Blackhawk Acetate?

[Steve Klare]

I have many Blackhawks, by now every single one is quite "vintage". One and only one has vinegar smell. I'm sure this is aggravated by the case it's in, and I'm working on that. This doesn't make sense to me because I've got the idea in my head that Blackhawk printed on polyester base, but still: the nose knows!

Does anybody know if Blackhawk printed on acetate, even if only some times?

[Brian Fretwell]

I have a L&H film with a Blackhawk title card (I bought it second hand in a plain box) that has a white leader cement spliced on so that must be acetate.

[Joseph Banfield]

Steve, as far as l recall all my Blackhawks are acetate because I have used film cement to attach longer heads and tails to all of them through the years. Naturally I have polyester prints too that require tape but by other disributors. But that does not mean that Blackhawk didn't use polyester, only that I don't own any.

[Steve Klare]

Well,

There's my answer I guess. I think it's something of a mixture, because many of my Blackhawks have that golden color when I hold the reel up to the light. It's probably a case of which print stock was a good deal at that time.

Thanks!

[Joe Caruso]

Long-time Blackhawk purveyor here. Always acetate to my knowledge. Steve, if the one print is a strong stand-out, then it's Baking Soda time again ala' Shorty

[Steve Klare]

Hi Shorty,

Please explain!

[Kenneth Horan]

Back in the 1970's when I worked for Cinema Processors in Chicago, I remember how they would bid on the contract for doing the lab work for Blackhawk. They never got it because Blackhawk wanted to pay very little for lab work. Calvin Labs in Kansas City won the Blackhawk lab contracts because they worked cheap. Blackhawk did use other labs, but Calvin was their main choice. Acetate was the film stock of choice.

[Mike Tynus]

In the Fall 1982 issue of the Blackhawk Film Digest, they note in the Films section that all 16mm prints are printed on Estar base stock. And indeed all the 16mm Blackhawk prints I have from the 80's are polyester. All my other prints, 16 or 8, are acetate. But I'm not saying that there are not 8mm poly prints out there. Interestingly, when David Shepard started Film Preservation Associates, all his new 16mm prints went back to acetate.

[Joe Caruso]

Early 1971 Blackhawk went to polyester