HISTORY:
I am not a 'film buff' and my "world" is 'the arts' and more specifically, music, artwork and hand crafted/decorated chinaware's.
An extremely unwell associate has asked me to find new owners for THEIR large collection of photographic and film items ... this is one of those items. I am often asked "THE QUESTION"
So how many films do you have, Russ?
My response is ... boxes and boxes of them, perhaps 500+
I have been honoured with the trust and care of these films, to the owner they are an important part of his life and I respect that. Each film is VERY SLOWLY (I have a lot of other things to do as well!) being evaluated, run through the projector (currently an ELMO ST1200D) and if needed, addition packing added to protect the film more.
ALL film stock is safely away in my storage units, nice n cool and out of harms way while I look (and smell!) each film ... NO ONE can just casually "browse" the collection. My associate wouldn't like that and neither do I.
Due to my previous working life in technical fields, I tend to be quite detailed in my item descriptions, please READ all the details to decide if this item may interest you.
Vinegar Syndrome: my nose came up NEGATIVE on this reel ...however, keep the following in mind
From time to time I have noticed a "vinegar smell" coming off some films that I have been checking. I have been contacted by a learned ex film professional who has provided some pointers about this vinegar smell. Thank you kind Sir!
It seems that the presence of this odour indicates a chemical reaction is underway which will affect the base material of the film - over time. Most of these films are already around 50 years old, how much longer will they "survive" I wonder? No-one can provide a definitive answer to that one ... it's a bit like "the earth WILL be hit by a comet, one day, but no-one knows when"
This chemical reaction which is indicated by the Vinegar odour can (over time) affect both colour and black & white films equally, gradually becoming worse as time passes although I could not find a reliable guide as to how much time we are talking about - months? years? No-one seems confident enough to commit to a time frame.
If you "click" on the CAVEAT EMPTOR (Buyer Beware) in Red above, buried there is a link will take you to the esteemed National Film And Sound Archive Of Australia page which talks about this Vinegar Syndrome problem. These people at NFSA know their stuff ... the most disturbing aspect which jumped out at me is the possible effects of this chemical reaction on HUMAN health. Be careful when handling one of the "vinegar beasties", even just breathing the vapours is apparently not a good idea for sustained periods!
Having said all of this, I will ALWAYS indicate film stock that is producing this Vinegar odour in my description - although "aged", my nose still works (sort of!). I will still run the film through the projector for "testing" but have no way of knowing how advanced the chemical reaction may already be - unless the film stock crumbles in my hands! Hmmm ... not a good sign!
I still have a ton of films to investigate (the owner of these films was a BIG film buff in the 1960's ~ 1980's) and so far only a small percentage have proven to have the air of Vinegar about them ...
I have also been advised that even if NO smells are being produced, chemical reactions may still be underway but as yet undetectable by the human nose.
It really comes down to ... these films are OLD, probably they were never intended to be viewed up to 60 years later ... everything eventually fails
Please be realistic and keep all of this in mind.
Now, on with the description of this mystery "gem" ...
I bought home some more of the film stock and this one is different, a 16mm format small canister film. As always, the owner has labelled the canister (thank goodness) but no markings on the reel.
The following description of this reel is purely based upon what I read on the label and observed because I do not have any 16mm projection equipment now ... in fact I believe the owner sent most of the larger format equipment (apparently he even had some 35mm stuff) off to another friend who was really into that world of film. That said, I keep finding dribs and drabs of 16mm film stock and this appears to be another of those.
HATTER'S CASTLE - 16mm format
1941 release (so says the reel label) 1942 says everyone else online!
The label on the canister indicates this film comprises "selected scenes"
The reel is METAL, a six spoke type and a bit worse for wear (in my opinion), I can see one of the spokes has some bending and edge-on the reel doesn't look even. No brand name on the reel, I have shown the two sides of the reel in photographs because it seems to have a central key on one side - perhaps this is how all 16mm reels used to be, I really do not know.
I have manually unwound a "safe amount" of the film stock off the metal and all I can see is jet Black film for around 9 feet length and then I can see the frames of the movie, I guess this is some sort of "leader" on the reel, I can see the splice joint. The frames of the movie are Black & White, not colour. I have not attempted to try and view the frame(s) content but they look something like opening titles. I can also see the magnetic stripe on the side so this film presumably has sound.
So far, every label on the boxes or canisters from the owner has been accurate so I must assume that this label equally is as accurate.
Although the label on the canister indicates 1941, online references indicate this film was made in 1942. Apparently it is a British film noir and deals with a Scottish hatter (who is ruthless in business and a tyrant at home) and dramatises his eventual downfall. Stars Robert Newton, Deborah Kerr & James Mason)
I have no idea which scenes may be on this reel but at only around 300~350 feet length, at most it will run for around 15 minutes I guess.
I have not inserted a film trailer here because I cannot be sure which release this may be ... I see some open with MCA TV before Paramount Pictures and others not ... only the new owner will know!
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
The Blue plastic canister is in good condition, no damage but obviously the "worse for wear" as it looks like something at some stage was spilled on the canister. Fortunately the reel does not have any indication of being inside this can at the time.
The canister is Australian made from the Australian Reel Co.
NO personal writing on either the canister or the film reel
NO unusual smells detected coming off the film i.e NO VINEGAR smells
TESTING:
As outline above, NO TESTING (VIEWING) OF THIS FILM HAS BEEN POSSIBLE
I can tell you that it does NOT have any onerous ODOURS, such as vinegar!
The reel itself is a bit "How's Ya Father" and it may be that the new owner will need to despool onto another reel they may have.
The side sprockets look fine (from the short length of film I viewed manually) not torn or mishaped.
So there you have it, a little mystery here but possibly a gem for a film enthusiast.
As always, I have placed the reel back into the canister along with a couple of Silica Gel packets and then sealed the whole canister in an attempt to slow down the eventual degradation of the film over time. It may help, it may not but better than doing nothing!
