One of the joys of my work at the film archive is coming across rare commercial films and videos. I should clarify that some of the material I process is non-commercial in nature, and therefore it is obviously rare. A person's home movies tend to be one-of-a-kind. But sometimes I get a find in the entertainment industry that is a real treasure. I love making these available to the public and fantasizing about the fan treatments they can finally receive.
Last year, I found the complete run of a British thriller series called Strange Experiences. This program ran on the British channel ATV in the Midlands in the mid-1950s. Each episode ran approximately 5 minutes and told a creepy, mysterious, or otherwise uncanny story. Some of the best are downright terrifying, proof that a short story can pack a big wallop. In writing the finding aid for our copy I got in touch with a colleague at the BFI and learned that they have at least a partial--probably a full--run of the series. But I do not know of other sources that have it. As far as I know, the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research is the only place in the US where this program can be seen.
Last summer, I also worked through the complete run of Spectreman, a Japanese superhero series from the 1970s. This was the precursor to more popular entries like Kamen Rider and Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. The show apparently aired on American TV in the 1980s in a dubbed format, and now I can proudly say that our archive has every episode.
I continue to find rare gems on an almost regular basis. This is a source of no small amusement because, as an archivist, I am skeptical of the popular myth that "dusty archives shelves" are hiding all manner of hidden treasures. (I mean, sure, we have the Ark of the Covenant, but otherwise....) However, sometimes I feel like I almost weekly come across something truly amazing that deserves to been seen again, even if most of them appeal only to my cadre of like-minded nerds.
No comments:
Post a Comment