17.5mm sound film wanted

[Bren Jacques]

I figured this would be the best sub-forum to post this request in, 17.5mm sound being from the same family as 9.5mm.

I have recently obtained a 17.5mm Rural Sonore which I have revived back into working order and I have just acquired two Home Talkies (Natan 17.5 in France) which I am yet to start restoration of (if anybody knows of any spares to exist I require a lamp housing/rear film gate unit for one).

I do have a very small amount of 17.5mm film but I am interested in obtaining more. I'm sure there may be odd reels dotted about in collections, mistakenly identified as 16mm or just kept as a curio. Much of the film I have is snippets of 17.5 spliced together other than a couple of cartoons which need sproket hole repair.

incomplete film, odd reels, damaged film all welcomed as well as complete reels, anything that can be added to these odd snippet reels is also fine. I'd ideally like to get a little together so that I have a good amount of film to run on these lovely machines.

[Dino Everett]

Good luck...Those of us who collect 17.5mm rarely have any spare film since so much of it has been tortured over the years by the Home Talkie(Natan)...Well done on acquiring a Rural Sonore, as they are rarer than the films....

[Bren Jacques]

Thanks Dino, I know I'll need a fair bit of luck. I do know of a couple of vast 17.5 collections but they're out of reach and I'm sure there are probably still a fair number of reels out in the wild. More importantly I should look into building a perforator and small machine to make sprocket repairs to 17.5 stock, I'm sure that would be most useful in giving many 17.5 films a second life.

I have three Rural Sonore projectors though only one is 17.5mm, the other two are 16mm. The Home Talkies are newly acquired so I haven't done anything with them yet. One requiring the lamp holder/socket, the other requiring a complete lamp housing assembly.

[Dino Everett]

Bren
Yes Martyn Stevens had what I believed to be the largest 17.5 collection and that went to one person named Steve I believe. If you happen to build either a perforator or sprocket repair device please let me know as I would pay well for either item. I am here in the states and possibly the only person capable of projecting 17.5, but in Europe there are a number of folks.

[Bren Jacques]

Yes I know Steve, there are also a couple of more collections, one apparently at risk being stored in a garage but this is more a rumor than known fact, still a shame if true as apparently it's quite a large amount of film.

i'll certainly keep you in mind should any machines for repair and perforating come into fruition, I think it's wise to get something assembled to help preserve the gauge. It's such a scarce format today and it would be a shame to one day have only projectors exist but no film to run on them. I'll start such a project once the 17.5 machines are in fine fettle