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 75 years later ... everything eventually fails
Please be realistic and keep all of this in mind.
Now, on with the description ...
THE THREE STOOGES (1939) - Uncivil Warriors
Super 8 Short Film
Columbia Pictures
Single 400 foot (7 Inch) PLiO MAGIC (USA) Grey reel
Commercial release for the Home Movie market
NO canister or can - this is another of the films which was sitting in a cardboard box with Brown paper wrapped around it, the box was past it's use by date and no longer useable.
Uncivil Warriors (The Three Stooges) 1935
Set in the American Civil War, the Stooges are Union spies disguised as Confederate officers who infiltrate the enemy camp to gather intelligence. After their 'cover' is blown, they escape by hiding in a cannon, which is then fired, sending them back to their own lines.
Leader film is fitted
400' Grey PLiO MAGIC (USA) plastic reel
Black & White
Sound
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Film stock and the reel is undamaged
The reel had no labelling on the reel and just a dynatape strip on the outside cardboard box (discarded) so have kept the dynatape and hand written the title of this film onto the reel.
The film has been repacked and a title label has been included inside
Vinegar odour was NOT detected
NO personal names or other writing on the packaging or the film reel
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 begins ...
The usual 10-9-8 etc countdown and on with the film ...
Picture constrast and quality are fine, Grey Blacks look as I think they should.
The sound is fine, easily able to follow the antics during the film
After test playing this reel for around 5 minutes or so, I am satisfied that this reel does indeed contain the contents as marked and that it is in reasonable technical condition.
After viewing, I packed the reel into sealed clear plastic, along with a couple of Silica Gel satchels and the original dynatape giving details of the film.
