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 400+ 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.
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 ...
Regardless of the lack of odours, 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 in mind.
Now, on with the description ...
SUMMER HOLIDAY
Walton Home Movies (Selected Scenes)
Title: Summer Holiday (1963)
Catalogue # Not indicated
On screen (near the beginning) it states this is a Cinemascope picture although I felt the aspect ratio looked pretty normal, the images didn't look squashed up to me.
Original two part plastic case (base is Olive Green & the top is clear) with a single page cover insert.
400 Feet Black Grasso (Italy) reel
Leader fitted
Colour
Sound (Mono)
Run time: approximately 16 minutes
London Transport mechanic Don (Cliff Richard) and his friends convert a double-decker bus into a mobile hotel for a sunny European road trip.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
The original plastic two part case is in very good condition, with no cracks or broken pieces but the top clear plastic does have some scuff marks and "cloudiness"
NO personal writing on either the outer case or the film reel
Film stock is undamaged with a leader film fitted but no film clip.
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.
Film looks to be clean and in good condition, sprocket holes are not damaged.
White leader film is fitted
I ran the film through the projector for approximately the first ten minutes, to observe the picture, check that the sound quality and figure out what was going on!
You see, the film opens without much colour almost mono. A brass band playing on the beach and then it rains ... and rains ... and rains. Suddenly full colour is on the screen and continues this way. By full colour I mean all of the colours, it actually looks great! I have come to the conclusion that the film was intentionally produced in this manner, the mono at the beginning representing a typical English summer's day, gloomy and wet.
The downside is the audio, the level is considerably lower than most of the other films I have played - you need to really wind up the Volume control for this one.
I am happy that the unmarked reel inside the box is as stated on the outer case.
I am very fastidious and careful with these films, they are after all the property of another, and I have now packed the film back into the polystyrene case, added a couple of Silica Gel packets and then sealed the reel in clear plastic, then another sealed clear plastic packaging has been added around the outer case.
This film is now stored in a cool, low humidity environment while it awaits a new projector to live with.
