8MM-16MM FORUM WORLDWIDE

Thought you fine folks might be interested to hear!

I'll be hosting FREE classic film screenings at my place of employment, Providence Community Library in Providence, RI starting this Fall. All movies are screened from 16mm prints that I recently found in a library basement.



Thursday, October 27th - Night of the Living Dead

Thursday, November 17th - The Third Man

Thursday, December 15th - It's A Wonderful Life!

Wednesday, January 11th - 8 1/2

Wednesday, February 22nd - Bicycle Thieves

Thursday, March 15th - The Man Who Knew Too Much (orig.)

With much, much, MUCH more to come!

All screenings start at 7:30pm at the Knight Memorial Library, 275 Elmwood Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island.

Wow, you found those prints? What a find. Nice titles there.

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www.mickoregan.com

Davis! You found Night Of The Living Dead in a Library?? Far out, Dude. What are the conditions of these prints?

Could you provide us with some info on the screening room, like what kind of screen, seating, snacks, audience size, etc. How about some pix too.

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And now For Our Feature Presentation.

http://www.metroxpressjazz.com/index.html

Yep, I did indeed find it in a library basement!

Here in RI, back in the '70s, certain town libraries belonged to a "film co-op" which purchased films and loaned them out to members. I was poking around in one of our dark, dank basements last year and came across an old catalog from this organization that listed hundreds of 16mm films that they owned. It was mostly educational stuff but since I had done "film nights" in the past only using DVDs / digital projectors, which I loathe, my interest was peaked. Since I always wanted to do something using real film, I went on a treasure hunt for these (although always with the realization that they could have been tossed in the garbage years ago). Finally, I tracked a portion of the collection down to another library basement in southern RI where it had sat for years after the film co-op was dissolved. I've since found out that the majority of the films were either trashed or given to private archives / collectors but I think I made out nicely with what I've found so far, which includes but is certainly not limited to:

The 39 Steps
The 400 Blows
8 1/2
Algiers
Angel and the Badman
The Bicycle Thief
The Brotherhood
Casablanca
Dressed to Kill (40s noir)
The Glass Sphinx
Gone With The Wind
The Grand Illusion
It's A Wonderful Life
Julie
The Lady Vanishes
"M"
Man of Aran
The Man Who Knew Too Much (british)
Metropolis
Murder on The Orient Express
Night of the Living Dead
Offbeat (aka "The Devil Inside"?)
Rio Grande
Rome, Open City
Secret Agent
The Secret Ways
Stagedoor Canteen
The Stranger
The Third Man

Lots more. I'm still sifting through, it's a long process.

As for the condition, well, I'm a real film novice (to put it lightly) but I'd say they all are generally in fine condition. There are issues that need to be / are being addressed like they all need to be washed, some have sprocket issues that cause the film to start jumping around in the projector, which should be repaired or edited out, but nothing major.

I was informed by a local collector who's been helping me out that Night of the Living Dead is a reduction print or dupe (he also said that many copies of NOTLD are) but it looks fine to these eyes!

Our "screening room" is basically a large, empty room in one of our buildings. When we put chairs in it can seat around 150. It has a large blank white wall at one end which is good for projecting onto (although I would like a screen in the near future). With our projectors (two EIKI SSL-0s, and a few other backups for emergencies) at the other end of the room gets a nice large picture with our standards lenses (even bigger with the 38mm I have, looking for another one of those - HINT HINT!). We have a nice loud PA system that we can plug into as well.

I don't have any pictures of movies being shown there, or any good ones of the room in general but here's one from a concert we had last year:



As you can see from the flier, a local pizzeria donated pizza for the NOTLD screening. We'll have a popcorn machine going at this one and others, as well.

Holy Crap!!!! Why does nothing like this ever happen to me? That's an incredible haul there, David.

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www.mickoregan.com

Wow that is a nice find! How's the color on Gone With the Wind?

Yes, how is the color on GWTW??

David how wide is the projected image? If you had a stand alone black frame that was at least 12 inches wide on the sides and top, you would be surprised at what difference it would make. It gives the picture far more depth and theatrical appearnce. I've using cheap black cloth staple a round a 1x2" frame. The PA use is spot on.

_________________
And now For Our Feature Presentation.

http://www.metroxpressjazz.com/index.html

GWTW I only watched briefly. The colors looked nice (sorry I can't be more descriptive right now) but it did have an emulsion scratch running through the beginning of the first reel, the only movie to have one so far. Yeowch. BUT, for a free find, I'm satisfied!

I wonder, since NOTLD is next week, if making a "frame" on the wall using black masking or painters tape would have the same effect?

I don't think tape would be wide enough. I would go for 12 inches wide at least. In the past I have stapled cheap black fabric onto a 1x2x? inch piece of wood and hung it horizontally across the top of the screen and stapled two 12 inch wide side pieces to hang down. The whole rig could be hooked to the ceiling with string. I would hang it forward from the screen about 6 to 8 inches. Really makes the picture jump out!

_________________
And now For Our Feature Presentation.

http://www.metroxpressjazz.com/index.html

Friendly update: found out today that my "Odd Couple" is technicolor and cinemascope. Was very pleased as a few of the other color features (not Gone With The Wind though!) had faded to pink when I checked. Odd Couple looks beautiful though. Now I need an anamorphic lens!