8mm Forum: Difference in Castle Film 16mm

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Posted by Gilbert Lambert (Member # 5403) on November 06, 2018, 11:11 AM:

Hello, maybe a question for Maurice as you seem to know a lot about Castle Films ? I see on the side of Castle boxes advertised for sale that it's mentioned - Short Subject or Headline Edition ? Somebody offered me recently 5 Complete Editions on 120 meter /400 ft with sound in Original Boxes which I took - If I would continue to collect 16mm Castle Films for myself ( seems fun ) , which ones should I go for ? Short - Headline - Complete edition ? What's the difference ? Is Original Box important too ? I'm not looking at it as an investment at all , plain fun ... I have one about Egypt from Paul Foster without Original Box, I'm thinking of editing them together , is that a good idea too ? Thank you, Gilbert

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on November 07, 2018, 02:50 AM:

The Castle short complete editions had a running time of approximately 9 minutes, although the cartoons ran a shorter time as most cartoons did, i.e., some 6-7 minutes.
Some short complete editions were edited sections from Universal features, i.e., Abbott & Costello, W.C.Fields.
The Headline editions were quite short and ran around 3 minutes, they were severely edited editions of the longer films, sometimes even a trailer for the original feature film.
When Universal 8 took over a lot of the short complete editions had two excerpts joined together to run twice as long. But they also kept the headline editions.
Beware when buying unless you know what's on sale. Many Universal cartoons were issued by Universal in Headline editions.

Posted by Gilbert Lambert (Member # 5403) on November 07, 2018, 11:35 AM:

Thank you Maurice, great information , I think, if I understand well , I need to ask if the Castle Films are with sound and if the duration is at least 90 to 120 meters ( approx. 300 to 400 ft ) ? That duration should be between 6 minutes to 9 minutes in 16mm more or less ? So far all my buys are at least 7 minutes up to 8 or 9 minutes with sound. The ones I have now are also complete with opening and end credits ( opening credits or The End I feel are/is important ) - So far so good, thanks a million, Gilbert

Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on November 07, 2018, 11:43 AM:

Adding my Castle expetise - 16mm Complete Editions have sound and Super 8/Std 8 did not unless accompanied by a brown, pink or blue sticker indicating so - As an avid film collector of Castle, Blackhawk and others, the original box is important, as it shows you would have 2 collectibles in one, both the film and the artwork which is very desired as of late - I started with 16 then stayed with 8, Super 8, 9.5 and more to this day - Cheers, Shorty

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on November 07, 2018, 01:54 PM:

The Castle 16mm releases are with sound and come on a 400ft spool with running times as you say.
The spools are not usually full, with, as I say, the cartoons having a shorter length to match their original running times.

Posted by Gilbert Lambert (Member # 5403) on November 08, 2018, 03:10 AM:

Thank you Joe, thank you Maurice , Cartoons are mostly 6 to 8 minutes in duration ,that I know - I understand there's a lot of Castle in Super 8 Joe, but I feel that in 400ft / 120meter 16mm alone I still have a long way to go in buying as I just started - Being fully retired now I need that 16mm hobby, it's part of who I am ( 16mm was my first encounter with reel/real film at the age of 14 , ( I'm born in 1950 ) it's the format I like most of all ) - I made the choice recently to buy as hobby only 16mm films who are around 400ft in duration , this way I can put a 2000ft/600m reel together with different subjects to project and have fun with. Maybe some titles I would not edit and keep them in their original box as suggested by you Joe for their value towards others later. I can always edit those who don't come in Original Box. I wonder if somebody ever published a complete list of what was released in Castle on 16mm sound - Maybe there was a site on the world wide web and it disappeared due to the cost of maintaining the site. Of course it will never be possible to get them all ( Castle ) it's very late now in 2018 starting to collect , but searching for titles at fair prices is fun. At this stage I try to avoid expensive titles - I try now to add between 6 to 10 titles a month into my collection , the last two months I was able to add an average of 11 titles per month at 400ft / 120m each to my collection , including cartoons ( not always Castle ) and 9 Movietone Fox Newsreels and checking my average I paid not more than 10 euro per title shipping included ( I try to locate more titles at one place to avoid too much shipping ) - By the way Joe and Maurice have great Holidays. Same to all forum members and readers have a great Christmas time, warmest regards, Gilbert

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on November 08, 2018, 05:02 AM:

Gilbert
Here's the book that you need all about Castle Films. Treat yourself to an early Christmas present. [Big Grin]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Castle-Films-Hobbyists-Scott-Macgillivray/dp/0595324916

Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on November 08, 2018, 12:53 PM:

Cheers always, and yes Scott's book will help - Keep collecting, it is never too late - Shorty

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