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Sept .-October, 1938
of some difficulty. In 1934 a special commitset up by the British Kinematograph Society at the request of the British Film Institute issued certain recommendations. These were briefly, that cellulose nitrate films— that is. the ordinary "flam" film— should be stored in non-ferrous metal containers, or in bakelite or fibre boxes to bold approximately 1,000 ft. on a core of not less than 2 inches diameter and in a temperature of not less than 33° F. and not more than 40° F. The films should be inspected at five yearly intervals, and, upon the occurrence of signs of deterioration, the films should be copied by photography and the copj stored in place of the original.
It is difficult to estimate the average life of an ordinary print, but it is probably about 30 years if kept carefully. At the end of that time it is almost certain that far more efficient forms of preservation will he available ; it will he a reflection on our inventors if there aren't !
There we are then. It will he seen that the preservation of films under these conditions is a fairly expensive matter and the upkeep of the Library will always be high.
As a sideline, the Library has a Loan Sec
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tion, containing at present 11G films, from which full members of the Institute may borrow at a nominal charge. This section includes a n u m her of educational pictures and also copies, made with the consent of the donors, of some of the more inmortant films in the preservation section. For example, a composite history of the development of the cartoon film — entitled "Drawings that Walk and Talk" — has been prepared containing extracts from early films. These are hired for priv a t e showings to schools, film societies and the like, but are not available to the general public.
Such, in brief, is the work of the British Film Institute and its National Film Library. The former, of course, does much other useful work too detailed to be mentioned here. The Library — well, that is where we look hopefully into the dim future when excited scientists, archaelogists and historians will decant carefully from their tins the ancient but accurate records of our present (piaint old civilisation. If yon want to imagine their feelings, just think what we would give now for a newsreel, however dim and flickering, of the battle of W aterloo or the beheading of Charles I !
From top to bottom : — The Life of Charles Peace, an English one-reeler of igo^-4 ; Drame Chez les Favtoehes, one of the earliest cartoonfilms, made in 190R by Emil Kohl; Dan e's Inferno, Italian three-reeler made in roi2 — "the spirits
of the luxurious tormented by a storm of wind."
[Stilts by courtesy of The British Film Institute