antique 16mm films

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kauinohea - 24 Jan 2005 01:32 GMT

Hello there,
We just recently found 6 reels of film; 3 are made on fine grain plenachrome film, 3 others are on cine kodak panchromatic safety film. All of them are motion pictures from 1936 or earlier, but we can't tell which movies they are because we have no projectors compatible with viewing the films. We do know that they are motion pictures because we got a hit from google on the fim type alone that lead us into the kodak motion picture search generator on the kodak website. I've tried the serial numbers on the outside of the boxes, as well as other markings on the boxes to see if there was any way of finding out what we have stumbled upon, but to no avail. Would anyone know how I can, or where to find an outlet (library, movie theater) that can help guide us in order to start our discovery? I would really appreciate it. Thank you and have a nice day.

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Hemi4268 - 24 Jan 2005 16:02 GMT

>Would anyone know how I can, or where to find an outlet (library, movie
>theater) that can help guide us in order to start our discovery?

It's most likely nothing special since almost everything for theater use was
printed on 35mm Also, all 16mm regardless of year was made on Safety Base.

Larry

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Ron Baird - 24 Jan 2005 22:33 GMT

Greetings,

Not sure if you have visited the George Eastman International Museum of
Photography and Film, but it is a great place. Try going to the following
URL.

http://www.eastman.org

There are many reference links on this site and a lot of information can be
had. I will try to help you through some of the contacts I have, but ask
that you identify the film by number or other reference. If you can I may be
able to be more specific. As you know the date in question was just about
the time that the stock of movies changed from Nitrate to other support,
i.e. the term safety film.

In any event, try this contact information as well for more.

Society for Cinema
& Media Studies
University of Oklahoma
640 Parrington Oval
Room 302
Norman, OK 73019

Phone: (405) 325-8075
Fax: (405) 325-7135
office@cmstudies.org
www.cmstudies.org

Good luck!

Ron Baird
Eastman Kodak Company

> Hello there,
> We just recently found 6 reels of film; 3 are made on fine grain plenachrome film, 3 others are on cine kodak panchromatic safety film. All

of them are motion pictures from 1936 or earlier, but we can't tell which
movies they are because we have no projectors compatible with viewing the
films. We do know that they are motion pictures because we got a hit from
google on the fim type alone that lead us into the kodak motion picture
search generator on the kodak website. I've tried the serial numbers on the
outside of the boxes, as well as other markings on the boxes to see if there
was any way of finding out what we have stumbled upon, but to no avail.
Would anyone know how I can, or where to find an outlet (library, movie
theater) that can help guide us in order to start our discovery? I would
really appreciate it. Thank you and have a nice day.

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Derek Gee - 27 Jan 2005 02:51 GMT

First, don't bother the Eastman House people with this kind of stuff. Find
a collector in your area with a 16mm projector and run it. Here's a URL to
help you date the symbols on the edge of the film:

http://www.historicphotoarchive.com/f1/16ekcode.html

If after you run the films you find something of historical interest, then
contact a museum such as the Eastman House. And as Larry posted, ALL
amatuer film made by Kodak was on Acetate safety stock, so ignore the Kodak
guy's note about the change over from nitrate, it doesn't apply to you.

Derek

> Hello there,
> We just recently found 6 reels of film; 3 are made on fine grain
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> our discovery? I would really appreciate it. Thank you and have a nice
> day.

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Robert Vervoordt - 02 Feb 2005 21:45 GMT

>First, don't bother the Eastman House people with this kind of stuff. Find
>a collector in your area with a 16mm projector and run it. Here's a URL to
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
>Derek

Well, the Plenachrome was made by Ansco; Orthochromatic and probably
safety base as well.

>> Hello there,
>> We just recently found 6 reels of film; 3 are made on fine grain
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>> our discovery? I would really appreciate it. Thank you and have a nice
>> day.

Robert Vervoordt, MFA

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