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 these three reels, however keep 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 ... this is NOT one of them!
I have also been advised that even if NO smells are being produced, chemical reactions may 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 50+ years after being released ... everything eventually fails
Please be realistic and keep all of this in mind.
Now, on with the description ...
This motion picture was NOT in an original distributors packaging and instead was found wrapped in paper bags within a biscuit tin! I checked with the owner and he says "OK" to discarding the tin but making sure the reels are well protected ... I have "nicely" repackaged the three reels and even included the original dynatape label which was stuck on the tin! The details are below ...
BERLIN: THE SYMPHONY OF A GREAT CITY (1927) - Super 8 Film
Blackhawk Pictures (USA)
The film presents a day in the life of Berlin, from dawn to dusk, through a non-narrative montage of the city's bustling energy, industrial rhythm, and social contrasts. It follows the city through its activities, contrasting the movement of machinery and the masses of workers with moments of leisure and the stark differences between the wealthy and the poor. The film uses a five-act structure to capture the "symphony" of urban life, from the morning arrival of a train to the nightlife at the end of the day.
Each reel had pretty sparse labelling so I have added "BERLIN I, II or III" in Black felt tip pen to each reel to make life easier for the new owner.
Motion picture released 1927
Leader film is fitted to each reel
3x 450 feet plastic reels, Dark Grey PLiO MAGIC (USA)
NO film clip fitted to any reel but I found film spillage not to be an issue with these
Black & White
SILENT (watch the screen to learn more!) I read somewhere that there was a background sound track added to this movie at some stage, this print has no sound whatsoever.
Supplied with each reel individually packed in a sealed pack, along with a couple of Silica Gel satchels. Then the three reels are all packed together, again in a sealed plastic pack - the final touch is wrapping the whole thing in bubblewrap! These reels are now all "snug as a bug in a rug"
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Very good visually
Film stock and all three reels are undamaged
VINEGAR SYNDROME: These three reels are NOT giving off any Vinegar smells that I could detect with my old nose!
NO personal names or other writing on any of the film reels, just a simple label on each identifying the film title and reel number.
TESTING:
Using the ELMO ST1200 projector, away we go ...
The films look to be in good - very good condition, with the film playing nicely, smooth running, constrast seemed fine and I didn't notice issues with scratching etc ... the Greys/Blacks look to be ok and the background seemed to vary at times a little between White and a light Yellowish
NO sound (silent film) but there are LOTS of foreword, explanatory frames etc - I didn't have trouble reading any of these (not blurry and they stay "on screen" for decent lengths of time)
I did not test play the three reels completely although I did play each reel a little longer than "normal" (around 10~15 minutes each reel as opposed to my normal 5 minutes or so) as I found the film to be particularly interesting ...
I have now individually packed each reel into its own little sealed plastic packet, along with a couple of Silica Gel satchels. All of the sealed reels have then been securely wrapped in bubblewrap, keeping all of the film safe and secure. This is how it will be shipped, within a strong outer cardboard box.
