What 8mm films did I watch last night?

[Steve Klare]

Something really simple:

-a Sunday River Productions silent 200 Footer called Across the Divide, about a Northern Pacific passenger train crossing the Continental Divide out in Montana. For a Flatlander such as myself, the Rocky Mountain scenery was awesome up on a big screen. This is a nice print in good condition and really comes into its own projected big. (-not half-bad for something I snagged cheap on E-Bay!)

-it's one of the things I've always loved about film: its ability to take me to other times and places I'd never get to experience any other way!

[Melvin England]

Tonight I watched a couple of films I purchased last weekend at the Big Screen Time Revival get together which, I must add, was very enjoyable.


World on Parade 1x 200' - An optical sound film in French, mostly about fast cars but other bits and pieces. Nice colour.

On The Town - 4x 600' - Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly are granted 24 hours shore leave from the navy, and they intend to enjoy themselves. Another musical with great colour.

.

[Brian Fretwell]

The print of "Oh Mr Porter I bought from Phil at "Film is Fabulous" on Sunday. Good Walton B&W print. Tonight Derann's verson of Jubilee Day 1977 (going a bit pink, no edge markings) and the first two parts of Goldfinger on Agfa stock also from Derann. A little "dupy" looking and with some negative damage, but what a film!!

[Steve Klare]

I took things in a little different way tonight...

There's this Blackhawk I've always wanted to have: Catskills Narrow Gauge. It's about a 3 foot gauge railroad that once was in the Hudson River Valley in a region of New York State that's actually pretty local to me and where I spent a lot of happy times as a kid when my family camped up there.

I found a print, but it was kind of a challenge: it's R8 and all of my active duty machines are Super-8 only.

It's not that I have no R8 machines, I have several around the house as displays.

Stepping up to the plate tonight was one Dejur 750: built sometime late 1940s through late 1950s and therefore older than me!
(-something that's getting rarer and rarer these days...)
.

I looked at the bulb: the envelope was clear and the filaments were in good shape: more than good enough to get me through a 200 foot reel. Everything was dusty since this one has stood as a display easily ten years, so I cleaned up as much as I could (-got the spiderwebs out of the lamp house!). Most important of all: the power cord was stowed in the cabinet underneath it!

I threw the switch and it just hummed for a couple of seconds, and then it slowly came up to speed. I threw the lamp switch and got light! It made that hot-dust smell we get every fall when the heat first operates. I slight trail of vapor arose from the lamp house and gradually burned-off. The lamp stayed bright, so we seemed good to go!

The film was 100+ year old footage of a 3-foot gauge passenger train operating upstate, and the connecting funicular that it met. It's a true black and white print and that's a good thing here: many of these that Blackhawk printed on color stock later are red and white at best!

This is not my usual kind of machine: I'm very into sound and run more in the Derann Direction most of the time. Still the same. I respect any machine that has been idle so long and comes back to life so easily: It's basically too simple not to work! (The fact that it's built like a battleship has to help out here too.)

So: It's returned to its usual post with my compliments!
(-and a little less dust!)
.

[Osi Osgood]

"It's All About Family", so true! If this smaller Guage train once ran close to your vicinity, perhaps some of the tracks would still exist? That would be neat to find.

[Steve Klare]

From what I’ve been able to find out, it was all scrapped in 1918. The funicular ran through some pretty impressive cuts through solid rock: today there are utility lines there.

(Nobody will ever make a film about THAT!)

[Melvin England]

At last we are back to GMT which means it is dark by 6pm, so back to what I hope will be my regular Saturday night shows up in the Man Cave!

Last night I enjoyed the following.....


Derann Advert Reel #19 - 1x 200' - featuring Levi Jeans, Bell's Whisky, Nike 180, Guinness , Choco Pops amongst others.

The Life of Sir Winston Churchill - 1x 200' - I doubt any more film could have been crammed onto this reel. VERY full reel from Walton films.

High Society - 2x 400' - A great cut down featuring the main songs from the film which don't appear to have been edited, which is great !

Intermezzo - 4x 600' - Leslie Howard and Ingrid Bergman fall in love over a piano and violin.

.
.

[Melvin England]

Tonight's session was quite a long one really. No complaints, though !


