8mm Forum: First time buyer

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Posted by Robert Crewdson (Member # 3790) on August 28, 2013, 04:56 AM:

Can you all remember your first 8mm or Super 8 purchase. Soon after I got my first camera in 1973, I was on holiday in Llandudno; my parents went to Blackpool for the day and came back with 2 Walton films, as yet I had no projector. They were Laurel & Hardy in 'Perfect Day' and Hopalong Cassidy in 'Bar 20'.
When I took the reels out of the boxes they looked the same as my reel to reel tape recorder and I expected a similar running time. I thought I had a complete film, so imagine my surprise when the film only ran for 14 minutes.

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on August 28, 2013, 05:37 AM:

when I was a kid, I went on visit with my mother and my grand father to two friends od him who had a projector and showed us films. One of the two friends said that they shooted previousely in double 8 and then in super 8. I received the double 8 camera and the projector (as they had a new double gauge one). We bought lather two films (Laurel and Hardy) but couldn't thread the projector properly so after several tries, the beginning of the film lost two frames and the projector remained in a cupboard for a while until I insisted to try again (after all, it was MY projector). And then (I don't remember how) it worked and I have never stopped since then to find magic to see a film projected.

Posted by Joe Taffis (Member # 4) on August 28, 2013, 09:21 AM:

My first purchase was in l961 or '62. The KEN 50' silent regular 8mm I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN from Ernie's Camera Shop in Pottsville, Pa. I only had enough money for one film, so it came down to choosing between that and CASTLE FILMS 50' silent R8 THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US. I chose the KEN film because the box was bigger, and I mistakenly assumed that the film was longer [Big Grin]

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on August 28, 2013, 10:11 AM:

I know we've had this thread before....but it NEVER GETS OLD [Smile]

!

Around 1970, I was around 7 years old, and saw the 8mm movie adds in the back of "Famous MONSTERS Magazine". Assuming these were all full-length, sound movies (well, I was just a little kid), I BEGGED my parents to buy me a projector and movies. Then, Christmas 1971, I received my GAF silent projector and a couple of 50 foot Castle movies. One being "Dracula", which is what I really wanted.

Upon discovering it was only 3 minutes and silent, I was disappointed- and then strangly excited and hooked at the same time. I ran that poor 50 foot digest so many times that day, my dad finally told me to GIVE IT A BREAK!

And the rest is history [Wink]

.

James.

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on August 28, 2013, 01:21 PM:

It was 1972 and I was with my folks looking at the many camera shops in Times Square. I saw a bin filled with the red, black and white boxes of Atlas Films. These were generic boxes with the titles stamped on the bottom. I saw one that read "Frankenstein Meets Wolfman". $5.95 later I had my first 200' Standard 8mm film!

And I still have it!
I later (much later) found out that Atlas put out a few different titles with footage from the feature, all different than the Castle Films release.

Doug

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on August 28, 2013, 01:26 PM:

I remember getting Island of Mystery with my Elmo ST-600M ... I do think I bought a Pink Panther at the same time, Pink Tail Fly

It might have been a couple of more, but not sure, it was in 1977 and I haven't got enough RAM. I am an old model Terminator
[Cool]

I'll be back

Posted by Robert Crewdson (Member # 3790) on August 28, 2013, 02:12 PM:

I was forgetting that I actually got involved in film a little earlier, I was 14 at the time and Peak Films (J.S.Friese & Co) had brought out a hand held viewer called Jollyfilm, that took Loops of standard 8 film. I bought a box containing a viewer and 4 Chaplin excerpts. I was fascinated with it all seeing each frame looking slightly different than the one following and as you turned the handle you got the illusion of movement. Afterwards I bought a 50ft film made by Arrow Photographic of the Chimps Tea Party at London Zoo and watched this on my hand viewer with 50ft of film piling up on the floor.

After all these years, whenever I receive a new film, I always unroll a few feet and look at the frames,

Posted by Oemer Yalinkilic (Member # 86) on August 28, 2013, 02:42 PM:

I got as a birthday present, together with my silent italian projector a 50ft b/w Robin Hood (Disney) from Piccolo Film. The first purchase was the castle film "The Badmen of Arizona". I wanted allways the Tarantula castle diggist, but never found it at this time in the 70´s.

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on August 28, 2013, 03:13 PM:

My own first purchase was in 1977 and was the Derann 400ft cutdown of Texas Chainsaw, my Brothers first purchases were the 50ft STD 8mm b/w silent The Defiant Virginian from Shenendoah, (the film that started our collections), and a 50ft b/w silent Hawk of the Wilderness. The first sound film was a few years later and was the 200ft super b/w excerpt one million years BC and the 400ft cutdown of Stagecoach

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on August 29, 2013, 02:03 PM:

On leaving school in '69, as a stop gap to apprenticeship, I worked
in a factory making uniforms for the forces, surrounded by mainly
women, I WAS IN HEAVEN.Anyway, I saved my coins and bought
a little Horipet projector, as advertised in Famous Monsters mag,
My first purchases being "Son of Frankenstein" 50', "Teenage
Frankenstein" 50', "Deadly Mantis" 50' & "Mummyis Tomb" 200'
broken down onto 3x50' spools.All secondhand. All scratched to hell within a few screenings.Happy times.

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