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 ...
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 be underway but as yet undetectable by the human nose (Hmmm ... is there such a thing as a "dog film sniffer" 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 to 60 years later ... everything eventually fails
Please be realistic and keep all of this in mind.
Now, on with the description ...
I'M NO ANGEL (1933) - Super 8 Film
Universal 8 Films
This is NOT the full length 1933 release but instead a "selected scenes" version released for the home market
Single 400 foot reel (actual film length is 345Ft)
Commercial "abridged" release for the Home Movie market
Catalogue: 4017
In brief, this film is about Tira (Mae West), a sassy circus performer who tames lions and men! She uses her wit and allure to move from a cheap carnival into the high-society world of wealthy admirers. She ultimately finds love and fortune with a charming millionaire called Jack Clayton, played by Cary Grant.
Perfect example of Mae West throwing around her famous suggestive one-liners
Original hard clear plastic two-part case.
Leader film is fitted
400' Sky Blue unbranded plastic reel
Included is the original card which the owner could send to receive a colour catalogue of other films from Universal 8 Films
Black & White
Sound
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Film stock and the reel is undamaged
Outer packaging is in very good condition
Vinegar odour was NOT detected
NO personal names or other writing on the packaging or the film reel, in fact the reel is completely unmarked so watch out if you have a number of reels lying around!
TESTING:
Test machine: ELMO 1200ST
Leader film is fitted and it fed into the projector no problems (sprocket holes look good and undamaged)
The film runs perfectly fine, normal credit scenes and then into the film itself, in monochrome of course. Actually at times the "Whites" looked as though they had a slight Yellowish tinge but it adds to the "air" of age I guess as this film originally was shown in the theatres almost 100 years ago!
Sound is a little below par (in my opinion), a slightly lower audio level than other films I have run lately but also the high end seems to have dropped off slightly. I could still understand the dialogue but found it helped if I increased the Treble response on the projector audio control.
After around only five minutes play time, I had enough and am happy the film is in reasonable condition and as stated on the outside box.
I have now packed this film into a sealed, clear plastic outer packet in an attempt to maintain the current condition for as long as possible.
