This is topic Beyond depressing- stash of vintage porn films burned! in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 10-21-2008, 07:59 AM:
 
Let me first say that I hope I'm formatting this whole thing right, since I know there's a certain way to do it but not sure what it is. Please don't hate me too much if I did it wrong.

As to the content, let me say I'm REALLY mad after hearing this, since porn on 35mm is so difficult to find.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/102008/met_346273192.shtml

(There are a few pictures of the films and what they did with them.)

Last modified 10/19/2008 - 11:07 pm
Originally created 102008

Burning away evils of the past

Church takes over old drive-in theater.

By Paul Pinkham, The Times-Union

Until Sunday, the Rev. Mark Eldredge joked that his Westside church had one of the largest pornography collections in Jacksonville.

Members of Christ Church Anglican discovered reel upon reel of '70s- and '80s-vintage X-rated movies recently when they took over the old Playtime Drive-In on Blanding Boulevard a few weeks ago. The Playtime showed X-rated movies in the '70s and early '80s, prompting police raids and protests, before switching to more traditional fare.

But for Eldredge and the 300-member congregation, ridding their property of the film was no joking matter. It was so serious, they built an entire service around it Sunday afternoon, complete with a ceremonial burning and a "holy hose-down" with water from a Jacksonville Fire and Rescue truck blessed by the priest.

"You guys can be a part of making this land holy," Eldredge told his flock before he used a brass candlelighter to ignite a bonfire containing unrolled reels of film. "To have a piece of property and take it from unholy to holy is awesome."

As the film burned, three Jacksonville firefighters stood by. Then Eldredge blessed the water in their truck, and they cleansed the property by hosing it down.

Christ Church purchased the 13-acre drive-in for $1.4 million after the 60-year-old theater closed in May. The church, which currently meets at Bishop John J. Snyder High School, closed on the deal a few weeks ago and discovered the porn stash when they showed up to begin cleaning up the property, Eldredge said.

Dozens of rusty film cases were stashed above the concession stand, some hidden in the walls. Eldredge and his staff didn't need to watch any of the film to know what it was; names like Kinky Business and Private Teacher gave the contents away.

Jim Evans, a church member who has run traditional movie theaters in Jacksonville and Gainesville, estimated at least 100 titles were found.

"I can't imagine why they're still here," Evans said. "Usually, you didn't buy these movies, you rented them. Really it doesn't pay to purchase them because they're going to have a limited run."

Eldredge's immediate dream for the property, after Sunday's consecration and some needed repairs, is to begin showing family-friendly movies to the public.

He said he hopes people passing by on busy Blanding Boulevard will stop in and see that Christians are fun.

"God has given us this property ... in order to help thousands of people become new creations in Christ," Eldredge said.

Eventually, the church plans to build a more traditional worship center on the property while still showing movies.

paul.pinkham@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4107
 
Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 10-21-2008, 09:01 AM:
 
Hope they didn't take any vintage intermission trailers in that ceremony.
 
Posted by Tim Massett (Member # 3512) on 10-21-2008, 09:03 AM:
 
hiya,
i just moved from good ol jacksonville floriduh and was familiar with the fellow that was the part-time projectionist who was attempting to save the drive-in from the hands of the church. i was unaware that there were any films stored there and emailed him last night to ask him about it since i found it as depressing as everyone else here. this was his response.

"Don't dispair over them, they were worthless. They were too faded and dry rotted ever to run through a projector again. They weren't the drive in "B" movies you were familiar with, they were XXX films that the owner had bought outright from the mafia as opposed to renting them and having to continually pay mob dues. Most of them had been crudely edited from XXX to cable TV version and they were vinegar and pink. No more than about 15 feet at a time would run though a projector before the film shredded."

at least it sounds like they all suffered from poor storage conditions.

tim
 
Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-21-2008, 09:36 AM:
 
I think it would have been funny if some folks from OSHA or EPA showed up to fine the folks involved with the organized bonfire over environmental violations. It could still happen. No joke.

What I find a little more odd is anyone in Jacksonville, FL being preoccupied with preventing people from thinking about sex when problems like murder seem to be a much more urgent issue. Jacksonville has had the distinction of Florida's highest murder rate. The city has a reputation of being pretty dangerous. But this goes along the lines of a great American tradition: sex is very very bad and dirty while violence is just fine.
 
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 10-21-2008, 10:19 AM:
 
It's OK... it's OK. It's all safe. All porn is backed up onto my massive porn servers with millions of hexabytes of space dedicated to only porn.
 
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-21-2008, 10:52 AM:
 
This reminds me of Doritos. Don't worry, we'll make more.
 
Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 10-21-2008, 11:03 AM:
 
I really do believe there's a mint to be made by those who hold the negatives from old film-shot porn and have the wherewithal to do high quality transfers to Blu-ray. Especially the old European producers.

SO much better than the crap produced today.
 
Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-21-2008, 01:47 PM:
 
quote: Sam Graham
I really do believe there's a mint to be made by those who hold the negatives from old film-shot porn and have the wherewithal to do high quality transfers to Blu-ray. Especially the old European producers.
That may be difficult, at least in terms of American made "classics" of XXX-fare. Titles like Deep Throat were controlled by organized crime families. Legitimate distributors would have a tricky time selling such movies without having their own business tangled with mob influence as a result.
 
Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 10-21-2008, 04:29 PM:
 
I saw this on CNN today! I'm quite surprised that having been in that building for so long, no teenagers (or anyone else) had broken into it and stole them. I wonder if any members of the church accidently stood down wind from the burning pile.
 
Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 10-21-2008, 04:45 PM:
 
Yet, doesn't acetate film, when burning, emits toxic fumes .. and the whole congregation watching .. and wanting to be "desensitized" from the fumes?
 
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 10-21-2008, 05:10 PM:
 
Monte, not to worry, it's obvious that they were protected by angels from the hell-fire sulfur fumes.

What I want to know is why they didn't use these porno flames more efficiently -- why stop at only sending porno film to damnation when with some careful planning, a few extra bucket of brimstone to liven things up, they could have rightiously burned any local witches at the same time? I ask you.
 
Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 10-21-2008, 06:06 PM:
 
Someone needs to photoshop satans face in the fire.

-
 
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 10-21-2008, 08:33 PM:
 
-

BURN HER!
 
Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 10-21-2008, 10:16 PM:
 
...how do you know she is a witch?
 
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 10-21-2008, 10:31 PM:
 
SHE LOOKS LIKE ONE!
 
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 10-21-2008, 11:12 PM:
 
And with a Divining Fork, of course.
 
Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 10-22-2008, 12:37 AM:
 
Is that still picture from the actual burning?

I find it funny seeing the children there. What do you say when junior asks what the heck you all are doing?

The curiosity of what is on the films will just provoke him more to watch them when he gets older.

It's sad to see any film prints of any nature burned...unless its that damned chihuahua movie. [puke]

AJG
 
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-22-2008, 03:15 AM:
 
Maybe its wrong to say this, but it would've been quite funny had there been a nitrate reel in there somewhere. [evil]

Of course they would've probably said that reel was demonic or some such silliness. [Roll Eyes]
 
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 10-22-2008, 03:03 PM:
 
All those guys in the background are thinking..."Oh well...I still have the internet". [evil]
 
Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 10-22-2008, 03:21 PM:
 
quote:
BURN HER!
That was one of the best bits that Python ever did.
 
Posted by Todd McCracken (Member # 4718) on 10-22-2008, 06:25 PM:
 
No, no no, What are witches made out of?
 
Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 10-22-2008, 07:04 PM:
 
quote: Aaron Garman
It's sad to see any film prints of any nature burned...unless its that damned chihuahua movie.
I dunno. You can bet even THAT movie will mean something to someone, somewhere - whether it be their first movie, the first movie they ran, or the first movie their girl kissed them at - and they will COLLECT it! Anything and everything to do with it. [Big Grin]
 
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 10-22-2008, 07:23 PM:
 
Wood?
 
Posted by Wayne Keyser (Member # 2420) on 10-22-2008, 09:19 PM:
 
So ... if she weighs the same ... as a reel full of old porn film ... she's made of Film-guard ... and therefore ... A WITCH!!!"
 
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 10-22-2008, 10:11 PM:
 
CIDER!
 
Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 10-23-2008, 01:46 AM:
 
CHURCHES! CHURCHES!
 
Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 10-23-2008, 02:02 AM:
 
Very small rocks! Lead!
 
Posted by Galen Murphy-Fahlgren (Member # 4535) on 10-23-2008, 08:12 AM:
 
A duck.
 
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 10-23-2008, 11:28 AM:
 
Vi a duck?
 
Posted by James. R. Deeter (Member # 837) on 10-23-2008, 01:59 PM:
 
Vi not ?
 
Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 10-23-2008, 03:07 PM:
 
Vi a no chicken
 
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 10-23-2008, 04:14 PM:
 
The Aquaduck.
 
Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 10-23-2008, 06:35 PM:
 
The local clergy around my area have been talking this up on their radio shows, etc, the last few days. Local TV is running this at least every hour or two on their local new shows.

Local clergy is telling us all to stamp out ALL porn.

(Just let me get a copy...)
 
Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 10-23-2008, 11:23 PM:
 
In all fairness, and to paraphrase Ted Turner when he was taken to task for colorizing certain films in the MGM library; the films belong to them. I don't get the feeling of outrage others have expressed because, well, they're supporting what churches believe. This is still America, and we are all free to believe what we will and what we won't.

What would've peed ME off, would've been a constable out there shovelling film into the fire - like they did in my hometown once, after raiding a drive-in for showing soft X and hard R pictures. Those photos made the front page of the local newspaper. [Mad]
 
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 10-24-2008, 12:08 AM:
 
quote: Tim Reed
for showing soft X and hard R pictures
For those too young to know what this means, please replace the letters 'X' and 'R' with the word 'Penis'.

