially combined with the processing webs.