BACKGROUND INFO:
I am not a ‘film enthusiast’ and my past working life has revolved around electronics (many fields including communications, industrial and audio) and “The Arts”, more specifically, creative arts such as handcrafted fine china, ceramics and landscape artworks.
An associate has asked me to help find new owners for HIS large collection of photographic and film items … this is yet another one of those items. I am frequently asked “THE QUESTION”
So how many films do you have, Russ?
My response is … boxes and boxes of them, perhaps 350+ films are now left for me to look through … plus a few projectors
Another question I am often asked “Can I come and have a browse through the films?” Sorry, but the answer has to be a flat NO!
ALL film stock is safely away in my storage units, nice n cool and out of harms way, each day (or so) I will retrieve a few films, take a look (and smell!) at each film … absolutely NO ONE can just casually “browse” the collection. My associate wouldn’t like that and neither do I.
There is a lot of detail on this page plus even more HERE … I strongly suggest anyone who is interested in this film to read everything carefully, including looking at the link. To not do so is at your own peril!
Vinegar Syndrome “smell test” = Negative
THE BIRDS (With Lee Marvin & Jane Fonda)
Universal 8 Home Movies (Selected Scenes)
Title: The Birds (1963)
Catalogue # Unknown
400 Feet Clear TUSCAN (Made In Australia) reel
Colour
Sound (Mono)
Run time: approximately 16 minutes
Remember this film? I do … back in my boarding school days we had movie nights on Saturdays for the boarders. This was a film I remember so vividly … if you never thought much about birds before watching the film, you will after viewing it! I remember looking skywards very nervously after watching this one … Hitchcock was so good at this type of movie. We used to make a joke about the opening scene where Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) is sitting near the child’s playground having a smoke. All these birds begin to gather on the play equipment, with the numbers growing to such an extent that that Melanie feels menaced by all these birds … question in these scenes (for us) was, which is the greater threat? The smoking or the birds … in the end it was the latter, the birds aggressive behaviour was relentless and horrifying.
I don’t think the question was ever asking “why did the birds go crazy?” My goodness, you may never view a cute seagull in quite the same light ever again after watching this movie!

COSMETIC CONDITION:
USED
CLEAN
The original box has long since gone to it’s maker and has been replaced by a KODAK 8527 metal film can with only a simple side label to indicate the contents. There is also Black felt pen writing directly onto the reel.
The reel is not cracked or damaged
NO personal writing on the film reel or the 8527 can
There is a leader film, but no film clip
TESTING:
Test machine: ELMO 1200ST
The projector film path has been completely cleaned prior to running this film through the machine. I now have a “running sheet”, my maintenance schedule if you like – I record when each maintenance is performed because I am running a lot of films through the machine.
Film stock on the reel, including the sprocket holes, appears to be physically undamaged
I ran the film through the projector for approximately the first five minutes, to observe the picture and check that the sound quality.
There is colour but quite “washed out” looking at dominated by Greens & Reds so you can see Pinks, some Red (Red does not flood the picture) and Greens which soften the picture – in fact in many scenes it appears “Sephia like” Colour is not as it should be but still a very watchable motion picture.
The sound is clean clear and of a good level …
SPECIAL NOTE: I felt I needed to add this little note … whilst viewing the film on the screen, it actually looks “less Red” than the photographs would indicate but still … pretty R