HISTORY:
My "world" is 'the arts' and more specifically, music, artwork and hand crafted/decorated chinaware's.
I am not a film enthusiast but an associate has asked me to find new owners for THEIR large collection of photographic and film items ... this is one of those items.
While the world of 8mm/Super 8mm is not my area of expertise, I am doing my best to establish the condition of each item that I am listing.
I tend to be quite detailed in my item descriptions, please READ all the details to decide if this item may interest you.
Now I am starting to work through some "exciting" canisters, why exciting? Because I am not sure what is on the film and the descriptions can be a bit vague. This canister is a VERY OLD KODAK EASTMAN from USA.
Now, on with the description ... probably one of the most well known films from the Marx Brothers, even I remember this one (they used to play these old movies on the television in NZ when I was kid)
THE FOUR MARX BROTHERS - Monkey Business
Paramount Pictures
Super 8 Film
Title: Monkey Business (1931)
Catalogue: unknown
400 Feet
Black & White
Sound (Mono)
Run time: approximately 17 minutes
The wacky four are stowaways onboard an ocean liner, hiding inside large barrels, bound for New York, each of them has their own adventures while on board - classic comedy. Geez, I couldn't help but notice how inept the ship's crew are in finding the stowaways, hope they knew how to navigate a ship to it's destination!
Supplied in the original can used by the owner, a very old KODAK EASTMAN metal two section can. I have decided to add Silica Gel and seal both the reel and the outer can in an attempt to protect the contents as much as possible.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Light "rust" oxidisation can be seen to the external sides but its not too bad. Inside the can is very clean and does NOT have any oxidisation! Initially I was concerned with the "look" of the outer canister and how the film may have been affected but I suspect this film "lived" in another case and was transferred to this can for some reason - the film looks great and has no smells or "mildew spots"!
Film stock and the reel are undamaged
NO damage to the KODAK EASTMAN can, externally or internally
NO strange smells from the film e.g vinegar odour
NO personal names on the can or reel, just the identification of the reel (one of the few that actually has some identification on the reel AND the can or case!)
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.
I only ran the film for the first five minutes or so to observe the picture and sound, this means that I cannot give a complete description of the contents but what I viewed was not too bad. The pictures are clean, the Black & Whites though do tend towards a Yellowish tinge and I felt the contrast was not quite as good as it should be ... I noticed some of the clips online also look like this anyway.
To be honest, I found the sound to be a little "below par" which a loss to the high end frequencies which means it sounded a little muffled. I could still understand what they are saying and follow their antics but it just wasn't a bright clear audio that I heard.
SPECIAL NOTE:
I always include a couple of "off screen" snapshots of each reel as it is played ... now my digital camera is antiquated (colour balance? what's that - like I said, this is one very OLD camera that I currently use) and it's limitations are definitely showing up in these sample photographs. It is not good with high contrast pictures and tends to add Red to any image it captures (it does not have a White balance feature)
I take the screen shot in very low light levels, the camera flash is turned off (otherwise the picture is flooded with White) and the camera shutter speed is very slow.
This means I have trouble getting sharp photographs, especially when there is movement on the screen and I have noticed that after viewing quite a few films now, that my poor OLD (one of the first models) digital camera is tending to shift images towards the Red or Yellow end of town, - in real life the on-screen picture is not as Yellow as recorded in the photographs
In my opinion, after this very brief test, I am happy that the film is as stated on the can label and reel and that the film stock appears to be in reasonable technical condition considering it's age.
I am very fastidious and careful with these films (I am after all doing this on behalf of another person) and I have decided to repack the film with a little extra care ... a couple of packets of Silica Gel have been added within the reel and then sealed in clear plastic. I have also added a sealed clear plastic packaging to the outer canister, this should keep any humidity & temperature effects to a minimum.
SIDE NOTE: You know, after a lot of film being put through the projectors here I have noticed one thing ...
If a film is packaged in an original cardboard case, they tend to suffer the dye failures more than those in tightly closed containers such as the metal cans from Eastman Kodak. Even the plastic library cases are better than the cardboard boxes. I have also found a few films already wrapped in Brown paper (a bag from a very long time ago) and these look as though they have never been opened or at least not for a very long time ... this didn't help with regard to dye failure, those wrapped films were just as likely to show up Red dominance as an unwrapped reel in a cardboard case. This is why I am SEALING all of the films I am offering in clear plastic = airtight (or near enough)
