I have an old 35 mm Canon A1. I can't get it to click a photo or advance. It has a new battery. This happened to it once before and it turned out something had accidentally been switched on that froze it. Help!

The shutter on the A series Canons is controlled by magnets. These are under the bottom cover. Due to their age, contaminants can cause them to stick. If you have the proper cross point screw driver, you can remove the bottom cover, (3 screws) and have a look. The release magnet is covered with a small clear plastic cover. To fire the shutter mechanically, push to exposed arm of the magnet toward the front of the camera. It should fire the shutter. If you feel comfortable removing the plastic cover, you can clean the magnet and armature faces with lighter fluid on heavy stock paper, sliding it between the surfaces.

Once the film has been advanced, it can't be advanced again until you take a picture. There's a dial ring under the shutter release that locks out shutter release. Turn the dial to unlock the shutter.