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A print of BRIMSTONE. A Republic A western with Rod Cameron, from Nostalgia Merchant I believe. Very dark and very contrasty with muffled sound.Totally unwatchable.
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A Derann white box special on Indonesia described as "wet gate marks" the rows of bubbles printed in were more like watching it through a rainstorm, but it was VERY cheap.Comment
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It's funny just how embarrassingly bad some of these prints can be. One that I was quite sad to see in such a poor transfer, was a promo reel from the Marx Brothers classic, " Monkey Business ", a 200ft reel of a whole scene from the original play, but not included in the theatrical release. It was, however, reworked as the disembarking from the ship scene in the feature. This print of this rate scene, was so murky and out of focus, it was sadly unwatchable. Sigh ...Comment
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I once bought the 4x400' feature of the Marx Bros Room Service from Derann that was SO under-exposed that the faces disappeared into the background which looked like white-washed walls!
If I remember correctly, I think it cost me £60 in 1980 but as I'm such a huge Marx Bros fan I decided to keep it and Derek gave me a £20 credit - which I gladly accepted and probably spent on some of those WB classics 🙂Comment
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I once had a print of Buster Keaton's "The Playhouse" in Super 8 from Niles that was very poor quality. I kept it for awhile then sold it. Probably a mistake though since I don't think I have ever seen it for sale since -- I think I sold mine over 20 years ago.
Columbia's "The Deep" digest starts good but then gets way too dark -- you cannot see what is happening in those underwater scenes that conclude the digest!Comment
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Sometimes I think Niles was secretly subsidized by all the other companies that printed Super-8 films just to make them look relatively better!
http://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-bi...c;f=4;t=000404
Still, I love my Cattle Queen of Montana exactly as it is: I've come to enjoy it as much for it's...uniqueness as despite it!
That's the way it is with first girlfriends, first cars and first feature length prints!Comment
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I have two. One is the Niles of Reefer Madness. Washed out to hell. But it's Reefer Madness, so I'm just happy to have it in the collection.
The second was the Larry Semon Wizard Of Oz. I think I paid $10 for it, and that was too much. It was so blurry and near impossible to get a focus on.Comment
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Another candidate, "Of Human Bondage' 1934, great film, HORRIBLE Niles print. Funny thing was that in this case, the contrast was very good, but the sharpness, the focus? Well, let us just say that there was no focus!Comment
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Other than "The Playhouse", I have been very lucky with Niles prints. I have most of the Rathbone Holmes -- I know they had superior pre-print, as this was an official deal of non-public domain prints. (Although I have heard that Leo Gutman didn't actually have the rights to make the deal with Niles!) I also have "The 39 Steps" which I think is a Niles but am not sure -- excellent quality. Also, my silent Our Gangs and Chaplins from them are just as good as Blackhawks -- though I have never had the Blackhawk equivalent of a title if Blackhawk did offer it. To me this means that Niles had good labs -- I think they did the best they could with the pre-print available. They should have passed when their pre-print was a 16mm dupe -- or worse, another 8mm print!
I have a Standard 8mm print of Harry Langdon's "Remember When" that is beyond soft. I only keep it because it is rare -- mounted on 2 separate 200 foot reels in separate Regent Films boxes. It makes "The Playhouse" look like a Blu-Ray!
My Universal 8 "My Name Is Nobody" has faded so badly (bought it that way) that there are barely even any reds left! Plus it has the "focus-pulse" that I mentioned in the thread on Blackhawk boxes. At least the sound is good. Why did I buy it when I already had the DVD? I'm sure you can answer that question yourselves. 😀
Despite their reputation, my 3 Atlas Films are all very good quality -- sharp with good contrast.Comment
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