[Razz] [sex]
 
Posted by Damien Taylor (Member # 4255) on 10-24-2008, 06:35 AM:
 
quote: John Wilson
The Aquaduck.
Quack, Quack.

splish, splash laze about.
quack a tinny etc...
 
Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 10-24-2008, 08:10 AM:
 
quote: Tim Reed
...Ted Turner when he was taken to task for colorizing certain films in the MGM library...
I believe they had to make preservation copies before they did the colorization work. That in itself was a good thing.
 
Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 10-24-2008, 09:41 AM:
 
Well, the colorization was done on video for television use. They were criticizing him for aesthetic reasons.
 
Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 10-24-2008, 12:36 PM:
 
Regarding Ted Turner and colorizing... I had read at the time that to make the process work, they needed the best copy of a feature they could find, or the 'colorizer' wouldn't work well. This meant they did some work to find better quality elements, so some good came out of it. You can just turn the color down/off on your TV, so while I thought colorizing was a dumb thing, I wasn't all that bothered.

Ad as far as porno films, well, to each their own but I don't think *everything* filmed is art and must be saved. If you ever ran 35mm porno, you will remember that the damn prints would always jam and break, (no polyester base then) total aggravation.

Although, some porno films I remember had a pretty good music soundtracks, and stupid but funny jokes. In one film, the 'star' goes to a theater to see her own film, and goes up to the projection room. The operator is up there, and the two of them start hammering away on the rewind table. Meanwhile, you hear her voice from the sound monitor saying, "Oh, yes, Blackie, yes, yes ...." Just after that, you hear a horse whinny.
 
Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 10-24-2008, 02:40 PM:
 
-
 
Posted by Galen Murphy-Fahlgren (Member # 4535) on 10-24-2008, 04:22 PM:
 
Phil, I think I've seen every episode of the original series, and I don't remember that scene.
 
Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 10-24-2008, 06:12 PM:
 
That was the 16-to-35mm film converter episode.
quote: John Walsh
The operator is up there, and the two of them start hammering away on the rewind table.
I remember running that one, too! Was it "Inside Jennifer Welles"? They were in a AAII booth?
 
Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 10-25-2008, 08:36 AM:
 
It must have been one of those time travel episodes because the equipment shown sure didn't exist in 1967.

BTW: In the BBC series "Torchwood" there is an episode were 35mm magically changes into 16mm and then back again.

Maybe we should start a thread on experiences running porn?
 
Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 10-25-2008, 03:48 PM:
 
quote: Rick Raskin
Maybe we should start a thread on experiences running porn?
Your wish is my command.. [Big Grin] THIS THREAD
 
Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 10-26-2008, 05:28 AM:
 
quote: Joe Redifer
It's OK... it's OK. It's all safe. All porn is backed up onto my massive porn servers with millions of hexabytes of space dedicated to only porn.
So can you make new 35mm prints from that?

I'm not mad about this just cuz I'm a pervert, but also because these do have historical value and should be preserved. If these weren't in great shape then I guess it's not as great a loss, but still someone who actually knows about film should have checked them out before letting them torch it. Porn has been straight-to-video since the late 1980s (I was really disappointed to find this out once I was old enough to see them), and the old theatrical films were more like REAL movies than most of the stuff that's out now. The people who made them had to have at least an ounce of talent, nowadays all they have to know is how to find the "on" switch on a video camera after they've found willing performers.

I've got a DVD of scenes from older porn movies called "Only The Best" which is narrated by Jim Holliday who's a sort of film historian of that genre. He introduces one scene saying it was lit by someone who later went on to win an academy award for a major film, but wouldn't say who it was.
 
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 10-26-2008, 11:06 PM:
 
quote: Tim Reed
Well, the colorization was done on video for television use. They were criticizing him for aesthetic reasons.
quote: John Walsh
This meant they did some work to find better quality elements, so some good came out of it.
As Tim said, Truner was only colorizing tape, not hurting film at all, and I am sure lots of the loud mouths who were maligning Tuner didn't even understand that distinction. Colorizing became the cause celeb of the moment and you heard directors railing against it, yet when the studios were doing Pan & Scan years before colorization, on thousands of scope titles being released to video, you never heard a single word from these same nay-sayers. Yet the P&S abomination was distructive to the art of film to the 10th power compared to colorization.

And in Ted Turner's defense, during the entire time of his ownership of the MGM library, Turner went about quietly making new 35mm prints of dozens upon dozens of their classic titles. How did he manage to do that? By the income he made licensing colorized versions to cable and broadcast outlets and to the video home markets. So more good came out of colorization than most appreciated. No one wrote articles about the good Turner had been doing reprinting the MGM classics on 35mm and making them available to the art house circuit, and they were a pleasure to work with as well.
 




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