In Focus: Protecting Nitrate Film Heritage

The majority of motion pictures produced before 1952 were filmed and printed on nitrate stock. Praised for its stunning image quality, nitrate film is, at the same time, subject to chemical decomposition, it is highly flammable, and its improper storage has led to several fires - some of them deadly.
The George Eastman Museum stores more than 24,000 reels of nitrate-based film prints and negatives, including the original camera negatives for The Big Parade (1925), The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Gone with the Wind (1939); David O. Selznick’s personal prints of Rebecca (1940); a collection of Cecil B. DeMille’s prints; and much more.
The Eastman Museum is also one of the very few institutions to project nitrate prints, some of them more than a hundred years old, and the only one to hold a festival entirely dedicated to this beautiful and sparse medium.
Join Senior Curator of the Moving Image Department Peter Bagrov and Collection Manager Deborah Stoiber in a conversation about the Eastman Museum’s nitrate film collection.
Assuring Public Access to and Safety of the Nitrate Film Heritage is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

[@richardlinks8575]

Thank you so much for hosting and providing this very interesting presentation.
I have a story to relate, which may be of interest to you and members of your foundation.
Around 1973-74, I was employed by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. One of my duties had to do with presenting various exhibitions, musical recitals and other arts events in our beautiful “Little Theater”, also known as the Florence Gould Theater, part of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor.
During the fall of either 1973 or 1974, the Fine Arts Museums put together a very special event, centered around an exclusive showing of original 35 mm nitrate films on loan from Mary Pickford, who was still alive at that time. These were her own personal prints and of course, the entire series consisted of the projection of these remarkable prints of many of her classic films.
Here’s the most interesting part! For the occasion, two arc-lamp projectors were installed in the small projection booth above the theater. The entire building was originally erected in 1924.
The projectionist(s) placed fire extinguishers around the machinery, but one of the museum officials also instructed the staff to watch out for the chance that a fire Marshall might show up and not to let such a person enter the booth!
Fortunately, no fire Marshall ever turned up!
This was the only time during which I ever experienced what a nitrate film looked like. The incredible “velvety” look of nitrate film was simply unreal! It seemed almost to have an unusual three-dimensional quality to it.
For that unique series, the Fine Arts Museums had also hired an organist, who accompanied the films with live music, played on a compact Wurlitzer organ.
On opening night, a Rolls Royce pulled up and out of it came an elderly lady, accompanied by two men. I was standing in the reception area when she was escorted into the building. She quickly informed everyone within that area that she was the child actress in that evening’s offering. Unbelievable!
What was even more interesting was that also appearing that evening was the silent film actor, Buddy Rogers, who was then still married to Mary Pickford. The older society ladies were literally swooning around the man. Mary Pickford was too ill to attend.
What a great event!
I hope you enjoyed my personal story!

[@robert1589]

So informative!

[@liberte5847]

Merci beaucoup from Paris France 👍.

[@laurdy]

I wonder if it's possible to transfer the photographic emulsion from a decomposing nitrate base to a new polyester base? For example adhearing a new polyster base to the front of the emulsion and dissolving away the old (decomposing) base from the back.