Reels of Unidentified Film

From February 14 through 21, Preserving a Family Collection is participating in For the Love of Film (Noir):  The Film Preservation Blogathon.  Through this blogathon, over 80 bloggers are hoping to raise significant funds to support the work of the Film Noir Foundation and restore The Sound of Fury, a 1950 film noir starring Lloyd Bridges.  Please contribute to the effort by making a donation at  this link or through the donation buttons on host sites Ferdy on Films and the Self-Styled Siren.

Lost films turn up from time to time.  Just as when watching an episode of Antiques Roadshow thoughts naturally turn to your own family collection, the discovery of lost films can prompt renewed curiosity about that unidentified film in your basement or garage.  What could it be?  I think I may know, but first a brief digression on German expressionism and film noir.
It’s related to the subject at hand, I promise.

As it emerged in the American cinema of the 1940s, the visual language of film noir was deeply influenced by the German expressionist films of the 1920s.  There’s a direct line from early German horror masterpieces like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Golem (1920), Nosferatu (1922), and Metropolis (1927) to the look of full-blooded film noir movies like The Lady of Shanghai (1947), Sunset Blvd. (1950), and Out of the Past (1947).  You can clearly see the influence in the camera angles, the set designs, and the staging of the actors.  Of course, it’s not particularly surprising since so many of the 1920s German filmmakers escaped to Hollywood in the 1930s, where they profoundly influenced the look and feel of Hollywood films.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920).

Above, a screen capture from the deeply influential

German expressionist classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920).

 Below, Orson Welles' funhouse climax to The Lady from Shanghai (1947),

a truly classic film noir scene.   Note the similarities.  In each,

the world has gone mad and the insanity is expressed by the

strangely disorienting visual design.

The Lady from Shanghai (1947).

I became hooked on film way back when I was a kid in the early 1970s – an all-consuming interest sparked by the confluence of the PBS Orson Welles-hosted The Silent Years series in 1971 and my first purchase of a Famous Monsters of Filmland, which I still consider the greatest magazine of all time.

Naturally if you crave silents and monsters, you’re going to fall big-time for German expressionism.  And since they didn’t show this stuff on TV very often, one of the few options for seeing these movies was to purchase copies, potentially creating your own classic film collection.  I spent hours poring over the Blackhawk Films catalog, dreaming of all the movies that I yearned to see one day.  Over time, I was able to get my hands on full-length 8 mm copies of Caligari, The Golem, and Nosferatu. 

I remember setting up the 8 mm projector on the ping pong table in the basement and projecting my beloved movies on one of those tripod roll-up movie screens.  There was no sound to accompany these silents except for the constant whir of the projector.  And if that sound stopped, it might mean that the film had jammed and a frame was probably liquefying from the heat of the bulb.  Those were the days!

So...  what does this have to do with the family collection?  Simply this -- if you run across some dusty old reels of film in your basement that look as if they were made by professionals, it probably isn't a valuable long-lost film.  Chances are extremely remote that it’s a pristine copy of The Sound of Fury (1950), or the director’s cut of Greed (1923), or Lon Chaney’s famous lost vampire act in London After Midnight (1927).  In reality, it’s probably a Blackhawk film and not really that rare or valuable at all.

© 2011 Lee Price

The Dark Side of Town

(Cross-posted on the June and Art blog…)

For the next week, February 14 through 21, I’m going to try my hardest to tie the entries on both “June and Art” and “Preserving a Family Collection” to the subject of film noir as part of “For the Love of Film (Noir): The Film Preservation Blogathon.”  Film noir was extremely popular in the post-war years that are remembered on “June and Art.”  As readers of the blog know, June and Art spent many evenings at the movies, often at double features.  Well, many of those movies they were watching would have been film noirs.

The world of film noir is the dark side of the city where femme fatales lure tough guys to their doom.  Some classic examples would be Double Indemnity (1944), Laura (1944), Out of the Past (1947), and The Big Heat (1953).  If you can picture Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, or Humphrey Bogart in a black-and-white drama laced with shadows and betrayals…  that’s noir.  (Note:  A movie like L.A. Confidential might be considered a modern day equivalent of the classic noirs of the 40s and 50s.)

Truthfully, June and Art weren’t film noir people.  Their tastes tended more toward a musical like On the Town (1949) rather than a film noir like The Third Man (1949).  Nevertheless, film noir is a potent part of the 1949-50 atmosphere – and with June living in the classic film noir location of New York City and with their mutual friend Bruno struggling through an archetypal film noir story (love betrayed – car accident – despair), I’d like to think it isn’t that great a stretch to celebrate film noir here on these blogs.

