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Topic: Niles prints question

Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1171
From: Highland Mills, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 18, 2017 09:16 AM

How is the quality on "My Man Godfrey" and "Our Town?

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted January 18, 2017 11:21 AM

I have "Godfrey", and I have to say that, while I LOVE the film, it is very grainy, and fairly soft focus. The pre-print material wasn't actually in all that bad of shape (scratch and "splotch issues"), however, the contrast/grey tones to the print are quite nice.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Zechariah Sporre
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 557
From: Ladysmith, WI U.S.A.
Registered: Dec 2010

posted January 18, 2017 01:19 PM

I have My Man Godfrey. I love the film but unfortunately mine does have fairly soft focus. Maybe just a little worse then an average Niles film.

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There is a fine line between a hobby and a mental illness

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Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1171
From: Highland Mills, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 18, 2017 02:02 PM

Thank you. Sounds like I'll pass on MMG. Still curious about "Our Town", "My Favorite Brunette", "It's A Wonderful Life" or any others. I've only seen a few and from what I recall they were all pretty inferior to say a Castle or Blackhawk.

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Alexander Vandeputte
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 243
From: Belgium
Registered: Nov 2009

posted January 18, 2017 03:07 PM

I have the following Niles films:
It's a wonderful life: a bit dull looking but otherwise fine
God's Little Acre: a tad dark and soft but OK
Lord of the flies: hazy and dupey looking
Sherlock Holmes: Pearl of Death: just fine
Sherlock Holmes: The secret weapon: just fine
Swing high swing low: washed out image
Blue Beard: fine

I agree most of these release are somewhat below the quality of most other distributors, but to their credit: they issued an eclectic bunch of titles. I am grateful for their releases since for me collecting film, is also about discovering unusual or not so well known titles. (As opposed to collecting Derann releases.)

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Joe Balitzki
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 529
From: Charleston, SC, USA
Registered: Aug 2005

posted January 18, 2017 10:25 PM

Certain titles have excellent quality because they were licensed from the copyright owner. But most of their titles that are public domain have quality issues. The Niles titles that I own were licensed from the current distributor/copyright owner at the time. I do not have any of their public domain titles. While some of the Sherlock Holmes features are public domain, Niles used legally obtained Television Negatives on them. The color features that were released through RKO also were from the the current distributor/copyright owner at the time. Those have excellent quality but are now faded. There were other color releases as well. Any public domain color releases had quality that ranged from poor to very good.

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Movie Lovers Do It in the Dark

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted January 19, 2017 12:02 PM

I had a print of "My favorite Brunette' some years ago ...

it was sharp enough, but the contrast was SO BAD that it was either straight blacks and incredibly bright whites with very little grey tone, incredibly dupey, which is a shame as it is a very funny outing for Hope and I always loved seeing Peter Lorre in any role.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Gary Crawford
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 979
From: Manassas, VA. USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 19, 2017 01:13 PM

Niles was HIGHLY variable, according to pre-print. Their Chan film, Meeting at Midnight, is excellent as in the Lugosi film, The Invisible Ghost. White Zombie was much like its title...all the faces are totally whited out. Terrible print. Their Our Gang silent film, Sundown Limited , is very good. Niles was all over the place in quality, dependent again on their pre-print.

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted January 20, 2017 11:22 AM

Gary ...

Was it true that Niles even used some Blackhawk 16MM's to make some of thier prints as well?

I have heard that thier Sherlock Holmes series of features were actually quite good!

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Joe Balitzki
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 529
From: Charleston, SC, USA
Registered: Aug 2005

posted January 20, 2017 03:12 PM

There is a Sherlock Holmes feature where the original negative no longer existed when Television prints were struck. Its either "Dressed To Kill" or "Woman In Green". 16mm prints of that title are somewhat soft as its a few generations away from the camera negative. I imagine that negative was used by Niles. My print of "Woman In Green" has a white negative scratch or two on the extreme side of the frame. It may be that is the title for which the original negative is long gone. Their Sherlock Holmes trailer reel is very good to excellent except for "The Scarlet Claw" which is from a 35mm print. The other trailers are all reissue versions but from the original negatives.

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Movie Lovers Do It in the Dark

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Luis Caramelo
Master Film Handler

Posts: 494
From: Funchal
Registered: Feb 2011

posted January 20, 2017 03:28 PM

from niles i got FITING THE MAN OF THE PLAINS,a nice western with randolph Scott,and theprint it,s realy very nice good blacks and white with good contraste,

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Joseph Randall
Master Film Handler

Posts: 437
From: Wyckoff, NJ, USA
Registered: Jun 2015

posted January 20, 2017 04:09 PM

I've never been disappointed in a Niles Sherlock Holmes film.

I've never heard the rumor that Niles ever duped from a Blackhawk. Only a handful of titles overlapped, like some of the Buster Keatons and W.C. Fields.

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