ON IT´S WAY HOME

HITCHCOCK FLAVOURED SUPER8 DUALITY

Even though I haven´t made much noise about it (except for the modified header), some time ago I decided to stop collecting Super 8 films. Mainly because of the lower quality compared to 16mm, also because of the amateurish halo around it. As a matter of fact, I have begun the process of getting rid of everything that I don´t hold personally dear.

Having said that, there´s still one Super 8 fetish I haven´t been able to shake.

Hitchcock films. Buying Hitchcock films in Super 8.

They appear occasionally on the usual channels, and I jump at them like mad.

If you´ll endulge my vanity, I´ll show off my little collection:

• Hawke Films presents Alfred Hitchcock Film Festival Part 1: 350ft - Color - Silent - Includes scenes from North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963). Also advertisements for Frenzy (1972).



• Hawke Films presents Alfred Hitchcock Film Festival Part 2: 350ft - Color - Silent - Includes scenes from The Birds (1963), Marnie (1964) and Frenzy (1972).



• Hawke Films presents Alfred Hitchcock Film Festival Part 3: 350ft - Color - Silent - Includes scenes from Torn Curtain (1966), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) and Vertigo (1958).



• Hawke Films presents Alfred Hitchcock Film Festival Part 4: 100ft - Color - Mono - Includes 6 promos by Hitch himself.



• Alfred Hitchcock Trailer Reel: 400 ft - Color - Mono - English spoken w/no subtitles - Includes trailers for Frenzy (1972), The Birds (1963), Vertigo (1958) and Rear Window (1954).

One thing that will haunt me to the last of my days is my personal loss of a 16mm copy of Psycho (1960). That one is my favourite film of all time, and recently I came across a 16mm copy on eBay. It was going for USD200 and as much as that is for a banana republic collector, I bought it. Because of it´s weight, it got stopped in customs, and those a$$#°1e$ wanted USD700 for the print to clear. Unfortunately I couldn´t afford that much on top of the 200, so, brokenhearted I had no chance but to abandon it. In my imagination there is a warehouse exactly like that of the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark, where my print collects dust in shelf.

LATEST ACQUISITION

I have come across (and purchased) a reel 3 of an unidentified feature.

In order to ascertain the name of the film, I have the following facts:

1) It is in black and white, printed in the Soviet Union in unknown stock, in what appers to be triacetate base. (see pictures).

2) It is spoken in Russian (in Mono) (and subtitled in Spanish because I bought it in Chile).

3) The Aspect Ratio seems to be Academy.

4) Plot: The drama takes place in occupied Germany post WWII. The main characters are Tedia Nofoldev and his girlfriend Olga. Reel 3 shows a banquet with an US Mayor (from Milwaukee, who used to be the US ambassador in Moscow) and a Soviet Mayor (from Smolensk).

5) The can (original) has no other information than it was distributed by Sovexportfilm.

Any and all pointers, no matter how small, will be greatly apreciated.

MY LATEST ACQUISITION

These are my last two acquisitions. Two black and white silent (double-perf) 16mm films. I bought them through way of Uruguay, but they are Argentine made and/or distributed.

They are:

Castle Films #776: Mighty Mouse in "Mouse of Tomorrow". 100ft. (Published between 1950 and 1953)

Walt Disney Cartoons: "The Country of the Fairies" 100ft.

I particularly liked the "Non-Flammable Film" sign on the side of the box!