Wendy's Classic Corner.

Wendy's Classic Corner.

Hi, this is Wendy from Wendy's Classic Corner.

And today we're in Columbus, Ohio for the Columbus Moving Picture Show.

Did you know about this four day film festival of 16 millimeter fil and many other wonderful things?

No.

Well, let's find out about it.

The Columbus Moving Picture Show got started in 2022.

Officially.

We were supposed to take over right after the pandemic, but of course, that put a delay on things.

This show's patterned after an event which was a film festival that ran in Columbus for 52 years.

It was a combination film festival, dealer convention, and it was so special to the people who love it.

But not super well known.

Sort of a hidden treasure in the city of Columbus.

And my goal was to keep it going, to expand it a little bit.

We have seminars and book signings, and we also just love film.

So we really focus on the fac that we run 16 millimeter film.

We show rarities.

We focus on the movies that you don't get to see on Turner Classic Movies, the things that you, can't find necessarily, even in a DVD collection.

So our focus is on celebrating the obscurities on the the niche entertainment industry, but also celebrating old Hollywood pre 1960s.

This is Mike we have today.

Mike, you'r part of the whole dealer room.

Can you tell us a little bit about what that is.

This show started about 55 or 56 years ago, and it was a very tight knit group of 16 millimeter film collectors, and they wanted to share their movies with other friends.

They wanted to buy and sell and trade with one another.

And so then the dealer's room was born.

What is some of the things that you could find if you went into the dealer room at the Columbus Moving Picture Show?

You could find vintage movie memorabili going back to the earliest days.

Lobby cards that go back into the teens.

You can also find posters of all the various sizes.

We have dealers that have, European posters, what they call country of origin poster of an Italian film, or if it's, a Japanese film, country of origin or British film.

And, there's also DVDs becaus everybody wants to watch movies.

They have home theaters, and 16 millimeter is still a collectible thing.

There's an annex room where there's 16 is exclusively traded.

So we're here with Paul in the film dealer room, and we have all these really cool reels of film.

Can you tell us a little bi about what this room is about?

This room is about the 16 millimeter film medium that, it's a long lost hobby that, it's startin to get a little resurgence now, but I came up with the idea a few years ago when I was a dealer here with, Samantha, the Columbus Moving Picture Show, and I asked he if we could use a certain room just to have a bunch of film dealers in.

And she liked the idea, so we went ahead and I went ahead and kind of recruited some of these guys that are film dealers to make this room.

Just all films.

This is very cool.

And of course, you would hav to have a proper film projector if you're going to use this film like a 16 millimeter, this is all 16 millimeter, or you have some other, we have 16 millimeter, which is pretty much the the go to stuff for a lot of the collectors because it's everything's portable for 16, but we also have 35 millimeter, which is those there.

And then we have super eight millimeter, which is a smaller gauge.

And you have to have these i a special kind of storage or a. Yeah, I mean, a lot of people don't we, we like I personally I take everything out of cans because, there's a possibility of a deterioration thing called vinegar syndrome with film.

So if you, if you don't let the films breathe, they'll start to develop that and just deteriorate.

And, you know, some of these you'll never, ever find again on this, on this format.

And so this is a really cool thing.

So anybody that want to get some 16 millimeter film, they should come out to the Columbus Moving Picture Show and come see you.

Yeah.

Room 22 is the is the dedicated film roo at the Columbus Moving picture.

So the nice big picture outside that says it too.

So so I ha that made from a friend of mine that runs made a rap shop.

So he made a bunch of posters and that little backdrop out there.

So it's kind of just to get people in when they come off the elevator.

So it's pretty cool.

Everybody likes it.

Yeah, it worked for me.

Yeah.

Cool.

Thank you so much for your time, Paul.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

16 millimeter was invented as a home video marke for semiprofessional collectors.

Eight millimeter wa sort of the entry level, medium.

People who are making hom movies, people who were running, you know, maybe clipped abridged versions of movies on a toy projector once they became much more serious about film.

It was 16.

So if you weren't in a professional movie theater environment that ran 35 millimeter or even 70 millimeter, if you were a home projectionist, you used 16 millimeter.

These films, some of the like including one of the movies we ran this weekend, East Side, West Side, run back all the way to the 1920s.

