NitrateVille.com

Hi everyone!

I have some old silent movie 35mm film reels (circa 1915) with the old nitrate film still on the reels. The reels are in the old metal projector boxes. The silent movies are only partial and are not complete. The first was easy to identify as:
The Silent Witness (1915)
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Now the second is stuck a little on the edges and when I tried to unroll the film it breaks in sections. I know it can probably be professionally restored so I will leave it alone for now. I did shoot some still photos of this film and I believe it's Charlie Chaplin??

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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I purchased everything for the decorative value of the reels and metal boxes, but now I am wondering if the partial films have any value. I fully understand the danger of these old films and they are safely stored away in the metal boxes for now.

Any ideas on value?
I can't find much with my searches. If the film has no value, I'll just dispose of it properly and sell the reels to a decorator.

Thanks in advance

Yes, It's Chaplin, along with Eric (can't remember his last name).

That is Chaplin with Eric Campbell in The Fireman.

THE SILENT WITNESS may or may not be a lost film, so your clips would be worth donating to an archive. Chaplin's THE FIREMAN is not lost, but it's always nice to see high-quality original film of films that are more commonly available in lower-quality copies. Again, an archive or 35mm film collector may find it of interest.

Those metal "boxes" for the reels of film are actually the upper and lower film magazines for a 1900s to 1910s-era movie projector, one of which would hold the reel of film feeding into the projection mechanism, and the other of which would hold the take-up reel that it winds onto after being projected.

Christopher Jacobs wrote: Those metal "boxes" for the reels of film are actually the upper and lower film magazines for a 1900s to 1910s-era movie projector, one of which would hold the reel of film feeding into the projection mechanism, and the other of which would hold the take-up reel that it winds onto after being projected.

They went to great lengths to prevent or contain nitrate fires.

Thank You everyone for the information.
I'm so glad to have found this friendly and informative site

I run a pretty large Vintage team on Etsy and we also do our best to help out the newbies.
http://www.etsy.com/teams/11433/etsy-pi ... llers-team" target="_blank" target="_blank

I'll make sure I send anyone with any classic film questions or finds to Nitrateville

so a few last questions

The only way to get the Chaplin film off the reel is to destroy it?
THE SILENT WITNESS can be easily removed and donated.

any ideas on a good place to donate the film?
and can you point me to a good thread on safely shipping nitrate film with FedEx?


Thanks in advance, hopefully I'll be back as I do have a lead on some more 35mm silent films

ohiopicker wrote:The only way to get the Chaplin film off the reel is to destroy it?
THE SILENT WITNESS can be easily removed and donated.

The Chaplin frames you posted look like the film is still in beautiful condition, even if the film is incomplete. Is the film surface sticky and sticking to itself? Or are the sides of the reel merely bent inwards to the point that the film gets stuck and cracks when trying to unwind it? If the film is too dried out it will crack very easily. If it's sticky, it could be just wet, or it might be starting to decompose, but decomposition usually first shows obvious streaks of discolorations in its initial stages and then splotches on the picture before it gets sticky. The sides of a steel reel can easily be bent outwards to make it easier to unwind, if that's the problem.

Good places to donate the film and get a tax writeoff would be the Library of Congress, UCLA Film and TV Archive, George Eastman House, and AMPAS. They could also inform you of the best way to send this material.

These frames look like original prints, shoot from original camera negative.

Maybe some of these Chaplin's shorts, the actual preserved film materials af film archives, film preservation institutions, are not shot from camera negative. In other words, maybe some of theses footage you have, despite of incomplete, have better image quality than some the official preserved films, and theses better quality scenes could be inserted in the preservation materials.

Hey, that was what I talked about in another topic. Look the quality of theis simple digital shot froma good 35mm print:





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If money for film preservation it's short, and sometimes films less famous are lost because there was no money to pay for a film copy in expansive fine gran B&W material, why not shot frame by frame with low expansive resources, like a good digital camera?

A film gate adapted good digital cameras would be of low cost. Several devices like that and students preserving the "out of preservation budget" films, photographing frame by frame.

ohiopicker,

I can see in your one photograph that the film is already rusting the one reel. This condition is caused by the
off gassing of Nitric acid. A normal process for this film stock. However this is neither good for the reel nor
the film. If you can remove the film stock from the rusting reel and mount onto either another good reel or a film
core.

Pookybear

O.K.

I'm kind of following along here
Yes the reels have rusted and THE SILENT WITNESS footage is starting to deteriorate a little along the edges, but it is not brittle yet. . I believe it can be easily removed from the reel.

I shot the frame photos with a cheap digital camera set on macro. I just laid the film on a fluorescent light board for back lighting. I assume someone with a better camera could get even better quality images from the film.

Why not take some close-up photos, list the partial film on feebay (at a low price) so it can maybe find a new home? Hopefully someone who can save and properly restore the film.

Here's my problem, shipping procedure and cost. A quick call to FedEx, and they referred me to the US Dept Of Transportation. I needed a UN# and the correct packaging/labeling procedures along with the proper paperwork?

I'm guessing actual shipping will cost around 150.00 - 200.00.

Now I'm back to thinking is this really worth the trouble and money?
I wonder if anyone here has any experience with shipping actual nitrate films?

Learning a lot from everyone, Thanks!!

I removed the film from the reels and sadly most of the film on the Chaplin reel was local news footage of dancing & a biplane. The small amount of Chaplin film is pretty clear and will make good quality single frame scans/photos. It was only stuck along the film edges so most of the damage is not on the actual image itself.

When I removed the partial SILENT WITNESS film the end was very sticky and completely deteriorated/destroyed. Here are some photos I shot tonight of the film. I guess this is what happens to old nitrate film when it's stored for almost 100 years.

It's been fun.

Thanks everyone for the info and comments


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http://www.flickr.com/photos/epsteam/85 ... hotostream" target="_blank

ohiopicker wrote:O.K.

I'm kind of following along here
Yes the reels have rusted and THE SILENT WITNESS footage is starting to deteriorate a little along the edges, but it is not brittle yet. . I believe it can be easily removed from the reel.

I shot the frame photos with a cheap digital camera set on macro. I just laid the film on a fluorescent light board for back lighting. I assume someone with a better camera could get even better quality images from the film.

Why not take some close-up photos, list the partial film on feebay (at a low price) so it can maybe find a new home? Hopefully someone who can save and properly restore the film.

Here's my problem, shipping procedure and cost. A quick call to FedEx, and they referred me to the US Dept Of Transportation. I needed a UN# and the correct packaging/labeling procedures along with the proper paperwork?

I'm guessing actual shipping will cost around 150.00 - 200.00.

Now I'm back to thinking is this really worth the trouble and money?
I wonder if anyone here has any experience with shipping actual nitrate films?

Learning a lot from everyone, Thanks!!

I don't think there is enough usable footage to mess with selling & shipping.....

Ohiopicker,

Yes shipping nitrate is way expensive as this is a hazardous material. Most collectors will not hand this
anymore and those who do will not pay big money for fragments of films.

As you stated most of the inner core of film is beyond salvage however I did notice that some of your
footage is a camera negative and not a positive print. That would be of most interest to any archive
dealing with nitrate stocks. I would really think about contacting the LOC or the George Eastman House
about a donation you can write off. This really is the best for these films and most likely the best way
that you will see any return off the films (tax deduction) I do not remember if either of these archive
pick up the shipping costs. Maybe someone can chime in on that point.

http://www.eastmanhouse.org/" target="_blank" target="_blank

http://www.loc.gov/index.html" target="_blank" target="_blank

Pookybear