We’ve lost thousands of classic films to neglect over the past hundred years.  A few dedicated organizations, including the Film Noir Foundation, are dedicated to restoring the old deteriorating nitrate film stock of these films to their original silver screen glory.  This year’s “For the Love of Film (Noir): The Film Preservation Blogathon” is dedicated to restoring a nitrate print of The Sound of Fury (1950), starring Lloyd Bridges, Richard Carlson, and Kathleen Ryan.  Click on the "Donate Here" buttons to make a contribution to the cause.

Our gracious blogathon organizers and hosts are Marilyn Ferdinand of Ferdy on Films and the Self-Styled Siren.  If you love film, especially classic film, definitely check out their sites.

This is a great cause!  Please contribute to the restoration of The Sound of Fury (1950), and enjoy “June and Art” and “Preserving a Family Collection” during this week-long film noir celebration!

© 2011 Lee Price

For the Love of Film (Noir)

(Cross-posted on the June and Art blog…)

During the next week, February 14 through 21, both “June and Art” and “Preserving a Family Collection” will be participating in “For the Love of Film (Noir): The Film Preservation Blogathon.”  It will be a bit of a stretch for both blogs, but I love the cause and the time is right – and by that I mean the 1949-1951 period covered by “June and Art” is right smack at the dark heart of film noir’s classic period.  Therefore, the timing couldn’t be more perfect for looking at film noir.  We're talking New York City at night, lonely subway rides, and shootouts viewed from a bus (all of which have been covered in past letters!).

What’s film noir?  Check out this beautiful introduction to the blogathon by Greg Ferrara of Cinema Styles and I expect you’ll recognize film noir when you see it:

 

The blogathon fun starts tomorrow!

 

© 2011 Lee Price

Proper Storage for Your Old Cassettes

Three of the audio studios at George Blood Audio and Video.

(The fourth entry in a six-part series on audio preservation.)

As part of our June and Art collection, we have four audio cassettes of oral history that my mother recorded in 2003.  Also, we have a strong interest in preserving the audio cassette of our wedding ceremony from 1987 (not technically a June and Art item, but we’d like to think it’s an important part of our family history, too!).  We can’t just put the originals of these tapes anywhere, can we?  They’re way too important!

I asked Cassandra Gallegos, Preservation Administrator at George Blood Audio and Video, for advice regarding how to best store the precious original tapes:

“Tapes should always be stored in a case of some sort. I recommend an inert plastic case that closes securely.  The enclosed cassette should be stored on its longest side with the spine facing up.  This will help keep water out of the case if it gets wet. 

“The recommended storage conditions for magnetic tape are 65°F with 40% relative humidity.  Of course, in practicality, it is hard for even the most advanced archive to remain at these conditions.  Slightly above and below these parameters is perfectly fine.  Luckily these more relaxed conditions are the optimal comfort level for most people.

“The rule of thumb is to keep the cassettes in a cool, dry location away from direct sunlight or contaminants.  Storing in archival boxes or drawers will help protect them from dust, temperature and humidity fluctuation and sunlight.  If nothing else, keep the tapes out of the attic or basement!”

© 2010 Lee Price

That Old Tape Recorder in the Basement...

(The third entry in a six-part series on audio preservation.)

Sometimes I write things that make preservation professionals shudder.  For instance, I’m afraid I may have made Cassandra Gallegos, Preservation Administrator at George Blood Audio and Video, involuntarily shudder when I sent her the following question:

When we went to listen to these tapes, we had trouble finding a working tape cassette player.  We eventually found an old Panasonic SlimLine player that worked.  Should we be concerned about old playback systems damaging the tape when we listen to them?

If this conjures up a scene of me carelessly popping an audio cassette into a dusty tape recorder manufactured a quarter of a century ago…  Well, not only am I guilty this time but I’ve even been through this before with other valued tapes, such as the audio cassette of my wife’s and my wedding service from 23 years ago.  Finding a tape recorder that works is always a hassle.  Our basement is something of a graveyard of unusable tape recorders from years past.  I should have been more careful – both times.

Answering the questions above, Cassandra responded with good information and recommendations.  And I think I sense a gasp in her response as well, as she imagines me popping in the tape and recklessly pressing the “Play” button.

“There is potential for damage every time a tape is played back.  A cassette tape is most vulnerable as the machine pulls the tape from the cassette towards the playback head.  This is the reason that it is suggested that tapes be stored with the tape wound onto one hub.

“It is a real concern that you tried an old playback system that could have potentially damaged the tape.  Do not use old playback equipment or tape recorders without putting them through a thorough inspection, preferably by an expert.  At the very least, test the equipment in various modes (fast forward, play, stop, etc.) with a cassette that is not collection material.  Another concern is that you may accidentally record over the audio when attempting to play back the cassette.  The machines at our

studios always have the record button

removed to ensure this never happens.”

