Over the past month or so my run of good luck with 16mm (and 8mm) purchases ran out.
From a dealer, i bought Fright which had most of the sound missing and a few trailers which had red hue and a 16mm print of Dick Tracy which had part three missing. Back it went at my cost.
At last, my wait for a replacement film, the Blues Brothers, a very sought after title was over. A month long wait while it was, (allegedly) checked. It turned up Saturday and as soon as i saw it on a full to the rim 2000ft reel and a 1600ft, (not full) i knew something was not right, the full feature runs for 2 hours 13 minutes. Here we go again was the first impression, when will this supply of faulty/poor/incomplete prints form a dealer end? It isn't good, the disappointments are really starting to tire me out and seriously consider which way i go with this hobby.
Onto the print, today, after checking the first reel on rewind arms, i viewed the reel, reel two will be tomorrow but im not holding out too much hope. Quality is good, colours are quite spectacular and sound is excellent. As soon as the reel opened i could see it was two minutes into the title sequence, some wear on this print tells me it has been viewed a fair bit, but the lines are ok and would greatly improve with a good clean. It is edited in some places for language so already that gets on my wick! After the Blues Brothers visit the Nun in an early scene there is then a chunk missing. Oddly enough, the film still makes sense, if i were to keep it, the film would be a shortened version but it isn't what i bought into, nor is it what i expected coming from a dealer who should have checked it after the two crappy previous experiences. This one makes it three and final for me. Until the next reel is viewed tomorrow i dont even know if the ending is there but i will report back. For what its worth.
I will add this, let my experiences warn you if your buying at Blackpool, if you know what i'm saying.