8mm Forum: Ken Films.

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Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on September 12, 2012, 01:00 PM:

Was this company American?

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on September 12, 2012, 01:04 PM:

Yes.

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on September 12, 2012, 01:24 PM:

They certainly kept our 8mm silent projectors running with some
of their great titles like "War of the Colossal Beast""Teenage
Werewolf/Frankenstein"and a host of other horrors,not forgetting
Castle films who did likewise.

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on September 12, 2012, 01:41 PM:

Was their stuff class?

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on September 12, 2012, 02:01 PM:

It depends on your point of view Michael,if like me you have a
love of sci~fi/ horror, it was absolutely fabulous, some of their
little 200' silents exhibited a quality that was stunning regarding
print definition and grading.The majority of my slt 200's I gave
away long ago, but they were nicely presented in colourful boxes
and well edited.One of the things I can remember was at the end
of each film was a little token, and if memory serves me correct
you had to collect nine and they would send you a 200' of your
choice.I do believe they were the first company to release
'scope films on the bootlace,even if inadvertantly, like "Rodan"
"Ghidrah""Godzilla vs The Thing" etc.They kept me very happy
until I got a sound machine.

Posted by Joe Taffis (Member # 4) on September 12, 2012, 02:47 PM:

Michael, if you use the search feature here you'll find a lot of info on KEN FILMS.

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on September 12, 2012, 03:04 PM:

Yes, I was reading the article in FILM COLLECTOR and was just wondering what the nationality was. Excellent article by Keith, BTW.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on September 13, 2012, 01:30 PM:

Like a lot of companies, Ken films tended top get better over time, (especially with the advent of low fade stock), however, they did tend to be a tad bit grainly.

Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on September 13, 2012, 02:09 PM:

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on September 13, 2012, 02:54 PM:

Does the article give way as to how KEN got its name? Nobody seems to be able to answer. It's something I've always wondered about.

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on September 13, 2012, 05:20 PM:

Further good readings you can find in this forum:

The Story of Ken Films ....

ken films

....and finally...

Ken Films cover art who was the "ken" in Ken Films?

...and...

Who was KEN??????

Brad...didn't you say on the last link

quote:
I believe KEN was Mr. Lane's son or father. I know the company was named for a family member.

So you have answered your own question [Big Grin]

cheersm

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on September 14, 2012, 10:34 AM:

That's what a fellow cinemaphile had told me quite a ways back, but I can't vouch for its accuracy which is why I led off with "I believe". I've been anxiously awaiting someone to be able to research the company's history and finally come up with a definitive answer. I did go back and review the past threads you furnished us with in your post Winbert (thank you, by the way), but still nothing solid. Funny how we know who owned the company and when it was established and when it folded, but just can't decipher the name (of all things). Was it an acronym for family members names, the name of a family pet, favorite sports figure, etc?

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