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.
Now, on with the description ...
This 4x reel motion picture is NOT in an original distributors packaging, but instead in a plain canister/case. The information that follows is from my observations and towards the end of this lengthy description I describe the motion picture as I actually have played all of the reels.
FILMWAYS PICTURES - Super 8 Film
Commercial release for the Home Movie market
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (1939)
I wonder if this is the full length movie because of the 4x reels (just over one hour play time) and Oh my goodness, I have not yet seen such a long long beginning of a film which lists each and every person who worked on the production, animators etc - quite different to the condensed or 'selected scenes' films.
Lemuel Gulliver (seaman) is the sole survivor of a shipwreck after a storm, he ends up on the beach of Lilliput where the people are no bigger than peanuts! The adventures begin ...
Labelling information is sparse, but at least the owner did attach a simple label to the outer can and also each reel.
Motion picture originally released 1939
Nice leader film friction fit reel clip on each reel so that the film doesn't flap all over the place!
4x 7" Clear TUSCAN (Made in Australia) plastic reels
Colour
Sound (mono)
Single Plain Brown 1.3mm thick "plastic like" canister or case which olds all four reels comfortably. Square (with rounded corners) in shape and with a stiple-like finish. To this outer case is a Yellow nylon strap secured with double rivets and a double buckle arrangement - very secure once strapped up but a devil to undo!
The only identification on the inside of the canister/case is a metallic stick on label "STAMFORD, Chatswood" - I can find no references to this company online, other than a film production company in the same area but I feel this is unrelated.
Labelling of the film content has been handwritten on each reel AND a label applied to the one side of the canister.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
Very good
Film stock and 4x reels are undamaged, all four reels have the leaders fitted and film clips
NO damage to the canister/case nor to any of the reels. This means NO cracks, NO missing sections and NO parts are mishapen due to heat.
Slight "mildew look" inside the case but no smells from the case and the film stock looks clean and shiny (not Grey and powdery!) I have given it a "sterilising clean" in any case.
NO personal names or on the canister/case and the film reels
TESTING:
Test projector is the ELMO 1200 that I have on hand at the moment.
Each reel has been examined and test played individually ...
Film looks to be clean and in good condition, sprocket holes are not damaged.
REEL 1
Leader film fitted
Film clip fitted
I only ran the film for the first five minutes or so to observe the picture and sound, this means that I cannot give a complete description of the contents but what I viewed was definitely heavily shifted to the Red end of the spectrum although at times some Blues,Browns, Green can be seen. Looks as though the Blue dye has substantially but not completely failed.
Sound is good and clean and it is easy to understand the dialogue (not muffled)
REEL 2
Leader film fitted
Film clip fitted
I only ran the film for the first five minutes or so to observe the picture and sound, this means that I cannot give a complete description of the contents but what I viewed was definitely heavily shifted to the Red end of the spectrum, very similar to Reel #1, although at times some Blues,Browns, Green can be seen. Looks as though the Blue dye has substantially but not completely failed.
Sound is good and clean and it is easy to understand the dialogue (not muffled)
REEL 3
Very short leader film
Film clip fitted
I only ran the film for the first five minutes or so to observe the picture and sound, this means that I cannot give a complete description of the contents but what I viewed was once again definitely heavily shifted to the Red end of the spectrum with little sign of other colours but I also noticed with this reel that the film colour looks quite "washed out", yes you can see the animations (mostly in a Red tinge) but White is dominant on this reel.
Sound is good and clean and it is easy to understand the dialogue (not muffled)
REEL 4
Leader is fitted
Film clip fitted
I only ran this last reel of the animated film for the first five minutes or so to observe the picture and sound, this means that I cannot give a complete description of the contents but what I viewed was definitely once again heavily shifted to the Red end of the spectrum although at times some Blues,Browns, Green can be seen. Looks as though the Blue dye has substantially but not completely failed.
Sound is good and clean and it is easy to understand the dialogue (not muffled)
In summary, Reels 1,2 & 4 are substantially in similar technical condition although I think even the Red dye is failing on Reel 3
SPECIAL NOTE:
I always include a couple of "off screen" snapshots of each reel as it is played ... now my digital camera is antiquated (colour balance? what's that - like I said, this is one very OLD camera that I currently use) 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 shift images towards the Red or Yellow end of town, - in real life the on-screen picture is not as Red as recorded in the photographs
In my opinion, after this very brief test, I am happy that the film is as stated on the can label and reels and that the film stock appears to be in reasonable technical condition although showing signs of dye failures.
I am very fastidious and careful with these films (I am after-all doing this on behalf of another person) and I have decided to repack the film with a little extra care ... I have placed each reel into a sealed clear plastic pack with a packet of Silica Gel and I have also added a sealed clear plastic packaging to the outer Brown plastic can, this should keep any humidity effects to a minimum. It may be too late as the effects of age are already showing but this extra packaging may help preserve the film condition.
