8mm Forum: A Bundle of Joy 400ft Colour Version.

This is topic A Bundle of Joy 400ft Colour Version. in forum 8mm Print Reviews at 8mm Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000593

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on March 02, 2016, 03:17 PM:

Now i know this film appears on just about every sales list and always has done, but it is usually in the b/w format on both 400 foot extract or 4 x 400ft feature.
The full feature on 7 x 400 foot spools was mentioned on another forum the other day and it got me in the mood to watch my 400 footer. The plot is very simple and well known,

Bundle of Joy (1956) is a Technicolor musical remake of the comedy film Bachelor Mother (1939), which starred Ginger Rogers.
It stars Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, and Adolphe Menjou. An unmarried salesgirl at a department store finds and takes care of an abandoned baby. Much confusion results when her co-workers assume the child is hers and that the father is the son of the store owner. Quite a good little comedy which in this spool ends in the original place and includes the musical number "a bundle of joy".

I saw this little gem on ebay and surprisingly won it at what i considered a bargain price. What i was very surprised with was how good this print is and how rich the colours are with no fade at all, i am sure this is an agfa print. It has the original box which is also in very good condition and there are no splices in the film.
If every mountain release was as good as this one, (along with our 7 x 400 foot full feature in colour of Run of the Arrow), they would have been up there with Walton and Derann. Paul Foster also had the full colour feature some time ago but unfortunately was advertised as some fade so i avoided.
This 400 foot extract pretty much appears to be the last reel of the feature with a short spell of the original titles at the start, it's set at Christmas so makes for a good support film at the seasonal time.
We had this in b/w for many years but i have to say the colour version just makes so much difference to this title. If one comes up in colour its well worth it.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on March 02, 2016, 04:26 PM:

Unbelievably stunning screenshots there Tom from a 400ft digest!
You've certainly whetted my appetite for the full feature of this one there with your excellent review!

I cannot say I have many digests now that look anything like as good as this one of yours does.

Well done Tom! [Wink]

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on March 03, 2016, 09:17 AM:

Judging by the bluish shift to the print, Tom is probably right about it being Agfa, which is no doubt the reason that it has such unfaded colour.
I love the RKO logo, a real icon.

UBB.classic^TM 6.3.1.2