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 350+ left now
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.
Each film is carefully examined (in no particular order i.e my film selections are random) described and a rough idea of the picture is photographed and put up with the advertisement.
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 both of these reels ...
Regardless of this, please 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 60 years later ... everything eventually fails
Please be realistic and keep all of this information in mind.
Now, on with the description ...
BYE BYE BIRDIE
Columbia Home Movies (Selected Scenes)
Title: Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
Catalogue # Unidentified on the box
I have discovered TWO copies of this release
Copy A: 400 Feet Fire Engine Red PLiO MAGiC (USA) reel
Copy B: 400 Feet Fire Engine Red PLiO MAGiC (USA) reel
NO leader as such on Copy A but Copy B has a short White leader
Colour
Sound (Mono)
Run time: approximately 16 minutes
A struggling songwriter Albert Peterson (played by Dick Van Dyke) and his girlfriend/secretary Rosie (played by Janet Leigh) concoct a publicity stunt to save his career when rock-and-roll icon Conrad Birdie (played by Jesse Pearson) is drafted. They arrange for Birdie to kiss a small-town Ohio fan, Kim McAfee (played by Ann-Margret), on The Ed Sullivan Show.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Both of the original cardboard cases have seen some handling wear and one in particular (I have called this Copy B) has "colour fade" to the artwork. This same copy B also has an old price sticker attached to the topside and a paper label on the side-edge with the film title.
NO personal writing on either the outer cases or the film reels, in fact the reels have no identification on them at all.
Both films appear to be undamaged, although Copy A has NO White leader film (just a short length of Black film before the movie begins) but Copy B does have a White leader, although short. No film clips in either case
TESTING:
Test machine: ELMO 1200ST
The projector film path has been completely cleaned prior to running this film through the machine. I now have a "running sheet", my maintenance schedule if you like - I record when each maintenance is performed because I am running a lot of films through the machine.
Both films look to be clean and in good condition, sprocket holes are not damaged.
I ran both of the films through the projector for approximately the first five minutes, to observe the picture and check that the sound quality.
COPY A:
This is the reel inside the cardboard box A and the film has practically no leader, just a short length of plain Black film before beginning.
Not the greatest of colours here, but BETTER than Copy B (with the faded looking cardboard box). There are some Greens as the Reds are subdued and become more like a Brown but Blues? No way, they have left the party unfortunately. While watchable, the movie has substantially Brown tones.
Sound on this copy is a bit "strange", just at the beginning of the movie Dick Van Dyke is lamenting his "star" not being available but the dialogue I hear on Copy B is not here! Instead I can only hear music but no speech. This continues for perhaps 30 seconds and then the dialogue suddenly appears ... I think someone has at one stage overwritten the sound stripe right at the beginning.
COPY B:
This copy is in the faded cardboard box with the price sticker on the front. It has LESS colour than Copy A in that the Greens are more subdued and the overall picture looks more Pink-Red. Obviously the Blues have all gone to lunch, no sign of them at all.
The sound on this reel is more "normal" with dialogue right from the beginning, unlike Copy A
SPECIAL NOTE: I felt I needed to add this little note ... whilst viewing the film on the screen, it actually looks "reasonable" but it has become apparent to me that my antiquated digital camera (very old, one of the very first 'point n shoot' models!) just isn't up to the task in regard to colour representation nor the ability to portray contrast properly. The screen shots I take are while the film is running too, that doesn't help provide a good image. The photographs are only a very rough guide for what to expect but in reality the film is not as bad as in the photographs. I work with what equipment I have, room lighting etc ... if anything, at least you can see that the films have actually been run through the projector.
I am satisfied that both reels do contain the content indicated by the packaging BUT take note that (in my opinion) the colour is better on Copy A but the sound is a bit "dicky" right at the beginning of that copy.
I am very fastidious and careful with these films, they are after all the property of another, and I have now packed each film back into it's cardboard case, added a couple of Silica Gel packets and then sealed the reel(s) in clear plastic, then another sealed clear plastic packaging has been added around the outer case(s).
Both of these films are now stored in a cool, low humidity environment while they await a new projector to live with.
You can choose either copy in the selection box on this page OR if you select both films, a discount is applied automatically to both films.
