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Post by Greg H on Aug 2, 2013 20:22:09 GMT
This really is very interesting. I wonder if someone was making dupes for the domestic hire market? It seems at least possible that someone could have been knocking out dupes of 16mm material for this purpose; it is certainly possible that someone had the equipment and the business plan.
It does raise some fairly interesting possibilities, but without a man on the ground out there it is a bit difficult to research.
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 3, 2013 8:28:43 GMT
Will go back to my ex-pat pal and see if he has any contacts in SA who would be interested enough to attempt some leg work. I doubt it as he has no personal long term interest in missing episodes as such but is a genuinely nice guy and may have some useful thoughts on the issue. Fingers crossed.
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 3, 2013 8:42:11 GMT
Copy of email. Fingers crossed.
Hi,
The thread on the missing episodes forum has generated a lot of interest.
Even though it is a Worldwide forum with members for example in NZ and Aus there are currently no active members in SA.
I was wondering, more in hope than expectation if you could think of anyone back home who might have knowledge of any of these picture houses that still exist and might be willing to do a bit of leg work out of the goodness of their heart for us to check if they have any old stocks of these films. A long shot I know but as the old saying goes, if you don't ask, you don't get.
Don't be worried if the answers no,
Cheers,
Richard
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 3, 2013 8:54:45 GMT
This really is very interesting. I wonder if someone was making dupes for the domestic hire market? It seems at least possible that someone could have been knocking out dupes of 16mm material for this purpose; it is certainly possible that someone had the equipment and the business plan. It does raise some fairly interesting possibilities, but without a man on the ground out there it is a bit difficult to research. I still think that the potential leakage of UDI era Rhodesian copy prints of UK programming over the border to SA could be a possible source for some of this and might also be worth some investigation. No evidence at all for this just a theory that would make sense with the political situation at the time. |
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 4, 2013 16:43:13 GMT
Latest replies,
Email 1
Hi Rich,
I'm sure several still exist however, those that are still standing, will have been turned into something else, ie warehouse etc..
I'll checkout & try & find some info.
H
Email 2
Hi Rich,
Google - " cinema souvenirs of south africa " ( or johannesburg )
H
Have googled as above and got a contact email for the guy compiling the website. Will send him an email enquiring about British TV on 16mm that may have been shown and see where we go from there.
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 4, 2013 17:02:16 GMT
Email sent fingers crossed for some sort of result.
Hi John,
I take part in an on line forum in the UK trying to trace missing episodes of British television programs mainly from the 1960's and 70's.
Talking to a friend of mine who was brought up in South Africa he explained to me that before the arrival of television in 1975, a lot of British Television was shown in Cinemas on 16mm film across the country and could also be hired to view at home.
It would be really interesting to find out if any of these prints survive as they possibly could be examples of program's that no longer survive in British television archives.
Living in Britain, it is difficult to know exactly where to start. I wonder if you are aware on any archives of this sort of material in South African and if so could possibly suggest how I could contact them?
Best Regards,
Richard Woods
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 5, 2013 6:22:17 GMT
No joy here, looks like an appeal to private film collectors in SA might be the only way forward. Any ideas how best to do this would be appreciated?
Subject: RE: Fwd: Historic Cinemas in South Africa
Hi Richard
Thank you for your email.
I was involved in the cinema industry in South Africa for some 40 years, starting in the ealy 1960s. As far as I know British television programmes were not shown in South African cinemas at any stage. We did show most of the British-made full length movies such as the 'Carry On' series which were extremely popular. Also the 'Doctor' series with Dirk Bogarde, the movie of 'On The Buses', etc.
British television programmes such as 'Fawlty Towers', 'Man In the House' were popular as rental items from 16mm rental shops and later, when television was introduced in 1975, some of them were screened by the South African Broadcasting Corporation. However, there was a cultural boycot in force during those years (Equity ban) and most of the BBC programmes were not available to South African audiences.
With the advancement of technology, video cassettes took over and 16mm films died out completely. Your chances of finding the old 16mm material is virtually zero unless some of it survives in private collections.
Good luck!
Best regards
John Ferreira
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Post by Alan Hayes on Aug 5, 2013 7:03:25 GMT
Did he remember if he saw any of series 1 in SA this way? Doubtful I guess. I did ask him whether he had seen any BBC material and he said that his memory was of seeing British film series, so stuff like The Saint, The Avengers, The Adventures of Robin Hood. Series 1 Avengers... extremely unlikely. |
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 5, 2013 13:18:05 GMT
Did he remember if he saw any of series 1 in SA this way? Doubtful I guess. I did ask him whether he had seen any BBC material and he said that his memory was of seeing British film series, so stuff like The Saint, The Avengers, The Adventures of Robin Hood. Series 1 Avengers... extremely unlikely. It would be too good to be true I guess. |
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Post by Rob Moss on Aug 7, 2013 10:40:21 GMT
Interesting to see that Fawlty Towers was around on 16mm film...
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Post by richardwoods on Aug 7, 2013 11:54:19 GMT
Interesting to see that Fawlty Towers was around on 16mm film... Makes you wonder how they got it with the cultural boycott in place? |
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Post by Richard Marple on Aug 7, 2013 11:59:02 GMT
Certainly I've heard of some 1980s programming being bootleged in South Africa, but with home video being around it was fairly easy to do.
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Post by richardwoods on Jan 12, 2014 22:08:43 GMT
Bump. Out of interest as it has raised its head again.
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Post by Marty Schultz on Jan 12, 2014 23:15:43 GMT
Unless in the hands of collectors...
Or Universities??? Regardless of whether the rental films exist- surely we can get a better idea of the extent and scope of this scheme via some South African academics?
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Post by paulzents on Jan 14, 2014 17:08:11 GMT
A buddy of mine suggested I look at this forum. I grew up in JHB in the 60s and 70s and hired movies were the only form of visual entertainment in the home. I do remember that the majority of stuff my parents got was American, but I do remember seeing The Avengers and a few comedies perhaps including Monty Python. I'm pretty sure there was some early form of music videos too. I do remember my parents getting the projector out at parties from time to time to put on musical performances. I also think my parents got some of the stuff from a family friend in Rhodesia.
I know the rental places were still going after tv was introduced. I remember one of my friends getting a Carry on film where he had it in the frame where you could clearly see Barbara Windsors breasts. I think most of the film places would have disappeared in the early 1980s and probably sold off what they had with the rental projectors. I know whatever we had (all I remember are the Mighty Mouse and Woody Woodpecker reels) went off to the dump a long time ago.
I will ask my friends back home if they know what happened to these places and their contents but I think anything of interest will be long gone.
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