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.
This reel of film has audio issues and the box is obviously a substitute ... this offering has been made really for the purposes of ... someone wanting just the box (which is in very good condition) or run off the film and just use the 400' reel. I guess another option is to re-record the magnetic stripe but I wonder if it would be worth the trouble anyway ...
Now, on with the description ...
THE SEA RIVALS (1952) - Super 8 Short Film
Castle Films
This is a shortened version (selected scenes) released to the home Super 8 film market from the original feature film, The World In His Arms. Apparently this shortened version underwent a title change as well. In a nutshell, briefly, this is an adventure film set in the 1850s, involving sailors, a Russian princess, and a race across the Pacific.
Single 400' (7 Inch) Grey reel
Commercial release (selected scenes) for the Home Movie market
NO original box ... this reel was stored within a hinged cardboard box intended for the selected scenes version of Star Trek, Marketing-Film International catalogue number 1070 .
Leader film is fitted
Black & White
Sound
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Film stock and the reel are undamaged
The reel originally had very little labelling, just two stickers (one being the Star Trek catalogue number and the other ENGLISH) so I have written THE SEA RIVALS onto the reel.
Obviously the box used by the owner was whatever he had at hand, it is actually a really nice (meaning in very good condition) cardboard hinged box intended for Star Trek (the original) released by Marketing-Film International, catalogue number 1070.
Onto the side of this outer box has been attached a dynatape label with the text THE SEA RIVALS and to reuse the box for your copy of Star Trek, just use a quality label remover (gum remover) such as Labelclene, this will work a treat! Do not try to just lift off the dynatape as it is possible it will pull some of the graphics print with it!
Vinegar odour was NOT detected
NO personal names or other writing on the outer box 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 ...
NO issues noted with the Black & White film, contrast seems fine and a good clean picture
BUT ...
The audio is a big letdown! Something has happened to the mag stripe because the sound is very muffled and also quite noisy in the background. I tried listening to the actors but really, this film is more like a silent movie! The audio is awful.
After viewing, I packed the reel into sealed clear plastic, along with a couple of Silica Gel satchels and a clear label about the contents.
NOTE: The purpose of offering this film is for the components i.e a very nice cardboard box for your copy of Star Trek (400') or just take off the film and use the 400' Grey reel - I guess a diehard might want to try and re-record the audio stripe but I wouldn't imagine it would be worth the trouble ...
