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 ...
HECKLE & JECKLE PLUS DASTARDLY & MUTTLEY - Super 8 Cartoons
Terrytoons plus another which I couldn't make out (Dastardly & Muttley)
1960's - 1970's period
Commercial release for the Home Movie market
HECKLE & JECKLE: Movie Madness
DASTARDLY & MUTTLEY: The Cuckoo Patrol
Two short cartoon films on this 400' reel, which is only loaded with 300' of film
Housed in a Grey plastic HANIMEX 2-Part Single Film case
Leader film fitted
7" 400' White CARL SCHNEIDER KG (Made In Germany) plastic reel - very nice! Why nice? (I hear you asking while standing on one leg, one eye closed) Carl Schneider was a very significant German manufacturer of high quality film and audio tape products, including reels - they manufactured for the likes of BASF, AGFA & GRUNDIG - all names synonymous with quality.
Colour
Sound
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Plastic case is in reasonable condition, just an ordinary HANIMEX but I do notice a very slight misshaping in one corner, something that heat may have caused. It is not a major "meltdown" and the case remains a nice tight two part fitting.
The case has a hand written labelling strip on the side which identifies the contents, briefly.
The White Carl Schneider K.G reel has no markings on it at all.
Film stock is undamaged although I did notice while the film was coming off the source reel, it had a slight twist as it entered the projector film path. This did NOT cause any jams or other strange things but I could see the film moving side to side as it was fed into the projector - twisting or warping perhaps?
NO personal writing anywhere on the canister or reel
NO unusual smells detected coming off the film i.e NO VINEGAR smells
NO personal names or other writing on the case or the film reel
TESTING:
Test projector is the ELMO 1200 that I have on hand at the moment.
Film looks to be clean and in good condition, sprocket holes are not damaged.
A White leader film is fitted but without a film clip.
I ran the film through the projector for quite a long period of time, I wanted to see what the quality of the second short cartoon film was like, this means my testing had a run time of around 15 minutes in total.
Oh dear! I was immediately struck by the bright White background and overall "washed out" appearance during the first film, Heckle & Jeckle. The Blues & Greens are totally devoid and even the Red's looked to have failed somewhat ... still watchable (just) but, it is like watching a film that has been bleached! Funny enough, near the end of the first film, I see Browns come onto the screen so perhaps the Greens had lifted their game a little. The second short film Cuckoo Patrol also has picture issues but of a different kind. The Blues are gone, the Greens are substantially reduced and the picture has an overall "Red - Orange tinge" - again, watchable (more than the first cartoon) but the overall Red hue is there for sure.
The audio is also a bit dodgy quite frankly. At times clear and easily understandable but at other times the high end has definitely dropped off substantially - this occurred during both short films.
In my opinion, after this brief test, while I am disappointed with the technical condition of the film, it's not good when BOTH the picture and sound aren't as they should be. Funny though, the second short film bought back memories from my childhood, I used to watch Muttley on television all those years ago! I remember the kids at school used to mimic Muttley's trademark sniggers.
I am very fastidious and careful with these films and although the film is not in great shape, I have now packed the film back into the tightly fitting two part case and added some Silica Gel in an attempt to maintain the "current condition", such as it is. This case has then been sealed within clear plastic and store in a cool, low humidity environment while it awaits a new projector to live with OR just spool off the film and use the Carl Schneider reel for something else!
