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 improve the film's protection both physically and from the environment.
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 75 years later ... everything eventually fails
Please be realistic and keep all of this in mind.
Now, on with the description ...
POPEYE & WOODY WOODPECKER
Two colour cartoons extracted by the owner from the original cases (beyond salvation) and placed onto this Carl Schneider 400' reel
400 foot (7 Inch) Carl Schneider (Germany) plastic reel
Commercial release for the Home Movie market, these two films were originally in their separate boxes but I have been told the boxes "fell apart" so this film has been transferred to one 400' reel.
The two part case is also a Carl Schneider original plastic case.
Popeye cartoon - Papa Popeye (looks to be a French release)
Woody Woodpecker cartoon - Castle Films - I cannot recall the title (but it doesn't really matter, see the notes under the TESTING section regarding this film)
NO leader film is fitted - begins immediately with the opening titles for the film distribution company (French)
Colour
Sound
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Film stock and the reel are undamaged
The reel has no identification labels, only on one side of the case and even then it just says CARTOONS.
Vinegar odour was NOT detected
NO personal names or other writing on the packaging or the film reel
TESTING:
Test machine: ELMO 1200ST
The projector film path has been completely cleaned prior to running this film through the machine. I now have a "running sheet", my maintenance schedule if you like - I record when each maintenance is performed (usually after just 3~4 films each clean) because I am running a lot of films through the machine.
Feeds into the projector no problems (sprocket holes look good and undamaged)
The film begins ...
Popeye is brilliant! Probably the best I have seen in the cartoon genre - full colour with plenty of Blues, Greens, Yellows etc
The sound is also very good, clean and crisp
Woody Woodpecker is however disappointing, not only has much of the colour "left the planet" but the Pinkish/Reds which remain are insipid and washed out looking - not a good picture at all. I must have watched just a minute or so of this one, too much to bear!
Poor picture but the sound remained fine, like Popeye it was great.
After test playing this reel completely (the entire length due to the dual films on the reel), I am satisfied that this reel does indeed contain the contents as (poorly) indicated on the side of the Schneider case. The first film looks to be in very good technical condition, the second film is pretty woeful unfortunately.
After viewing, I have packed this reel back into the plastic two part case and then sealed the entire package in clear plastic.
