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 ...
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 (Hmmm ... is there such a thing as a "film sniffer dog" such as Border Patrol uses at the airport?
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 pretty dodgy box! I decided to "nicely" repackage the three reels and details are below ...
THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931) - Super 8 Film
Warner Bros Pictures
Commercial release for the Home Movie market (?) being three reels or around 1800' in total, I would imagine this is the full length movie.
Starring James Cagney and Jean Harlow ... Two young Chicago hoodlums, Tom Powers (James Cagney) and Matt Doyle (Eddie Woods), rise up from their poverty-stricken slum life to become petty thieves, bootleggers and cold-blooded killers. But with street notoriety and newfound wealth, the duo feels the heat from the cops and rival gangsters both. Despite his ruthless criminal reputation, Tom tries to remain connected to his family, however, gang warfare and the need for revenge eventually pull him away.
Each reel is labelled, by the owner (hand written)
Motion picture released 1931
Leader film is fitted to each reel
3x 600 feet plastic reels, each reel is different!
Reel 1: Made In Japan but no makers name
Reel 2: Matt Black colour with no stamped markings at all - looks very similar to an ELMO
Reel 3: Made In Japan AUTO REEL (For Professionals apparently - according to the stamping)
A very simple paper based film clip is fitted to each reel
Black & White
Sound
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 ...
My first surprise was the opening of the film, yes the usual 10-9-08 etc countdown and then a BLUE background screen with White text. I wondered at this time if this film was colour not Black & White at all. Next thing I noticed was this strange diagonal "bar" moving down the screen during the very lengthy introduction (storyline, credits etc) At first I thought it was a fault with the film but I think that the film producers were just being visually clever ... the White bar was actually highlighting what the viewer should be reading (lots and lots of text about the background to the film) although the "bar" was moving down the screen quite fast. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity (probably the longest intro I have viewed so far), the motion picture begins .... Ah ha, it is definitely Black & White now
The picture across all three reels is fine, as is the sound - nothing out of place noticed.
I did not test play the three reels completely with the exception of the first reel, I guess about five minutes only for reels 2 & 3
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.
