8mm Forum: Are there ANY unfaded Niles color prints out there?!!

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Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on December 20, 2007, 02:38 PM:

I recently bought off of ebay a print of the warners short, "All this and Rabbit Stew", one of the very last Tex Avery Warners, and funny as hell ...

But it has faded to totally red and while funny, is a reel drag to watch. i'd sure love to find that son-of-a-gun with good color.

By the way, anybody know if it was released by anyone else besides Niles?

Posted by Brian Hendel (Member # 61) on December 20, 2007, 03:36 PM:

I don't think Niles films ever had good color - even when new. I have three color Niles features (Hannah Queen of Vampires, House of Seven Corpses, Magical Mystery Tour) and while not very red they are all a bit murky... the way I remember them being as a kid in the 70's...

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on December 20, 2007, 09:09 PM:

I have a sneaking suspicion you are right. I always assumed my Niles "Cattle Queen of Montana" was faded until I noticed that when a scene fades to black, for the briefest instant the color becomes really great.

-that's not fade; it's more like an overexposure.

I actually saw an ad. for Niles prints from the 1970s once, and adjusted for inflation what they cost was at least as much as an equivalent length Derann feature costs today. If I laid out that much and got something so sub-par, I'd feel a little cheated.

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on December 21, 2007, 01:43 AM:

Their B&W titles are pretty crappy, too. I have "Wooden Soldiers" (L&H), "Human Monster", "Shadow Strikes", "Great Guy", "Wonderful Life", "Kook's Tour" and various "Holmes" titles and they're just awful compared to the stuff the studio vendors were turning out. Hell, even IVY FILMS' titles were better and I never thought much about my "Road To Bali" from them when I first got it.

Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 67) on December 21, 2007, 06:52 AM:

Niles quality was highly variable. Their Meeting at Midnight and Invisible Ghost were very nice. White Zombie and Satan's Satelites and the Golf Specialist...just awful. I have a Niles super 8 of Rabbit of Seville which still has pretty much the color it came with. Never was perfect, but pretty darned good. Some of their Sherlock Holmes films were pretty decent. Niles did have a couple of silent era Our Gang's that I never found anywhere else...and the quality was very good.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on December 21, 2007, 10:42 AM:

IVY films better? Oooooh that's a dirty insult! Actually, I found that, while the image could look slightly wash-out, the sharpness tended to be there.

I do have one Niles feature that is passable: My Man Godfrey.
Mind you, it does have a slightly soft focus, but a suprisingly good contrast to the print.

They did release some really one of a kin d stuff. The prin ts are near to horrible, but I have a black n white of "Hotel Anchovy" (Ritz Brothers) and "Off the Horses (Bert Lahr short) that I've never seen anywhere else, and it's just nice to have them.

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on December 21, 2007, 02:00 PM:

I actually prefer 16mm, but limit my purchases in 16mm to primarily short subjects (features just get way to pricey for my budget). Albeit Super 8 has it's limitations due to the further reduction of the image, monetarily speaking buying features in 8mm just works better for me for now and as far as sound quality is concerned I've found there's little to no difference between the two formats. I only show my films in the Living Room or the Den so I really don't benefit from a throw that would reach across the yard.

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on December 21, 2007, 05:52 PM:

There's the added advantage of stereo on super 8. Wont find that on 16mm [Frown]

I'm sure that later Niles releases must have been on low fade stocks?

Kev.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on December 21, 2007, 08:24 PM:

I'd love to know that too Kevin, as I'd love to find a decent print of thier release "Popeyes meets Ali baba".

Posted by Timothy Ramzyk (Member # 718) on May 16, 2013, 01:31 AM:

You won't find it from Niles. Mine was all pink and brown.

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