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 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 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 75 years later ... everything eventually fails
Please be realistic and keep all of this in mind.
Now, on with the description ...
Film stock is on a Grey plastic 800 foot reel, stored in a POSSO library case (drop down front door) with NO labelling on the library case and a dynatape (removeable) title stuck onto the reel.
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (Marx Brothers)
This is print #2 - I have no idea why the owner had two or more copies of some films, perhaps the condition but there is nothing on the library case or reel to indicate the condition
Super 8 Film
Commercial MGM release for the Home Movie market
Catalogue # Not Stated on packaging at all
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935)
While this film was made well before I was born, I do remember folks talking about the Marx brothers and this film in particular. Absolutely jam packed with gags although (in my opinion) Groucho becomes just a bit too much! Groucho is a bit of a jackass/fast talker and if someone behaved today in the manner he does in this film, he would have ended up flat on the floor! Fascinating film to watch, not just for the gags but the social interactions of the time and gender imbalances.
White leader film is present, but there is no film clip fitted.
800' Light Grey reel (seems to be unbranded)
I believe this reel will provide around 35 minutes runtime, I only "test viewed" the first 10 minutes or so which means I have not run the entire reel through the projector. I have masses of film to still work through and if I watched every single film entirely, sorting through all this film would take me forever!
Black & White
Sound
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Film stock and the reel appear to be undamaged
Labelling has been applied only to the reel using "dynatape" with no markings on the library case. I have added a simple label to the packaging so I know which film to send the new owner!
NO unusual smells (including Vinegar) detected coming off the film.
NO personal names or other writing on the library 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.
I ran the film through the projector only for the first 10 minutes or so, to observe the picture and sound.
The contrast looks good, no scratches showing on the screen, Grey/Blacks look good too - if anything, I would say this is a better copy than the first one I found (that print already has a new owner) I enjoyed the pictures and sound but again, I found Groucho irritating and was glad to stop the film!
Sound quality is good ~ very good, "normal level", clear and without noise and easily understandable.
In my opinion, after this relatively brief test viewing, I am happy that the film is as stated on the reel and it looks to be in pretty good "technical" condition.
As with all of the larger diameter "open reel" films I am finding when I sort through the boxes, I am adding a couple of satchels of Silica Gel (for moisture absorption) and sealing the reel within clear plastic. I then insert this sealed reel into the library case and seal that as well - this one with a plain label to identify what is inside the case!
