Mysterious lot of film reels up for auction soon

[Alex S]

Hi all,

I recently came across a lot of mysterious film reels of unknown content that are due to come up for auction soon. Interestingly, there is no information whatsoever about where they are from or what they might contain, so it's a bit of gamble in terms of placing a bid! Could be worth the gamble though if there's some missing content present? 

www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/raymond-p-inman/catalogue-id-srin10080/lot-f3b15e6a-9488-4942-a691-acc400c28900

[John Wall]

There’s almost certainly nothing missing there.

However, I did use “almost”.

[John Green]

There ought to be a formula for dating a can (though only the can) from the amount of rust.

[Peter Stirling]

A gamble for sure, not very descriptive (a list of the labels and confirmation that every can had a film in would have helped)

The prevalent films in private collections were - religious- industrial - travelog- home movies

....just saying...BUT there is always a BUT LOL

[RWels]

Looks like it's these guys???

www.youtube.com/channel/UCTowiXF1rQ_jcjGVezaIWJA/about

[Paul Vanezis]

It's obvious from the labels that this material is from an emptied cutting room.

Labels on the side of cans that say SL's xxx - xxx just means 'Slates' or takes. Those are sync rushes, the raw footage. W/T's are 'wild tracks', location recorded general sound of use to the production. Trims; rush print off cuts that will have been placed in a single can directly from the trim bin in the cutting room.

The only material of a master quality I can see is the can marked A&B. This is the cut negative, the chequerboard master from which all prints are made.

Of course, just because you purchase the film, doesn't mean it comes with rights, assuming the material was actually worth having. It's a great shame that it has ended up in a shed, something I see all too often and something the public need educating about.

Of all of this content, there is probably just 3 or 4 cans worth preserving.

Paul

[Richard Bignell]

Feb 12, 2021 18:41:30 GMT RWels said:

Looks like it's these guys???

www.youtube.com/channel/UCTowiXF1rQ_jcjGVezaIWJA/about

Given that the reels are in Brighton rather than Hawaii and there are lots of markings for YCA and some relating to Turkey, it might well be the Yemeni Community Association charity that's been around for a good few years.

[Alex S]

UPDATE:

The seller has uploaded some additional photographs which give some further insight about the film reels. 




Not heard of Clipper Films, nor Index Film and TV. Anybody know anything about them? Interestingly, there was a 1983 British film called Betrayal which was based on Harold Pinter's 1978 play of the same name. Wonder if the reel here is connected?