That print was 100 years old, so it's a nostalgic thing in itself.

Films also very tangible.

You know, we live in a digital world where things are increasingly, euphoric and sort of all on a, computer or a phone film is something you can hold in your hands.

You can smell it, you can feel it.

And so there's something very special about that.

Hello.

Your name is Jeffrey Curtis.

Hello, Jeffrey.

And you're a projectionist here at the Columbu Moving Picture Show?

Yes.

Yes.

How long have you been a projectionist?

I've been a projectionist for, gosh, years.

Probably a good 40 years.

But I've been with the Columbus Moving Picture Show for a few years now.

And before that, I was with cinevent for probably about three years.

Oh, awesome.

So you're been doing this for quite some time?

Yes.

You said you would be kind enough to go ahead and put a reel on to kind of explain how it what you're doing.

Absolutely.

In fact, setting up.

So you caught me at the right time.

So what I'm doing here, this is the feed reel.

This is the take up reel.

And what I do is we thread right through the slot.

In fact this is a slot load projector.

Now we have a couple of things here actually.

What I'm going to do if we could see it I'm going to take this cover off.

We have the initial gear right here.

This pushes the film, pulls the film from the reel into the projector gate, into the film gate.

And so once it goes throug the film gate, we have a claw.

We end the projector, and the claw engages in the perforation holes, and it pulls the film down.

Frame by frame by frame.

And as the claw is pulling the picture down, frame by frame by frame.

Also has something in here a shutter which it looks like a fan.

And each time the film is advance, the shutter comes into place, blocking the picture so you don't see the sliding of the pictur or the advancement of the frame.

So once you do this and it does this 24 frames per second, so at 24 frames a second, with the claw pulling the film down and th shutter being timed just correct like it is, it projects the illusion of movement.

Wow.

So yes, series of pictures are advancing, 24 frames per second, creating the illusion of movement.

And one more thing.

Yes, there's a soundtrack right here.

The soundtrack on the film is read by an electric eye or photo cell right under this.

Okay.

Right there, right there.

And so that' where you get your sound from.

And that's really fascinating.

Thank you so much for that information.

It's a lot of fun.

It's a lot of fun.

And so we engage it then.

Yes it runs.

Oh wonderful wonderful.

Thank you so much Jeff.

That's so awesome I appreciate that.

My pleasure.

So we found some folks here at the Columbus Moving Picture Show that just came out of the theater.

We sort of grabbed them on their way out because we want to kno what you think of the Columbus Moving Picture Show your name first of all.

My name is Stewart.

Stewart, Hi.

Welcome.

Good to be here.

So tell us a little bit about what drew you to the Columbus Moving Picture Show.

I love all things classic film and especially silent film.

And they had a lot of silence playing.

So I had, had to swing by and check them out.

Yeah.

I noticed you have a shirt says on Silent films.

I actually have a podcast about silent film, so obviously I have to check out all the silent films here, and they're all been great so far.

How do you like this format?

What do you think of this format of this festival?

I love it, especiall getting to see everything on 16 millimeter, hear the sound of the machines cranking as they're playing.

It's really cool experience.

Kind of feel like you're watching it the way they were back in the day.

And this is every Memorial Day weekend.

So can you tell us a little bit about wha you thought of the movie here?

Well, Max Davidson was a name I actually had never heard of before, and he's actually really, really funny.

So I'm definitely going to have to check out some more of his stuff.

Very good slapstick humor.

What makes it better seeing it in 16 millimeter than seeing it digital?

Feels like you're actually watching it the way the movie theaters were back in the day.

And not just someone hitting play on a DVD playe or something.

It's really cool.

Experience overall.

All right.

Well, thank you very much.

Enjoy the rest of the show.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Hello.

And your name is Barb.

Hi, Barb.

Where are you from?

Right here in Columbus.

Excellent.

So are you a frequente of the Columbus moving picture?

Yes, my very first.

I just heard about it.

Oh, awesome.

And what did I see?

You were just came out of the movie.

What did you think of the film?

It's excellent.

That old that old humor is just priceless.

And what do you think makes this special?

To see these films at this film's best?

The The pianist is is excellent.

Just hearing people laugh an just that old slapstick humor.

You just can't beat it.

