What 9.5mm Silent or Sound film have you just watched?

[Lee Mannering]

9.5mm re perf of Star Wars now pinky but full of memories. I have to flip the sound track but it's great fun watching it on 9.5 with 20th century sound.

Finished up watching Betty Boop and Steve the Horse in Treasure Hunt.

My HID Vox conversion seems to be working well and literally shows 9-5 in a new light.

[Dominique De Bast]

Un de la légion (One Of The Foreign Legion), 1936. A French sound film with Fernandel. The actor made a lot of comedy films and when I was a kid (in the '70s) they were brodcasted on television, even films from the '30s.

[Dominique De Bast]

The French sound film Maria Chapdelaine, 1934. The story is simple but the book that inspired the film had no less than four movie adaptations. The film is set in Québec and has the famous Jean Gabin as one of the actors. They try to reproduce the Québec accent but on a soft way to keep it understandable for a French audience not used at all to it at that time (and even now, unlike what American or Canadian accent is for Brits, the Québecois accent still sometimes hard to understand as there are very few films or tv programmes coming from there, only Québécois singers are popular in Europe). The film has some songs, which is not so frequent in the 9.5 French sound films.

[Dominique De Bast]

La nuit est mon royaume (The Night Is My Kingdom), sound, 1951. Also with Jean Gabin. A man has an accident and is blind. He thinks he will be able to have an operation but that's not the case. He slowly learns to live without seeing anymore. I bought a 8 ohms headphone in the UK (at Chorleywood) but when I tried it on my projector I found that the sound was low and went out only from one of the sides. That's because the headphone is stereo and the projector is mono. In Paris, I went to a shop where they sell different kinds of plugs. The place is run by a seller who used to sell audio visual devices so he knows a bit about that. I explained him the situation and I went out of the shop with a plug at less than € 2. I tried it and...bingo. The sound comes from both side and is strong and clear. An unexpected (at least for me) consequence is that when I sit beside the projector the noise of the machine is almost completely erased.

[Dominique De Bast]

Ten Minutes Alibi, A British crime film from 1935. I understand this film only survives on 9.5.

[Lee Mannering]

Dom. I have Ten minute Alibi on 17.5mm sound film. The print is beautiful have to say.

Was watching some on my own filmed videos of film conventions over the decade's, along with a S8 home movie i filmed in 1977 ouch. One had a demonstration of a Lux 9'5 so we watched a couple of stencil cols on it. End to a great evening of movie memories.

[Dominique De Bast]

That's great, Lee. I have nothing in 17.5, unfortunately, no projectors, no films.

I've just watched the three colour sound cartoons of the Inspector Willoughby that were available from Grahame Newnham about 20 years ago. They were reperfored from 16mm. Sadly, the films faded. I sent a message to Alberto (the Italian Miracle Man) to ask him if his "O.R.S. machine" can handle 9.5 and what would happen if a filmstock that is not on the list of the "working" ones goes through the chemicals (as obviousely, it is impossible to identify the filmstock on reperfored 9.5, the side strips being cut off). The answer to the first question was : yes and to the second was : nothing. So I decide to take the chance and sent the films. Bingo, the "cure" succeeded and the colours are now back.

[Dominique De Bast]

Just watched : musicals bought at the last Big Screen Time Revival, in the UK. All films ran perfectly on my projector. Titles are : Begin The Beguine, My Reverie, Listent To The Mocking Bird, and Shanty In Old Shanty Town. Also bought at the last BSTR, but watched two weeks ago : Belphegor, the 1927 film (silent, of course).

[Dino Everett]

Been so busy with work for the past few years I haven't watched many films for fun, but I 've been making an effort on 9.5mm lately. Today was the sound film INTERUPTED HONEYMOON (T9104) on 2 x 900 ft reels.

[Bren Jacques]

After a good clean I have ran my 9.5 print of 'The show's the thing' starring Billy Merrin. A typical 1930s british variety film with a short backstage storyline between the acts. It ran on my Son projector well but I guess the film is slightly buckled as it slips occasionally on the feed sprocket, in fact it's the only 9.5 print I have that does this. Will try it on my Vox and some point and see if it fares any better.

[Dino Everett]

Been going through the last bits of Grahame's collection by projecting the reels to identify the unlabeled ones. This one had a short piece of a Felix toon, an upside down (ie: spliced tails out) home movie, and the G30026 version of BALACLAVA (1928) that someone remade the titles for. The light gamma is because I was watching on my modified BOLEX DA with the lights on. I will say they have edited it into a nonstop battle-palooza. Very exciting footage but no story, kind of like a modern day blockbuster..

[Dino Everett]

A quick Stanley Lupino sound musical comedy SPORTING LOVE (T9107)

[Dino Everett]

Even though sadly he has now left us I still thank God for Martyn Stevens and his cinerdistan site. So many people talk about how great it is to modify one's projector over to HiD lamps but generally leave out the "How"...I would love to modify one of my Eumig's to be a super bright 8mm machine but cannot find any info about "how" to do it, but thanks to Martyns site I modified a later model Bolex DA to a 150w Hid. I put the ballast in a small electronic project box with a switch so that if I modify another I can still use the same ballast..I tried it out finally today with the film HEART OF A CHILD (3 x G10033. aka THE CRAB 1917). The whole leave the lamp on makes it difficult to change reels even with the dowser because I saw smoke coming out of the top after it sat for a bit as I fumbled to try and get a second reel on. I will probably have to move my arm extensions to this machine, or get an external fan to blow on it in between reels, but it is definitely a nice bright white hitting the screen.

[Dino Everett]

Continued testing out the Hid Bolex with a short built up reel with Un Flacon Bien Garde (3x V951) which is a Dinky and Bostock cartoon from Bray Studios and a beautiful Italian print of the Irene Rich Vitagraph feature Behold This Woman (4 x G10279, LA Donna Che Passa)...I love those Italian Pathe Baby title frames......

[Dino Everett]

Watched what was one of the first French features I ever aquired many years ago The Germaine Dulac film Antoinette Sabrier (1927, 15 x G4071,2,3). When I got it it had so many broken perfs I got a bottle of cement and used those little circle patches to repair it since I didn't know there were tape splicers yet. I have always assumed it might be rare since I sadly have never found another print to upgrade this one, but thankfully this one still runs perfectly from my repairs just with those circular intrusions.