8mm Forum: It's a Wonderful Life

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Posted by Tony Milman (Member # 7) on October 19, 2008, 02:59 PM:

I did a search before posting but forgive me if I missed an entry

Was this film ever released on S8? I have seen 16mm films listed and many seem to be dupes but I don't remember an 8mm one.

If it was released, what was the quality like?

Posted by Dave Cragg (Member # 401) on October 19, 2008, 03:19 PM:

Hi Tony,
could have sworn I've seen this on Ebay within the last year on Super 8.

Dave

Posted by John W. Black (Member # 1082) on October 19, 2008, 04:04 PM:

Tony,Many distributers put this out,all in fair pic quality,shouls be easy to find.

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 892) on October 19, 2008, 10:11 PM:

I know for a fact that Niles did an 8-reel print of this, which is curious since the theatrical release was 7 reels. Oh well, keeps the projectionist busy. Anyway, if it's like other Niles prints, a VHS tape would be well ahead of the picture and sound quality.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on October 19, 2008, 10:21 PM:

'tis true!: if it's Niles you may as well go VHS!

The one Niles I have in my collection I always assumed was a faded print, but only later found out was a crappy one from the day it hit the loading dock!

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on October 20, 2008, 09:45 AM:

Niles could occasionally put out a good print though.

One of the films I'm trying to get a beginning price on (from the owner before I sell it), "Pearl of the South Pacific", has very good color, (for some reasons, the bright daylight scenes have a somewhat bleached color, but the nighttime scenes are stunning), and when I checked the leader, it was surprisingly, a Niles print!

Even the negative they used was literally unspotted!

Posted by Panayotis A. Carayannis (Member # 1220) on October 20, 2008, 11:29 AM:

I have quite a few film from Niles.My general opinion is this:
Silent films are mostly execrable and should be avoided at all costs,in addition,all their titles can be found in better quality from other companies. Sound films are at least acceptable and at most, pretty good, as in the Sherlock Holmes series (The Basil Rathbone Universals) where they had a deal with the,then, current rights owners and worked from good originals.They hit their qualitative peak when they struck a deal for the Technicolored Benedict Bogeaus adventures of the fifties and produced first class prints. Unfortunately today,most have gone reddish !

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on October 20, 2008, 11:43 AM:

Osi,

My "Cattle Queen of Montana" is exactly the same way: bleached out daytime exteriors, yet lower light shots often quite nice.

The interesting part is when one of these bleached out shots fades to black, you have this roughly half second interval during the fade where the color becomes beautiful. It would be spectacular if the other 99.96% of the film looked that good!

I won't complain too much: the seller said the color wasn't good and I got it for less than a DVD would have cost me.

This was my first feature length film.

Posted by Panayotis A. Carayannis (Member # 1220) on October 20, 2008, 11:45 AM:

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE ,at 129 minutes,is complete on 8 x 400 reels and is a reasonably good print.

Posted by Michael Hyde (Member # 748) on October 21, 2008, 01:32 AM:

I bought my copy around 25yrs ago from derann,the quality quite good for its day,and will consider selling ifa fair price is offered,mounted on 2x1200 and 1x600 spools (8x400)its sat on the shelf now doing nothing.

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on October 21, 2008, 09:20 AM:

I recently acquired a Niles print of this and haven't even had the opportunity to view it. So far, I just unwound some footage on the first reel to see if all the Main titles were intact and the condition of the first several feet. The picture from what I can see appears to be a bit dark. Can I really expect the print to look and sound cruddy? If so, I may only view the first reel and if I'm really disappointed - just stick with my DVD.

Posted by Craig Hamilton (Member # 258) on October 21, 2008, 09:37 AM:

Tony

Uncle Ian has a copy for sale on his list.

Craig

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on October 21, 2008, 09:55 AM:

Brad, couldn't get your e-mail address or send an e-mail. Could you contact me?

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