Page 14 - RD Reel Deals

I am still trying to finish listing all of the nitrate newsreel material. The NFSA on-line database has
been very useful in identifying the newsreel number and year, which it was produced.
In the mean time, many of the films have been screened. The occasional ‘gem’ has been found and
marked as a ‘keep’ item.
One of the interests I have developed over the years is collecting examples of the various types of
color film; amongst the collection were several reels of Pathé stencil color from the early 1920s, some
in very nice condition. A real ‘find’ was a silent trailer from about 1926 complete with some two-color
Technicolor sequences.
When I first started collecting 16 & 35mm films some 30 years ago, I would grab just about any thing
that came my way. I therefore have some understanding of why in this collection there were numerous
16mm black & white and color medical films – these seem to show blood flow in veins, all taken under
a microscope. It would seem that they originated from one of the universities.
I have spent many hundreds of hours
sorting, viewing and cataloging the films
– I realise that I still have a way to go,
but as a film enthusiast, I have to admit
that it can get to be just plain hard work,
but I enjoy every moment of it – every
now and then something special turns
up.
I guess we all have some strange
quirks; it would seem that M was no
exception – one of the frustrations I
have learned to accept is that many of
the films are on reels with the end out,
seemingly screened and put back into
any box/can/case that way, not
necessarily the correct ones. Other
"

# $
! % !

$ !
& ! films were relabelled with similar, but

'
( incorrect titles. For quite some time, I
had reel one only of a nice 16mm print
of African Queen. Having almost given up on finding reel 2 of this classic, some months later I came
across a single reel marked “Riverboat” that I had stacked with the some documentaries. On looking at
the first few feet of it, I was pleased to see the 16mm image of Humphrey Bogart!

In the past year or so, I have started to dispose of quite a lot of the odd reels, red films and incomplete
features. The nitrate has been reduced by about half – odd reels of obscure 1930 / 1940s features are
of little value to anyone. But, one has to be careful, as what starts out to be some odd reel can change
into a brilliant Technicolor trailer mid reel.
The disposal of film, especially nitrate is not easy – here in Geelong, apart from the weekly garbage
collection, the only option is the recycle centre where you can pay your fee and dump you stuff. A
couple of weeks after I dumped several reels of nitrate, Barb came home and said she had been doing
the rounds of the op-shops and had called into the council recycle centre, and you guessed it – there
was a quantity of 35mm nitrate for sale at $25.00 per reel. The council staff had no idea of what they
were selling or of the potential danger of a reel of it in the hands of the initiated.
In the mean time, our regular Sunday night screenings continue as we work our way through the
features. Many of the films we have watched over the past couple of years I doubt I have ever given
any thought to buying, but some of the most entertaining films we have watched have been obscure
titles, which have turned out to be minor classics.
The fun goes on …..
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