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Topic: Columbia prints...[problem]
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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator
Posts: 4554
From: New York, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted June 04, 2006 12:07 PM
Winbert,
In the mid 70's, when Columbia made the decision to release a staggering amount of films in 400' versions, they also made the decision to reach as far back into their library as 1928. So along with "The Deep", "Close Encounters" and "Tommy", out came the comedies of Wheeler and Woolsey, Charlie Chase, Andy Clyde, and Frank Capra's silent "Submarine". Not all of these old negatives were in pristine condition, hence the cautionary note on the film's box: "This print is intended for film buffs who will understand that it is made from old negative material and must necessarily contain small, technical imperfections. It will give you great pleasure if you love old classics and don't mind an occasional negative scratch." I don't believe this was an excuse for low quality. Many of the Columbia B&W's look terrific and their color films seem to fade no differently then Ken or Castle releases. I wonder if Columbia mentioned this on the box because they felt 8mm audiences were used to Castle Films' high level of quality. To be fair, Castle had been around for so long that the negatives they used from Universal were fairly fresh!
Doug
-------------------- I think there's room for just one more film.....
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Andreas Eggeling
Master Film Handler
Posts: 467
From: R.I.P.
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted June 04, 2006 06:27 PM
Hi Kevin,
I have other experiences.
I have seen a lot of prints made on Kodak/Eastman in the mid of the 70s which colors still stunning. And also a lot of prints made on Fuji in the Buck labs which colors and picture quality are really bad, for example the Samuel Bronston 4-parters "El Cid", "Roman Empire", "55 Days at Peking", "Circus World", and their trailers.
I think the reason that prints turning red are not only the stock they made on. The prints from UFA are made in different european labs. In France, UK, Italy and Germany. It seems that UFA asked for the cheapest prices in different labs when they made a new release and the labs got only the order when they undercutted the competititors. This, perhaps, could have had an influence to the time of processing the films. And the fast processing of these "hurry hurry prints" results now in fading.
I know also the stunning UK-Disney prints from Buck, but also italian Warner Cartoons on Eastman with still fresh colors.
What do you think, Kevin?
Which lab is behind the leader which shows "magnetic sound track 24 fr/sec" ???? Sometimes also in french, is it "Eclair" near Paris??? Does anybody know?
Andreas
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David Kilderry
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 963
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted June 04, 2006 07:10 PM
Andreas, I have Italian Warner cartoons from Techno Film that are faded. It is only a matter of time before all Eastman stock fades. Certainly lab work can be a contributing factor, but the storage environment is more critical.
Here in Melbourne, Australia where temperatures range from 2 degrees celcius to 42 degrees in 3 months, it is a challenge keeping film in a cool stable environment. Having said that I still have many 1970's Eastman prints on many formats where the colour is excellent.
Back to Columbia, I found their releases to be excellent quality. Their negs were generally superior to Ken and I always found them to be steady with little jitter or weave. It makes it all the more frustrating to have these beautiful prints fade!
As Doug says, the Columbia B & W's are good too. I did not know Submarine was released on Super 8. Harry Cohn would have been proud that audiences decades later can see this film, he was very smart with steering Columbia from poverty row to a major and Submarine helped him start the ball rolling. When he died in 1958, Columbia was the only major studio never to have suffered a loss.
David
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