silent film - where to take it?

[RWels]

A bit out of place but I am mainly looking for advice.

I have found one complete comedy movie and one incomplete drama movie on ancient silent film. Trouble is the titles are missing. So I have no idea what these movies are called. It's American film.

Does anyone have a clue perhaps where to look for experts? I do know the storylines because I got to watch them on a special type of viewing machine.

[Gary C]

why don't you post a storyline here & see what everyone thinks?

[Simon Winchester]

Lots of things to consider. What gauge it is. Does it have an edge code? Is it nitrate? It might be early sound film in silent ratio. Does it have inter-titles? Is it tinted?

And then after all that either the Bradford Museum or the BFI should be able to offer some advice.

If it is nitrate you can't send it through the post.

[ethantyler]

Simon said:

If it is nitrate you can't send it through the post.

I wouldn't recommend sending anything through the post anyway. The postal workers have a tendancy to throw parcels around regardless of the "Fragile" warnings and parcels sometimes vanish without a trace.

[Gary C]

very true, Ethan!

[RWels]

It definately is nitrate. A local archive showed it to me on a special projector table. But it wasn't their target at all, because it's foreign fiction.

It's tinted in several tints, trying to match the tone of the story.

I'll describe the content, if that helps. Pity I can't take pictures of the actors.


Feature 1: a complete three-part comedy which must be called something like "Elephant Nightmare". (The movie had had its original titles replaced with translations.)
The main character is some guy who does something in a circus, what isn't exactly clear. He apparently is credited with rescuing a child from a lion. Also he does a joke with nitroglycerine.
The child he rescues is wanted by the tax collector because her mother didn't pay - or something.
Later on two elephants come crashing through walls, disturbing a black who is washing an old man, a jew maybe - it doesn't look very correct.


Feature two is incomplete. I only found the middle part. So no hint of a title. It appears to be slightly catholic. An actress called Mara West is in Rome with her husband, also an actor. They have a child together. However, her performance is far better than his. (He is called Phillippe.) This threatens to drive them apart.


So, anyone a clue about the year or the title? Or a clue who to ask for clues?

[Steven Sigel]

First of all -- if this is actually Nitrate film you need to take extra special care to store it -- it needs to be kept cool and dry. Nitrate film, if it has begun to decompose, has a very low combustion temparature.

Is this 35mm film or 16mm? If it's 16mm, you don't need to worry - there's no such thing as 16mm Nitrate...

You should be able to find some date code information along the sprocket edge of the film -- if you post what you find there (letters and symbols) I might be able to help you figure out when the print was made at least...

Lastly - I'm not sure what the films are , but I would recommned posting on one of the film collectors forums and ask there - someone may be able to help you.

www.16mmfilms.com
www.35mmforum.com
www.efilmforum.com

You also might try typing the names you have (foreign titles and/or actors and actresses) into IMDB...

[RWels]

It's definately 35mm. And it's definately nitrate.
I took it to a nitrate archive to view it on one of these special table projectorlike thingies.

I'll check for date code information, but I sincerely doubt that such a thing existed in the silent era. It is an anachronism to look for it, I fear.

The actors are unknown to me and I could not extract pictures because said viewing table wasn't a digital thing.

[B Thomas]

Ah... sounds like you viewed it on a Stienbeck film editing machine. They're lovely machines to drive and so easy on the eye but no way of capturing footage on them.

Hope you have luck in identifying the films - such a shame that so much that does exist resides in bins somewhere when no one can identify material found...

[RWels]

Could be - I didn't catch the name of the thing. It wasn't a projector at all, really, it had no 'teeth'. It had a connection to a type of video camera that rotated along with the frames. The picture actually shows on a TV screen.
Kind of exciting to see it, really, and the picture was still in very good shape. I suppose one could connect a VCR.
Who knows, maybe it is a completely unknown feature!

[Steve Roberts]

Be very careful with nitrate film, it can be very unstable. It even burns underwater (a video of which I think somebody on here might have a link to) and I was once shown a film of a 2000ft of it being set alight and blowing the top off a concrete bunker. I think you really need to consider donating it to some institution that can handle and store it properly.

Steve

[RWels]

Yes, I know. One of my questions is where to send it.
I managed to scan an image: www.efilmforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=401

[John G]

Spiny why not contact the British Film Institute at Berkhampstead Herts?
They will certainly have the experts to deal with it.

There are lots of scare stories about nitrate, remember that projectionists were using it with naked arc lamps with no problem for 50 years or more. Pathe at Pinewood is handling it all day long.

If it looks healthy then it should not be much of a problem, just treat it with respect, like any other combustible material.

However if its going powdery/ brown looking or has a sweet pungent smell (all film smells don't mistake a mild aroma). then treat it like you would plutonium.IE keep it
outside away in an armoured case .Also if it smells of vinegar, then its acetate(1950s safety film) and that is nothing to worry about safety wise.

If you come across nitrate that has been in a tin unopened for many years , drill some small holes in the tin before you open it and leave for a day to acclimatise the film to your atmosphere .

Nitrate burns under water because it cunningly makes its own oyxgen.

[RWels]

Well it's definately nitrate, as I said before I already took it to a nitrate archive.
I could try the BFI, yes.