March 22, 2005
Titanic newsreel found in Glasgow
TWELVE minutes of unique film that shows the Titanic sailing to its doom and records the aftermath of the disaster has been discovered in a Glasgow loft 93 years after the tragedy.Full story here.The original, unedited footage was first viewed within days of the great liner sinking on its maiden voyage in April 1912 by a small audience of cinema-goers in the Odeon, in Greenock, Renfrewshire. . .
Running to 12.5 minutes, the ancient nitrate film lay in the loft of an unnamed family until a descendant of the original "owner" read that a similar four-minute segment of film featuring the doomed ship had been sold at auction for £5,000.
Posted by David on March 22, 2005 6:48 PM
They had nitrate film in their loft and it didn't burn the house down? They were lucky! The loft must have been cold enough to slow the decomposition. Takes me back to my curatorial days when I was sent off on a course, so I could recognise it if it turned up: by the end of the day I was white as a sheet, imagining it getting in amongst our collections. The best bit was when the instructor told us about sending a load of it to the incinerator in their van, only for it to incinerate the van en route. The fire brigade could do nothing but throw a safety cordon round it, whilst it burned away merrily torching the van. (This stuff produces its own oxygen when it starts to burn: practically nothing puts it out, my advice if you see any is to run away till the professionals get there.) I'm glad I'm not a film archivist.
Posted by: Flitcraft on March 22, 2005 8:20 PM
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