What 8mm films did I watch last night?

[Melvin England]

They are not quite perfect, Doug, unless I am expecting a higher level of quality than they originally were in the first place, but a hell of a lot better than other 400'ers that have crossed my path..... and still VERY watchable! After reading other colleague's woes on this forum regarding 2 reelers generally, I do feel very lucky overall..... and that goes with VS too! Never been a problem.
The biggest disappointment I have come across must be The Bridge on The River Kwai. Are there any non beetroot copies out there still, I wonder? Pity. Good edit barring voice over.

[Douglas Meltzer]

Melvin,

You're a lucky man! While not red, my copies of these have all lost some of their color.

[Melvin England]

No feature film tonight in the Man Cave. Instead, I decided to dust off a hand full of various 400'ers, most of which do not seem to get mentioned that often on this forum.

So.....

Jurassic Park - The Lost World / Dante's Peak - 1x 50' - Double trailer on one reel.

Winston Churchill - 1x 200' - Different to the Walton release. This was presented by GB Equipment Ltd. Anyone heard of them ?

Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid - 1x 400' - Newman / Redford classic.

Taxi Driver - 1x 400' - Robert De Niro

Earthquake - 1x 400' - Charlton Heston / Ava Gardner

Airport '77 - 1x 400' - Jack Lemmon / James Stewart

The Rose - 1x 400' - The Bet Midler !

Damian - Omen II - 1x 400' - William Holden

Mutiny On The Bounty - 1x 400' - Trevor Howard / Marlon Brando


I must say, with the exception of "Mutiny" the rest of the films have kept their colour quite well, particularly The Rose. Some of the soundtracks were a little heavy. I find that even with the films that have faded, it is only the colour that fades not image fade, so as long as they are not beetroot red, I can find them still very watchable.

[Douglas Meltzer]

I watched Iver Film Services' 400' cutdown of Twilight's Last Gleaming, a well edited thriller with Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Paul Winfield & Charles Durning. Very effective use of split screens by director Robert Aldrich. Partially faded, this sharp print still has some color remaining.

[Melvin England]

Tonight's line-up in the Man Cave was all singing and dancing in glorious colour! No black and white tonight !


Kiss Me Kate - 1x 50' Trailer - Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel

Nothing's Impossible / The Young Ones - 1x 200' - Two song and dance routines from Cliff Richard from, indeed, The Young Ones

Can't Help Falling In Love / Rock-A-Hula Baby - 1x 200' - Elvis in fine voice with songs from "Blue Hawaii"

On The Town - 4x 600' - Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly hit New York on a 48 hour pass. Also stars Ann Miller. Stunning colour.


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[Brian Fretwell]

The 400ft of Dressed to Kill and a "White box special" test print of Aliens part 4 (printed reversed, so a good job they did a test!! ).

[Osi Osgood]

Larry, that's not bad image quality for a non Derann print! Who released it?

[John Fedko]

1972 Columbia Color 200 ft silent World Series !
Oakland beats Cincinnati in 7 games . Great series !!!

[Larry Arpin]

Watched my super 8 non Derann print of Snow White.

[Brian Fretwell]

After seeing a silly on-line question about whether a Star of David emblem would have an effect on Dracula I just had to watch the 400ft digest of "Love at first bite" which gives the answer (no it doesn't), The print is now rather red but that's in keeping with the blood bank sequence.

[Brian Fretwell]

I dug out my old, second hand, Derann 4x400ft of What's Good for the Goose. A Norman Wisdom film with Sally Geeson. It had a surprisingly sharp picture but sadly even more pink than the last time I watched it. No edge markings and this edit has very little nudity except distant back views of Norman and Sally. Still it only cost me £20 - I don't think I could get the empty reels and the case it came in for that nowadays!

[Steve Klare]

Journey Into Spring

Tonight I observed an old custom: right around the vernal equinox I watch my DCR 600 Footer of Journey Into Spring, which I got from the Derann used film list easily 15 years ago now.

Early Spring has always been a great time of the year for me, yet not so much now as in college days. Back then I spent my winters immersed in the howling winds of a campus that somehow managed to have the Artic Circle dip a couple of thousand miles south: just for me! Since I graduated, I motor to work in a heated car: it certainly takes the edge off! I still look forward to not driving in the snow for a while and that April day when I stow the snow blower and shovels and revive the lawn mower.

Journey Into Spring celebrates the change of seasons in Selborne in the English Countryside in honor of Gilbert White, a pioneering Naturalist whose studies of the area are foundational to the science. It's everything from right around now in March, with the wreckage of last year still everywhere outside to the beginning of summer: full of life and warmth.

I'll have to say, I'm looking forward to it myself! This time of the year, "Springtime" pretty much only recognizes that the day and night time are both 12 hours, but the grass is still brown and going out without a coat on is still a pretty poor idea!

So here's to the coming warm days! It's a great time to anticipate the freedom and possibilities of Spring and Summer. Will I camp as much as I plan, or canoe or bike? Of course I won't! (I never have!)

-but at least I can dream!

[Osi Osgood]

Just watched last night our new acquisition, " Frankie and Johnny ", from 1934. Blackhawk print. While the Laurel and Hardy features by Blackhawk could sometimes be dodgy on sharpness and all, they're varied feature prints were pretty darned good. This one has really nice grey tones throughout and an OK sharpness, but the sound is really good, especially for 1934, it's really sharp, not like what you'd expect for 1934.

[Melvin England]

It was a "Double Feature" night tonight up in the Man Cave. Everything in black and white.


Sir Winston Churchill - 1x 200' (+)! - A Walton documentary film of the man. I don't think they could have fitted any more film onto that spool even if they tried. The take up spool read 240'

The 39 Steps - 5x 400' - The 1935 version starring Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, John Laurie (Private Fraser - Dad's Army) and Peggy Ashcroft

Casbah !- 4x 400' - Peter Lorre, Yvonne De Carlo and Tony Martin. Was actually the 5x 400' version but discovered reel 2 is missing. Please also refer to the post "Casbah!.... Length Query" which elaborates on this.

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[Melvin England]

Tonight was Humphrey Bogart night up in the Man Cave, with no sign whatsoever of Rick Blaine !


Report From The Front - 1 x 100' - Humphrey promotes the work of the Red Cross during the war. Rare footage of him speaking to camera.

Key Largo - 1 x 400' - Trapped overnight as a guest in a hotel during a storm, with gangster Rocco (Edward G. Robinson) and his gang.

The Maltese Falcon - 2 x 400' - I think my copy has been re-edited in sequence as it made sense !!

Stand In - 5 x 400' - An early comedy where Humph. plays a supporting role as a producer in a film company.

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