The problem of aging and obsolescent playback equipment is becoming ever more serious as each new generation of audio technology enters the market.  There are relatively few people qualified to repair the old machines and replacement parts can be hard to find.  This being the case, the best solution may be to migrate the audio information to a newer format (say, audio cassette to CD) and then only listen to it in the new version.  Preserve the original, of course.  But only use the new copy.

© 2010 Lee Price

The Shell That Protects the Tape

(The second entry in a six-part series on audio preservation.)

A confession:  In approaching this topic, I thought we’d be saving the cassette shell!  But to a preservation professional, the cassette shell – with its plastic and pins – is a distant secondary concern:  the real focus is always on the tape itself.  Ultimately, you don’t even have to preserve the shell.  It’s just a box that holds the real treats inside.

Cassandra Gallegos, Preservation Administrator for George Blood Audio and Video, makes the process of protecting the precious magnetic tape sound relatively easy:



The pressure pad on this cassette
has deteriorated necessitating
changing the cassette shell.

“The most common cassette problems – such as missing or deteriorated pressure pads, rusty pins, or pest infestation – can be fixed by simply changing the cassette shell.  However, the solution here brings up an additional problem.  Finding empty cassette shells can become a lesson in futility.  We buy as many as possible when we find them.  Another option would be to use the cassette shell from a cassette that you do not wish to keep, making sure to carefully indicate the oral history on the new cassette shell.

“There are two types of cassette shells: sonic welded and 5 screw.

“The halves of a sonic welded cassette shell are sonically vibrated until the plastic fuses together.  If you find yourself in possession of one of these cassettes, carefully score along the welded edge with a sharp blade.

“The 5 screw is screwed together with 4 screws in each corner and one screw in the center (an eye glass screw driver should do the trick).  Make sure the new shell is a 5 screw so you’ll be able to close it up once you’re finished transferring the tape to it.  Always keep the cassette on a flat surface to keep the tape from falling out of the shell as you work with it.  Take note of how the tape is wrapped around the various plastic posts inside its shell.  Transfer the two plastic hubs (the tape will be attached to both) to the new cassette shell (and remember to use gloves!).  You want the cassette to sit in the new shell the same as it did in the old shell with all the same pieces present.  If you are missing some pieces in the new shell, which can be the case if you purchase an empty cassette shell, transfer these pieces over as well.  You’ll probably notice

two rectangular pieces of plastic

Open cassette and
slip sheets.

inside the shell. These are slip sheets.  They keep the tape running smoothly.  Now screw the two new shell halves together again.  Place a pencil or your finger in one of the center gears to make sure your tape moves as it should.  If it doesn’t move, you probably didn’t wind the tape around the plastic posts correctly.  The ease at which you perform this activity depends on manual dexterity and your tolerance level for frustration!

“A good primer on the handling and storage of magnetic tape is Magnetic Tape Storage and Handling by Dr. John W. C. Van Bogart, available as publication #54 through the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR).”

© 2010 Lee Price

The Science of Preserving Sound

With the assistance of my sister, my mother recorded four cassette tapes of her memories of her youth and the old family stories.  These cassette tapes are seven years old now.  As physical items within our family collection, we are concerned with ensuring their long-term survival and accessibility.



The staff at George Blood Audio and Video with
Preservation Administrator Cassandra Gallegos on far left.

During the next two weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from an interview with Cassandra Gallegos, Preservation Administrator for George Blood Audio and Video.  The Safe Sound Archive at George Blood Audio and Video is one of the country’s leading providers in preserving, reformatting, and storing audio and video media.  Their clients have included the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Symphony, the Curtis Institute of Music, the National Park Service, and the Library of Congress.

According to Cassandra, “There are many simple and common sense actions you can perform to protect and preserve these cassettes.”  We’ll start with three of the most basic of Cassandra’s recommendations:

1.  Inspect the Playback Equipment

“Do not use an old playback system or tape machine without putting it through a thorough inspection, preferably by an expert. At the very least, test the equipment in various modes (fast forward, play, stop, etc.) with a cassette that is not collection material.”

2.  Remove Recording Tabs

 “Immediately check to see if the record tabs on each cassette have been removed.  This reduces the chance of accidentally recording over a tape when you mean to listen to it.”

3.  Keep the Tapes Wound to One Side

“Make sure the tape is wound all the way to one side.  A cassette tape is at its most vulnerable when the machine pulls the tape from the cassette towards the playback head.  This is the reason it is recommended that tapes be stored with the tape wound onto one hub.”

© 2010 Lee Price