Film is Fabulous! and De Montfort University’s Cinema and Television History Research Centre have completed the cataloguing of the films within the second case of the pilot scheme. 500 films from the private collection of a deceased collector were the basis of the second case.

The pilot scheme aims to establish, over a period of six months, a practical methodology for assessing, cataloguing, and preserving vulnerable film collections that are held privately in the U.K.

John Franklin, of Film is Fabulous!, said: 

‘The cataloguing process has revealed a number of things during the early stages of the pilot scheme. It’s extremely labour intensive. At the current rate, we’d take 2 years just to catalogue one of the larger collections to which we’ve been granted access. Therefore, more flexible solutions, or greater resources, are needed if we’re going to be successful.’

The Film Is Fabulous! team, and archivists at De Montfort University, did not find any missing items in the sample of 500 films in the second case study. However, a number of rare and important 16mm film prints were discovered.

Two of these may assist in future restorations:

Steptoe and Son: Full House (Broadcast: 7th February 1963)

Till Death Do Us Part: Peace and Goodwill (Broadcast: 26th December 1966)

Justin Smith, Prof. of Cinema and Television History at DMU, noted: 

‘The pilot project has been established through many conversations with film collectors and, in particular, the estates of collectors recently deceased. Carrying out their wishes, saving “at risk” collections from the skip, and disposing of films responsibly, have been the principles of our initiative. In the process, we have generated rich data which will be the basis of future research. We have also established beneficial relationships with copyright-holders and specialist auction houses.’

The second half of the pilot scheme (August-October 2024) will feature approx. 500 films from the collection of the late Terry Burnett, as the third case study. These are being catalogued by the film archive team at The National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, with assistance from Richard Latto. Terry is famous for returning two missing episodes of Dr Who to the BBC in 2010, and later returned the missing episode from the ‘Hugh And I’ comedy series entitled:  ‘The Girl On The Poster’.

The fourth case study has now been agreed with the estate of a deceased film collector. The details will be published shortly.

Film is Fabulous! Preserving film treasures for future generations.

8th July 2024