8mm Forum: Reaching For The Moon

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Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on February 10, 2012, 07:04 AM:

Reaching For The Moon 1930 talkie.
3X400ft (very full reels) Distributed by Collectors Club.
Supplied in the usual Yellow box artwork common from CC to keep the costs low.
Filmed in 1929 and written by one Irving Berlin and Edmund Goulding a quick on screen spot by a relatively young Bing Crosby who was a mere 26 when this little gem was filmed the story revolves around a love potion, ocean liner and a guy who looses his fortune but love wins in the end. The title number was composed by Irvin Berlin and can also be heard again for the romantic scenes. Nice also to see Douglas Fairbanks incorporating his wild acrobatics literally swinging from the walls and flying into bed which harked back to his silent film days and something of a signature event for his films. Sadly he passed on to the big projection box upstairs only nine years later a mere 56 and what a loss he was and so charming. I think he retired from acting in 1936 but this film does capture so much of his charm and winning personality and a movie we will be watching again here before long. Collectors Club issued this sound print within the UK I believe from a Canadian print which is considering the age rather good quality, a very crisp sound track and printed on black and white film stock with the usual excellent magnetic film strip. They strictly concentrated on vintage titles and this one I would put at the top of CC sound releases for desirability if you like oldies and early talkies which feature the cream of what were silent film stars. I’ll have to resist giving this a 10/10 although I would for pure nostalgia. Print quality is around 8/10 and sound 9/10 if we remember the year and technology that was used to record those voices.

It’s funny, to me at least remembering that these old movies are full of so much film history and now even the 8mm prints from the 70’s also begin to fall into folk law as well. My own acetate print is now 33 years old and projects a treat although I should mention many of what were bargain basement CC films are suffering from shrinkage causing the on screen jumps with some projectors not handling shrunken 8mm films as well as others perhaps.

A nice title to have if you like the old'uns.

[ February 10, 2012, 08:17 AM: Message edited by: Lee Mannering ]

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on February 11, 2012, 05:47 PM:

Enjoyed your revue Lee and It always amuses me that a film like
the one you've just told us about, will no doubt have crystal clear
sound where every syllable can be heard, where the actors were
theatre trained and could enunciate and project their voices.
Unlike some of the so called actors today who should be subtitled
the worst offenders are I'm afraid the latest crop of American
actors.How is It that when someone like John Wayne speaks even
with his drawl one can hear every word,and we in England are
just as guilty with the likes of Ray Winston with their "Nuffink"
and "Summink" methinks a voice coach could clean up!
Somehow it makes a mockery of Dolby and surround sound
when the actors can't do what they're paid to do....communicateGetting back on subject Collectors Club did
churn out some classics in their time and I do regret not buying
more, but I suppose we can't have everything.Can you remember when they sold films a spool at a time?

Posted by Jonathan Sanders (Member # 478) on February 13, 2012, 03:46 AM:

It's hard to reconcile Lee's very positive review of this title with the comments by another member last October (in a Collector's Club thread I started):

quote:
And one of the Collector's club titles to avoid at all costs is "Reaching For The Moon". Not only is the sound quality aweful but the picture is beyond dreadfull and totally washed out beyond belief. And if that were not bad enough, the picture itself is totally uninteresting, to say the very least! Possibly the worst motion picture ever produced!

Another case of the frequently wayward quality control in 8mm releases (not just CC of course)?

The 60-minute (according to their newsletter) CC print must be abridged - running times for this film vary but apparently it was as long as 91 minutes originally. The only DVD I've found of it runs 72 minutes - and has very soft definition!

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on February 13, 2012, 04:39 AM:

Hi Jonathan. Yes I remember the post about the film as one to avoid but we also need to remember the relatively new talkies and also the low cost CC 8mm film prints. It’s easy today to start comparing these old acetate CC films the much later Derann prints which were printed with a much better process throughout. Looking back it was a great item to come off the film printer in the 1970’s and as I mentioned if anyone loves collecting early talkies which feature great silent stars then you will love it.

When I get a clear hour I’ll pop a clip of YT and others can see what they think of this little gem. Its not Terminator or filmed in 70mm, but it is one of those quaint early talkies.
Happy days!

[ February 14, 2012, 02:26 AM: Message edited by: Lee Mannering ]

Posted by Jonathan Sanders (Member # 478) on February 13, 2012, 04:57 AM:

Hi Lee - the post about avoiding this release wasn't mine. The above quote was from Joseph Banfield.

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on February 14, 2012, 03:38 AM:

Oops.. Quite right Jonathan missed the name.

Hugh I most certainly do remember the single reels and it is was handy to be able to buy a reel at a time when I was a lad.. When we were in ‘the club’ and members they did seem to be so very obliging often going beyond what was required and how we miss that sort of service today. I believe Perrys did the film printing for them which would figure at the negatives were all double 8 run style, printing two strips of 8mm perforated film side by side. It seems a different world from the top end Derann prints produced in later years at the other labs but the nostalgia of the old CC films is priceless for me and I know many others who have collected them, as variable as the quality could sometimes be as we know. Ah they certainly were the golden years of film collecting for me as those little yellow boxes came flying through the letter box along with endless mail shots.

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