8mm Forum: British Movietone News

This is topic British Movietone News - Final Edition in forum 8mm Print Reviews at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on October 28, 2014, 09:18 PM:

British Movietone News - Final Edition
150ft approx, on a 400ft reel
Derann Films

This is the final edition, in 1979, of the famous British Movietone News which ran weekly and sometimes twice a week in British cinemas from 1929. The most enduring commentator, who's voice is still well recognized today, was Leslie Mitchell who spent over 40 years behind the Movietone microphone.
This less than 200ft footer from Derann comes mounted inside a classy clamshell case, with a glossy graphic of the famous logo on the front and some good back up material on the back. The fact that it is less than 200ft, and mounted on a 400ft reel inside a 400ft clamshell case, must have been a serious dissapointment to purchasers of the film.
For what you get, which is brief vignettes of past British Movietone newsreels, inluding such topics as Ramsey McDonald introducing his cabinet, the Hindenburgh disaster, the coronation of King George V1, WW2, it is good enough. But the vignettes are extremely brief and the impression is that that this material has been culled from a much longer final edition reel. So the question is " are we really looking at the authentic final edition as presented in British cinemas in 1979, or is this Derek Simmonds' cut down version from a much more extensive final edition tribute to Movietone?
A nice souvenir of British Movietone, but it should have been a much longer film. The final impression is that what should have been a great tribute to British Movietone, ended up being a last minute rushed job put out when BM ceased newsreel operations.
The print by Derann is good, depending on the subject material, and the box states 'A limited edition of 2,000 prints'. That's a limited edition ? [Smile]

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[ October 29, 2014, 09:44 AM: Message edited by: Paul Adsett ]

Posted by Mal Brake (Member # 14) on October 29, 2014, 11:57 AM:

Hi Paul, the final edition is on YouTube which runs for just over 10 minutes. The first part is in colour and looks at London landmarks and the Chelsea Flower Show with the late Queen Mother.
The narrator says it's 50 years since the launch, from then on it is exactly like the Derann 8mm version at just over 6 minutes. It looks like Derek dispensed with the colour segment and spliced in an old Movietone logo for the intro.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on October 29, 2014, 06:34 PM:

Thank's for that info Mal. Well its too bad that Derek did that, as an extra 4 minutes would have made a big difference, and would have in fact been the normal running time (10 mins) for a typical BM newsreel. As it is, this reel seems obviously abbreviated.

Posted by David Ollerearnshaw (Member # 3296) on October 30, 2014, 03:52 AM:

What's your print like? Mine has bleached out look.

So its not the full item, you learn something new everyday on here.

Posted by Mal Brake (Member # 14) on October 30, 2014, 12:49 PM:

My print looks OK considering the age of the material.
Paul, the colour segment isn't very interesting, especially compared to the archive items.

Posted by Brian Fretwell (Member # 4302) on November 25, 2014, 02:54 PM:

My copy from Blackpool seems quite good for the age of some of the footage, I expect the colour start was cut out so it could be printed on real B&W stock. At least it shouldn't go pink.

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