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 PLANK (1967)
Super 8
Associated London Films
Dual reels, one being a 400 foot (7 Inch) clear Unbranded plastic type and the other a larger 600 feet DASCO clear plastic reel (Made in France)
As both reels are "full", it looks as though we have around 1000' of film here
Plain, White boxes used to store the reels (looking a bit aged and some signs of mildew or similar on the cardboard)
Slapstick British comedy featuring a number of British actors such as Tommy Cooper and Eric Sykes, the latter also wrote and directed the motion picture.
Colour
Sound
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Film stock and both reels are undamaged
Each reel has dynatape attached which identifies the film title and reel number.
Due to the "mildew like" marks on the outer White boxes I examined both reels carefully (and sniffed them!) for signs of powdery mildew but nothing found - the film stock looks clean so I am guessing these outer boxes were used because the owner couldn't find anything else spare to place the reels in.
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 ...
For sure, the Blues are "out to lunch" but Green has not left - yet. An overall Yellowish/Orange tinge is dominant, especially at the beginning of Reel 1 but as I viewed more of the film on Reel 1, I can see Greens appearing, particularly on the outdoor scenes. Reel 2 has the majority of film content and it does appear to have suffered more colour losses than Reel 1, at least at the beginning. The opening scenes with the Austin are clearly very Red/Pinkish with the car being a sort of Brown/Red but as Reel 2 continued, I could see some Greens but I felt to a lesser extent than on Reel 1. Blues though are just not in the picture at all.
I also noticed that the beginning of Reel 2 had what seemed to be quite a long length of Black film but finally does continue with the film.
The sound is acceptable although not brilliant. The level of audio is fine but to my ears it sounded just a little muffled, meaning that the high end response has dropped off a little.
After test playing these two reels for around 5 minutes or so each, I am satisfied that these reels do indeed contain the contents as marked and that, overall, the technical condition is reasonable after 50+ years.
After viewing, I have repacked both reels, each with a couple of packets of Silica Gel and then completely sealed within clear plastic. The two reels are then also packed (once again) within sealed clear plastic packaging.
