8mm Forum: Holmes digests a waste of time?

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Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 05, 2011, 10:33 AM:

Now, I do not actually own one, but I know that Niles films released both full features of the classic Basil Rathbone/Nigel Brice Sherlock Holmes featrues, but they also released 400ft digest versions as well.

Personally, to me it would seem like a waste of time, as most folks, who want to see those classic Sherlock Holmes films would rather have the "whole enchilada", with Holmes working his mental wonders in solving a case, instead of a quick readers digest version and the capture.

What do you folks think?

Second question within a question ...

Which is your favorite classic era Holmes film?

For me? Hands down ... "The Scarlet Claw", excellent Holmes entry!

Posted by Tony Stucchio (Member # 519) on April 05, 2011, 06:11 PM:

Yes, SCARLET CLAW is the best.

The digests would have only made sense to buy if the full-length features were not available. I've never seen one, but would be interested to see what they were like.

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on April 05, 2011, 10:20 PM:

I have several of them and they are all done very well. Yes, the full feature is a better choice, but for people on a tight budget back in the days the digests were a suitable alternative.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 06, 2011, 10:29 AM:

How is the print quality Brad?

The Niles actually excelled with the Holmes films, (where they really botched other releases), but sometimes the results can be markedly different when it comes to a digest, sometimes due to looking a little dupey, as there is another generation down from the source material.

Posted by Tony Stucchio (Member # 519) on April 06, 2011, 07:12 PM:

Usually, the price of 4 digests would add up to more than the price of a feature on 4 400 foot reels. The Holmes films went for about $125 in the mid-to-late '70s. The digests went for about $40 each. I think a Holmes fan would have rather had one full-length feature rather than 3 edited ones. If you collected sound films back then, I think you would have been buying at least 2 to 3 hours worth of films a year.

The features come up for sale much more often than the digests -- so I think my theory has some weight.

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on April 07, 2011, 10:08 AM:

Osi, my prints are dynamite. Niles specialized in primarily public domain titles which is why everything else I have from them is pretty cruddy. The Holmes canon was leased out to Niles from Universal so the pre-print material was fabulous. The picture and sound on all of them are quite nice. Tony, I agree that in the long run it was more expensive to buy digests than a full feature. However, many of us were mere teenagers back in the late 70s and I know,for me, it was too long a wait to try to save $125 to afford a film (remember the average minimum wage back then was less than $3 per hour). I only worked about 12-15 hours a week so it would have taken me months and months of no spending whatsoever before I would be able to buy feature. Digests were just more suited to my patience and finances.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 07, 2011, 10:22 AM:

Hmmm, I'm getting strong desire to start a search for "The Scarlet Claw" then! [Smile]

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on April 07, 2011, 10:47 AM:

I have "Woman In Green", "House Of Fear", "Faces Death" and "Scarlet Claw". I also own "House Of Fear" full feature. All really nice prints. The editing is what can be expected for a typical digest where it primarily encompasses the last half of each title, but I was very happy to have bought them and the cover art on the digests is really nice. I was disappointed that Niles packaged the Holmes features in their typical generic boxes when the digests all came with such great packaging.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 07, 2011, 12:43 PM:

I was struck by the cover art as well. Niles Films knew they had a potentially great seller and they went all out for this release.

... and hey, you don't have to worry about color fade!

Posted by Tony Stucchio (Member # 519) on April 07, 2011, 05:40 PM:

The features had the custom boxes as well. Depends on when you bought them. I have 2 (SCARLET CLAW and WASHINGTON)in the custom boxes. I have seen almost all titles (full-length) with custom boxes on eBay at one time or another.

Regarding the prices -- I agree, $125 was pretty steep back in the '70s. But I assumed that a person who bought a sound projector back then would already have had deep pockets.

I know it's not exactly apples to apples -- but who would buy a BluRay player today unless they knew they could afford a fair amount of discs?

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on April 07, 2011, 07:58 PM:

My parents bought me a sound projector (CHINON 6000) in May of 1977 and 3 Castle digests ("Pardon My Sarong", "Wolf Man" and "Monkey Business") for my 13th b-day. I subscribed to every film catalog possible and recall wishing I had a $20 per week allowance rather than the $10 per week I was getting. I saved every dollar for a month and was able to cut a deal with my folks in which they would pay the shipping and put the order on their credit card so it would arrive faster provided I put up the funds for the film I wanted and did my homework and studied before watching any 'boob tube'. My first 400'er in sound was "The Stolen Jools". I was under the impression it was a L&H starring vehicle. Imagine my disappointment when they only had about 45 seconds of screen time. I still have it. The print and the carton are in mint condition (probably from never being touched again). I should break it out just for ole' time sake. My 2nd 400'er was "Creeps" with the Stooges. I was thrilled with everything about it. It, too, is in excellent condition without a single splice and its carton held up nicely after all these years - not one bent corner or tear. Long Live Super 8! I just hope my daughters appreciate the legacy they will inherit some day. They both like watching film with me from time-to-time, but they're too accustomed to digital and just don't get why Dad likes film so much.

Posted by Tony Stucchio (Member # 519) on April 08, 2011, 04:57 PM:

Brad,

Funny how you can remember the month/year of getting a sound projector -- I can too! I still have the receipt from April 1974! (Eumig 810D). Still have the Eumig, too. It was a birthday present. I usually got films as birthday and Christmas gifts. Also for good report cards. It made it easy when Aunt Tillie, etc. wanted to know what I wanted for Christmas.

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