Page 18 - 2015-09

How They Rescued ‘The Kid Stakes’

– The Story of an Australian Silent Saved by Students in the 1950s

BY DAVID DONALDSON · AUGUST 4, 2015
This article originally appeared on 4:3 (fourthreefilm.com),
a Sydney-based online film journal.
It is reprinted in Reel Deals with permission.

The Kid Stakes, a Sydney-set feature from 1927, was rediscovered and then screened by mem-
bers of the Sydney University Film Group in the early 1950s. The Kid Stakes was presented in
its re-mastered digital format for members of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television
Arts (the Industry) and members of the partner body, the Australian Film Institute (the Cin-
easts) in Sydney on the 10th of August this year.

The evening went very well with a fullish audience of film industry people at the Event Cinemas,
Bondi Junction NSW. The digital projection was flawless, with the old four-to-three sitting com-
fortably full height within the wide screen. Accompaniment by Joy Preston on the piano that
had been Music Box-ed up to the seventh floor of the Westfield building was much applauded.
Joy had been enthusiastically supported by Mike Pullman's percussion. Anthony Buckley was a
well-informed emcee for a panel of Joy Preston, originator David Donaldson, Sydney historian
and former Lord Mayor Lucy Turnbull, cinematographer John Leake, and Gayle Lake who had
organised the transfer at NFSA. Notices were carried by Inside Film and Film Ink, along with
the AFI-AACTA website.
This was a high density direct transfer to Digital Cinema Package (DCP) from a 1927 nitrate
print. It was a truly beautiful image projected at the correct speed and in the correct aspect ra-
tio. There were cues, wear marks, and at times jittering and a bit of sprocket hole edge in the
picture. This was a re-mastering, not a restoration. Some people thought that the effects added
to the film experience, others would have preferred it flawless. Either way, a unique and privi-
leged experience for the AFI-AACTA members. Plaudits to AACTA’s Sydney man, Sam Buck-
land, for getting it all together.

18 REEL DEALS September 2015