HISTORY:
My "world" is 'the arts' and more specifically, music, artwork and hand crafted/decorated chinaware's.
I am not a film enthusiast but an associate has asked me to find new owners for THEIR large collection of photographic and film items ... this is one of those items.
While the world of 8mm/Super 8mm is not my area of expertise, I am doing my best to establish the condition of each item that I am listing.
I tend to be quite detailed in my item descriptions, please READ all the details to decide if this item may interest you.
This film packaging is one of the reasons I like to "test play" each reel, to make sure that the outer box agrees with the contents and this one was a bit of a mystery - now solved!
The main "feature" is a Black & White silent film documenting the Canadian born Mack Sennett, the father of slapstick comedy in the film industry, before sound came on the screen. It runs like a documentary, with lots of snippets from many different silent movies that he made, the occasional glimpse of well known actors working other "movie sets" and some of the famous scenes from his movies ... it runs for around 30 minutes in total (Reel 1 plus a major portion of Reel 2) and I found it personally really interesting. No sound, just lots of explanatory screen text.
After this main feature is finished, there is then the short documentary style film about crossing the Swiss Alps in a balloon - the preparation work and then lots of mountainous scenery. This film is also in Black & White and is silent, with the occasional text on screen.
Now, on with the nitty gritty ...
BLACK HAWKE FILMS (ACROSS 2 REELS)
A) Title: Mark Sennett's Fun Factory 4
B) Title: Balloon Over The Alps
Reel A runs for approximately 30 minutes, with film B "tacked" on the end, making Reel 2 VERY full of film (be careful when loading it into your projector!)
Film A: 260 10 0948 (sticker on the side of the box)
Film B: A.499 (sticker & film synopsis on the opposite side of the box)
2x 400 Feet
Black & White
Silent (screen text only)
Run time: Film A approximately 30 minutes, Film B approximately 5 minutes
COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
Very good
Film stock and the 2x Light Grey unbranded (stamped as Made in USA) reels are undamaged, Both have a good White leader film and clips are attached (very useful with Reel 2 especially - film on the reel is "maxed out".
Outer all cardboard box is holding together fine, although it does not fit the two reels properly (two reels are too high for the single reel box), it does the job of protecting them both. I have not changed the casing, these films are all offered exactly as the owner originally had them sorted.
NO writing on Reel A at all and Reel B just has a hand written note 2 MS - nothing else, pretty obscure in my opinion!
The cardboard box does have the main feature identification on the side and it looks as though the owner has cut out part of the original "Balloon Over The Alps" box and stuck the pieces on this box, plus the original identification strip from the old box.
TESTING:
Test projector is the ELMO 1200 that I have on hand at the moment.
Both film's look to be clean and in good condition, sprocket holes are not damaged.
Film A I ran for around 20 minutes (it was really interesting!) and Film B for just a few minutes ... balloons flying around the Swiss Alps isn't my cuppa of tea.
Picture is pretty good, Black and White of course and there is no sound so you need to watch the screen all the time to know what is happening. Fascinating watching the movie sets, the old classic film comedians and some of the "action" such as the lady being chased around by a VERY agile Lion!
Film B picture is the same, good quality and contrast - easy to watch but so dead boring (in my opinion) but it was good to see the areas some 50 years ago and the preparation that went into getting those hot air balloons up in the air.
SPECIAL NOTE:
I always include a couple of "off screen" snapshots of the first two films is showing, my camera decided to play up on the third film so no screen shots of that one.
My digital camera is antiquated (colour balance? what's that) - like I said, this is one OLD camera and it's limitations are definitely showing up in these sample photographs.
I take the screen shot in very low light levels, the camera flash is turned off (otherwise the picture is flooded with White) and the camera shutter speed is very slow.
This means I have trouble getting sharp photographs, especially when there is movement on the screen and I have noticed that after viewing quite a few films now, that my poor OLD digital camera is tending to emphasise the Red's in the photographs anyway - in real life the on-screen picture is not as Red as recorded in the photographs
In my opinion, after this quite a lengthy test (for me, as I usually only watch a few minutes off each reel), I am happy that the film contents is as indicated on the box and that the film stock appears to be in quite good technical condition.
I am very fastidious and careful with these films (I am after-all doing this on behalf of another person) and I have now sealed the two reels together inside clear plastic along with a couple of packets Silica Gel (at an enthusiasts suggestion) and then packed them back into the original cardboard box AND sealed the film again within clear plastic - waiting for a Super 8 silent film history buff to enjoy!
