8mm Forum: Niles prints question

This is topic Niles prints question in forum 8mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=011219

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on January 18, 2017, 09:16 AM:

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

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on 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.

Posted by Zechariah Sporre (Member # 2358) on 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.

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on 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.

Posted by Alexander Vandeputte (Member # 1803) on 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.)

Posted by Joe Balitzki (Member # 438) on 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.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on 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.

Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 67) on 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.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on 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!

Posted by Joe Balitzki (Member # 438) on 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.

Posted by Luis Caramelo (Member # 2430) on 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,

Posted by Joseph Randall (Member # 4906) on 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.

UBB.classic^TM 6.3.1.2