Independence Day - 1x 50' Trailer

Adverts - 1 x 200' - A compilation reel that included Levi's Jeans / Tennants Lager / Hillman Imp cars / Jacobs Crackers and others

Trouble In Store - 4x 400' - Norman Wisdom plays havoc in a department store.

Oh, Mr. Porter ! - 3x 600' - Will Hay and the gang playing havoc on the railway !

[Melvin England]

The Man Cave dished up these delights this evening...... all to my usual audience of...... one...... ME ! (Mrs E catching up on the Saturday night TV drivel downstairs)


Advert Reel 1x 100' - Featured Arctic light Beer, Hovis Bread (The Runaway - if any of my fellow Brits remember that one!), Russchian Tonic Water (Schweppes), and Coca Cola.

South Pacific - 1x 50' Trailer - The colour is still really good on this one.

West Side Story - 1x 100' - Trailer - Featuring very brief snippets of the major songs. Plenty of reds on this print. Not much else!

The Lady With The Lamp - 6x 400' - Dame Anna Neagle portrays Florence Nightingale. I think this one must have slipped the net with me as it has been on my shelf for ages and, on watching, cannot remember it at all. It happens occasionally. Nice black and white print.

.

[Douglas Meltzer]

Two Derann 2-parters: Golddiggers of 1933 & They Died with Their Boots On.

[Graham Ritchie]

Its been a while since I last screened this one. The Marketing 3/400ft has lasted really well. "Airplane" is a film I never tire of watching, its a excellent digest. I really like the "staying alive" number, great stuff.

All screen shot photos taken two nights ago

[Melvin England]

No film show in the Man Cave last weekend, as I was enjoying the pleasure of sharing a mighty three days of film shows with a lot of my colleagues from this forum at the Blackpool extravaganza which, as ever, was a HUGE success. Thank you to all the organizers. A job VERY well done !

So,

Yesterday (Saturday) it was time for me to view my new purchases from the convention. It was a mix bag of super 8mm and 16mm and my session lasted well over 7 hours ! Heaven !

I will list the super 8 films below, and the 16mm on the appropriate thread over there.


This is Pompeii - 1x 200' cinemascope - A really interesting documentary of the town that was engulfed in ash after Vesuvius erupted in AD79. I had previously visited the area, so to have a great condition (colour and sound) cinemascope print in my possession is a fantastic souvenir.

This is Movietone - 1x 200' cinemascope - The film mostly concentrates on the Farnborough air show and the colour is stunning !

We've Got a Show - 1x 200' cinemascope - The extract starring Cliff Richard. I have only ever come across this as a flat copy so to see it in its full glory was very enjoyable. Pity the colour had faded quite a bit but no scratches and the sound was good.

Ask a Policeman - 4x 400' (flat for obvious reasons)(1939) - Will Hay and co. Would you believe it, it is the first time I have ever seen this one ? Very enjoyable, but must say that the Walton print was very soft focus, well below Walton's normal standard. Very low scratching and good sound.


Please pop over to the 16mm forum for the rest of the list.

.

[Graham Ritchie]

I have the strange feeling Melvin, and I could be wrong but I think Movietone Scope reel one, originated from 35mm and that's why its so good. I have that print also and its excellent "zero fade". One thing I like about it is that the narrator talks about an up and coming film, showing an aircraft landing during its production. The film of coarse is the Mag Men in there flying Machines, so I guess that Movietone reel would have done the cinema rounds around 1964-65 at a guess. One Scope film on Super 8 for me that stands out is, "She Flies", followed by The NeverEnding Story

[Brian Fretwell]

I finally found time to watch some purchases from Blackpool. The trialers for "The Creeping Flesh" and "Dracula has Risen from the Grave" (A little faded), the Powell Films 400ft digest ot "A Night to Remember" I couldn't resist that after the Friday Night film show, A good print with full range and contrast, The walton 400ft of "Stagecoach" a bit grainy and low contrastm but well edited. Finally part one of a film about the Indepenance day fro Malta on 31 March 1871 when the British garrison closed. Foreign sound, a Buck labs print on early Fuji fading to red but all colours still there but at £1 not bad.
Only one to go now!

[Chip Gelmini]

Secret of NIMH with the Snowman film short
followed by
Return of the Jedi with Trail Mix Up attached to the front

both full length including the Snowman @ 30 minutes.