Our contact in Soho filmland manages to blag me some time on a bells and whistles telecine machine. Finally I can view the rest of the old film cans so we can work out what to actually transfer to video. The telecine operator sticks the films up on his machine, the 1st is an old film from ATV made in the 70s about salmon fishing on the Tweed. 70s colour was pretty rubbish and this film bears perfect testament to that. It is totally red and I mean 100%. No hint of another colour. But to my amazement Gerry, the man in the big chair swirls a few dials and switches and amazingly full colour bleeds its way back into this tired old film. Quite amazing.
Next up on the telecine bench is a very old Hardy's film I have never heard of but its from 1937. It starts black and white and it's LR Hardy salmon fishing on the River Eden in Cumbria. Suddenly it cuts to colour, all blues and browns and the camera tilts up from the river and up a huge viaduct. It must be the Carlisle -Settle railway. And gadzooks! A dirty old green steam train puffs on by over the viaduct up above. Amazing. Apparently colour came in in 1936 but Kodak could not find a way to make it stable until mid 1937 so this is quite possibly the oldest colour film of fishing in existence.
A shot or two of this will no doubt find it's way into the Lost World of Mr Hardy.
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