Film cameras of this type were commonly installed in banks and other financial institutions up until at least the late 1980s. The Bank Protection Act of 1968 required cameras, and the CCTV camera and recording technology at the time couldn't meet the need for the high-resolution images that could be produced by a 35MM film camera.
The cameras were tripped by the bank's hold-up alarm system, and once tripped, took a continuous stream of 35 MM still-frame pictures (probably at 2-3 FPS) until the film was exhausted. Some systems also had a "suspicion button" feature that would allow the teller to snap one or two frames when someone suspicious was in the bank. This feature was commonly used to take pictures of people trying to cash a stolen or forged check, etc.
The film in these cameras had to be removed and reinstalled by a qualified service technician. The technician would remove the film from the camera and replace it withe a new roll or cartridge. The film would then be taken away to be developed. The bank security systems market was dominated at the time by three major players (Diebold, Mosler, and LeFebure) and these companies made substantial RMR just in servicing these cameras. Keep in mind that everytime there was a false alarm, a film change was required. This added up to lots of service calls on a weekly basis in most metropolitan areas.