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 film may interest you.
This is a compilation that the owner has put together, based on material from the Italian distributor IE International. I believe that IE used excerpts from various Chaplin movies as I cannot find a reference to films with the names "Charlie At The Theatre" or "Charlie The Champ"
Titles look to be in Italian, not English
Of course there is no dialogue, this was the silent age of film with piano accompaniment (usually live at the theatre)
Now, on with the detailed description ...
CHARLIE CHAPLIN - (Charlie At The Theatre & Charlie The Champ) - Super 8 Film
Distributed by IE International, Italy
Curious what source films they used to create this compilation ... very "old" looking (and authentic) with little or no "cleanup" of the images.
600 feet 8" Black unbranded reel (stamped Made In Japan)
Leader film is fitted and there is a decent film clip provided.
Black & White
Sound - instrumental only (Piano)
NO case is supplied, but I have well packed and protected these now - it will not be sent as a "loose reel"
USED
CLEAN
Film stock is undamaged
NO whiffs of the dreaded "vinegar Syndrome" e.g I could NOT detect any vinegar type smells coming off this film
NO personal names have been written on the reel
TESTING:
Test projector is the ELMO 1200 that I have on hand at the moment.
The film reel looks to be clean and in good condition, sprocket holes are not damaged. White leader fed through the ELMO projector fine.
I test viewed the ENTIRE reel as I needed to check exactly what the content was ... it appeared that the selection of scenes were from different Chaplin films with the theme being either The Theatre or The Champ.
The contrast was a bit below par, meaning that there are lights and darks with not much in between (lack of Greyscale) and a general pale Yellowish tinge to the pictures. I do not think it is an issue with this copy of the film but when the originals were transferred to produce this print, sometimes the film shifts alignment vertically within the frame so you see the lower bar come up the screen and then a second later, go back down to normal (but the issue is not my projector, the framing on the screen by the projector remained perfect, it is the source that moved) and there is a certain "jerkiness" to much of the movement in the films.
A couple of other things I noticed, relating to the age of silent film and the culture of the day ... smoking in the theatre! Even Charlie was taking a puff.
The other thing I never thought about before, being silent actors, Charlie never moves his mouth at all - he "talks" with his body and facial expressions but those lips below his moustache never move at all. He also does seem to laugh very much, quite "poker faced" most of the time and it the others around him who do all the laughing.
For me, these imperfections are wonderful! I liken it to the music industry (my world) where I much prefer to hear a music artist perform "raw" without all the gimmicks added, polished up and "remastered" - this film is a bit like that, raw Charlie Chaplin
The audio quality and level is fine, understand that this is piano only - no talkie or even on screen 'speech boxes" here!
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... in real life, the pictures are quite an improvement to the photographs you can see here.
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 camera shutter speed is very slow.
This means I have trouble getting sharp photographs, especially when there is movement on the screen (and this movie has a LOT of movement)
In my opinion, after this running this entire reel, I am happy that the film reels contain the short films as stated on the reel and that the film stock appears to be in pretty good technical condition.
I am very fastidious and careful with these films (I am after-all doing this on behalf of another person) and I have decided to repack the film with a little extra care ... a couple of packets of Silica Gel have been added within the reel and then sealed in clear plastic. This reel has then been placed into a very stiff cardboard base and once again, sealed in clear plastic.
