Here is another "2nd copy" of a film I had previously found, I guess the owner liked to collect multiple copies, perhaps in the hope of finding a "good copy" or as something to trade with when after other films ... I have no idea really
HISTORY:
My "world" is 'the arts' and more specifically, music, artwork and hand crafted/decorated chinaware's.
I am not a film enthusiast but an associate has asked me to find new owners for THEIR large collection of photographic and film items ... this is one of those items.
While the world of 8mm/Super 8mm is not my area of expertise, I am doing my best to establish the condition of each item that I am listing.
I tend to be quite detailed in my item descriptions, please READ all the details to decide if this item may interest you.
Now, on with the description ...
THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
Columbia Pictures
Title: The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)
Catalogue # Not indicated on the packaging
400 Feet
Colour
Sound (Mono)
Run time: approximately 16 minutes
Epic War film set in Burma - condensed version
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Very good
Film stock and the fire engine Red unbranded reel are undamaged, leader film is fitted but no film clip.
Outer all cardboard two part case is in good condition, clean, no substantial structural damage or graphic damage and no personal writing EXCEPT I do see some "glue remnants" marks on the front of the box (top section) which appear to be left over after a label removal at some stage.
NO writing on the reel and just the front cover has three colour graphics (Green & Black) while the rear is unprinted at all. It's peculiar that this front cover has an additional colour in the graphics (Brown) whereas the first copy, apparently the same release, only had two colour printing.
TESTING:
Test projector is the ELMO 1200 that I have on hand at the moment.
Film looks to be clean and in good condition.
I only ran the film for the first five minutes or so to observe the picture and sound.
The colour has definitely shifted way towards the Red 'end of town' with an obvious loss of Blues in particular and some Greens. This means you will be watching the film with a lot of Red/Pink tones, some Browns and "hints" of Green from time to time. Even with these limitations, the film remains quite watchable though - like looking through Rose coloured glasses!
Sound is good and clean and it is easy to understand the dialogue.
SPECIAL NOTE:
I always include a couple of "off screen" snapshots of each reel as it is played ... now my digital camera is antiquated (colour balance? what's that - like I said, this is one OLD camera) and it's limitations are definitely showing up in these sample photographs.
I take the screen shot in very low light levels, the camera flash is turned off (otherwise the picture is flooded with White) and the resulting camera shutter speed is very slow.
This means I have trouble getting sharp photographs, especially when there is movement on the screen and I have noticed that after viewing quite a few films now, that my poor OLD digital camera is tending to emphasise the Red's in the photographs anyway - in real life the on-screen picture is not quite as Red as recorded in the photographs
In my opinion, after this very brief test, I am happy that the film reel does contain the contents stated on the box and that the film stock appears to be in fairly reasonable technical condition considering it is over 50 years since this copy was purchased.
I am very fastidious and careful with these films (I am after all doing all of this on behalf of the films owner) and I have replaced the reel back into the cardboard outer box, sealed in clear plastic along with a couple of Silica Gel packets (moisture absorbent). Then the complete outer box has also been sealed in clear plastic - double packed.
