Page 20 - 2015-06

Rare Film on eBay
A couple of weeks ago, the following item appeared on eBay (UK).
Rare vintage film gauge 16mm Harper Film System 1940s

Rare vintage film gauge Not 28mm,17.5mm, 9.5mm
16mm Harper Film System 1940s

Item condition: Good “Seems in good condition”
Ended: 21 May, 2015 07:47:19 AEST
Winning bid: GBP 161.00 Approximately AU $320.27
[ 13 bids ]
Item location: Hastings, East Sussex, United King-
dom

The seller’s write up follows ..
This is a reel of approx 300 ft of special format 16mm film, being sequences from the 1946 British musical
feature production The Lisbon Story.
The Harper Film Projection System was never commercially introduced, and equipment is rare or perhaps
no longer existing. This film will not run on a normal 16mm projector.
‘Martin Harper, of the Miles Aircraft Company of Woodley, Reading, Berkshire, reasoned that the quality
of 16mm Sound on film would be considerably improved if 35mm sound tracks could be directly contact
printed, full size, on to 16mm picture prints, and then run, during projection at the correct linear speed for
35mm sound tracks of 18" per second … [which] left the problem of how to marry the 16mm picture speed
of 7.2" per second with the 35mm sound track speed of 18" per second on the one strip of 16mm film.
Harper's solution to this problem was to design a special dual purpose film printer for which he obtained a
British Patent, applied for on January 4th 1938. To achieve his aim the area available on 16mm had to be
reallocated. Edge perforations were no longer used. 3mm each side of the film were reserved for sound
tracks leaving 10mm in the centre for the width of the 16mm picture frame. [Originally with two
perforations per frame], at a later stage this format was modified slightly to accommodate a third centrally
placed sprocket hole, apparently to ease the strain on the film now traveling at the higher speed of 18" per
second.’
Conventional films were printed on alternate frame spaces (one set of pictures ‘upside down’ in relation to
the other set), with two frames pulled down at each claw stroke on projection. When a reel was finished, it
was simply placed on the feed arm and threaded again. On the second run-through, the alternate pictures
of the new scene (and the second soundtrack) were projected.
‘The sole function of the printer and projectors was to reproduce existing 35mm films onto the 16mm
gauge with enhanced quality of sound reproduction.’ (Alan Lott). It is not known how many Harper
projectors were made or what happened to them. It can now be seen that clever as it was the Harper
system was the product of misplaced ingenuity and effort.
I have no rewind bench to check the film, but it seems from the first few feet to be in good condition. This
is a very rare example of an ingenious technical experiment.
Starting price: 25 pounds
The seller has used an extract from an article written by the late Alan Lott. Alan was a good friend of mine,
and wrote a number of articles for Reel Deals, some 10 years or so ago. The Harper system was one of his
articles published. The full article is republished on the following pages … - Mike Trickett

20 REEL DEALS June 2015