And do you think that you'r going to be back here next year?

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Excellent.

Well, thank you so much for joining us.

Very much.

Glad to be here.

Take care.

Thank you.

What is your name?

I'm Margaret.

Hi, Wendy.

Hi, Margaret.

And so, where are you from, Margaret?

I'm actually from the Chicagoland area.

Are you.

So have you.

How did you hear about this Columbus moving picture show?

I followed it on social media.

I go to other film festivals, so that's how I found out about it.

Is this your first time at the Columbus one?

This one is my first.

I know that they've been around quite a few years, so this is my first.

And how do you feel?

How did you.

How are you enjoying this?

I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

I love, watching movies I have not seen before.

Can't find them anywhere else.

So it's very enjoyable.

And what do you think about the live accompaniment?

Is that make the fil a little more special for you?

What do you think?

Absolutely.

I do try to watch silent films at home.

I can't seem to concentrate.

So while the music isn't good, that accompanies it.

So when I watch it live, it it's it's so much better.

It's it makes a differen experience, a better experience.

Okay.

Well, thank you very much for stopping to talk to us.

We appreciate it.

Enjoy the rest of the show.

Thank you I appreciate it.

Yes.

I, started in 1999 an I've been here every year since.

Although back in the 70s I was here, not here, but I was with a Cinevent, but I wasn't with them.

I just visited and one late night there was a pianist named Stu Ottoman, and he.

It was like one in the morning.

And he threw up his hands and he said, that's it, I'm going to bed.

And they were about to show a silent movie.

So I did one, and it was a Western, but I don't know what it was because you know, it was too unexpected.

And so that was like weird, you know, trying to take advantage of an opportunity.

But as far as starting was 1999, well, I have composed things for silent pictures.

I like write theme songs that I can improvise from, like trying to write a a Tin Pan Alley kind of song, a 32 bar tune, and then there's the blues.

I can play the blues.

That always helps with comedies and, rhythm changes.

I got rhythm changes as a thing jazz musicians always do.

So you can play them and in, in a Harlem stride, like, it's like.

The bridges.

The film festival is four days long.

It's Thursday through Sunday, Memorial Day weekend, every single year.

And you get to pick and choose.

One pas gives you access to everything.

You get to see all of the films if you want to, you can just sit in the screening room and enjoy yourself.

You get to shop the dealer room, you can attend the seminars and you can do the book signings, so you get to pick.

We're here with Robert.

Robert is an author of several books here of classic film stars.

Robert, hello.

Can you tell us a little bit about why you enjoy coming to the Columbus Moving Picture Show?

Sure.

My first year was 1977, the year of Star Wars, and I've been here every single year since despite a number of hardships, the latest of which was I was diagnosed with cancer last October, and in the very first conversation I had with this oncological team, they said to me, okay, you've got we've got a treatment plan for you.

It's chemo, eight rounds of chemo, it's 27 radiation treatments and we've got you scheduled into the end of May.

And I said, no, no, no, wait a minute.

The Memorial Day weekend, I have someplace I have to be.

And so we have to be don by then and I mean done by then.

And so I got them to put me on an aggressive schedule.

I started chemo as fast as I could, and I started radiation as fast as I could, and I made it with one week to spare and try to scrape myself back together.

And I and I got here the day I wanted to.

And I've been here all week and it's been fabulous.

I know you said you didn't really want to talk too much about promoting your books and so forth, but can you tell us a little bit about why you choose to write about, let's say, classic film actors?

I'm a historian b trade, and so I like to combine, Hollywood history and World War II history.

That's my specialty.

And, and I've written 4 or 5 books just on topics related to those two.

And the combination of them.

Yeah.

I think we should pic one of your books up ourselves.

And I really thank you for talking to us today, and I hope all goes well for you in the future.

Thank you very much, Wendy.

You know, the cinephiles hav always been like a second family to me.

Most of the friends I have made over the last 50 years I met here and, those who are still on the right side of the grass remain friends.

It's my friends, you know my friends all come from Canada.

From California.

They come from all over.

And I get to see them, and I get to be with them.

And it's never meant more to me than it does this week.

It's.

It's a labor of love.

It's a family.

You know, you come back partly just to see your friends and socialize and meet these people who have a shared passion.

We found our tribe.