Ascoyne D'Ascoyne

Why do so many films seem to disappear without trace?
A case in point is Port Afrique (which I saw and enjoyed twice as a kid). Made in 1956 it stars Phil Carey and Pier Angeli with Dennis Price, James Hayter and Anthony Newley in supporting roles; Malcolm Arnold wrote the score.
I 'phoned the BFI about this title and was told that there was no copy in the archive (no surprise!) and they had very little information about it; it seems never to have been given a TV broadcast.Now, Halliwell's Film Guide reviews this film and opines that it is "Not much cop", so how did the reviewer get to see this film? I doubt he/she would remember it sufficiently from nearly fifty years ago, so I guess that a viewing copy must exist somewhere. I feel sure there must be hundreds of titles listed in Halliwell's which, like Port Afrique, appear to be untraceable.
Can anybody shed any light on this mystery? secret

Gibbie

Port Afrique

DAVID RAYNER

Has anyone on this forum ever bought and received a video from Robert's Hard to Find Videos in Canada? If so, what have the quality and the service been like and how long did you have to wait for delivery?

There are a couple of videos that I'd like to buy off him, but it wouldn't be like ordering something off amazon or Movies Unlimited and I don't want to get ripped off.

And why aren't these videos available from the usual commercial outlets, anyway. All British feature films available on video in America should also be available from an outlet in the UK. Even if they would have to be higher priced as collectors items.

DB7

I've never used Roberts but my guess would be they're 2nd generation copies. I've ordered rare films from a couple of Stateside retailers and they've been copies.

Send an email and enquire a bit further.

Rob Compton

I have used them

1. Quality - not very good
2. Time taken - long

rgds
Rob

DAVID RAYNER

Thanks, Rob. That's saved me $40 for two videos plus shipping costs (must be around £35 in total in our money).

Steve Crook

I was looking through what they offer when they were mentioned.

They sometimes seem to offer the same title a few times at different prices. That would suggest to me that they may be selling on second hand tapes that they've bought from other people rather than tapes they've made themselves.

Steve

Steve Crook

PaPAS

Ascoyne D'Ascoyne

Thanks for the lead on "Port Afrique."
I'm still left wondering, however, about that black hole into which so many other films seem to have disappeared.

Gibbie

Gibbie

Columbia Pictures is now Columbia TriStar Motion Pictures, a subsidiary of Sony Motion Pictues, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a Subsidiary of Sony Corporation, based in Japan.

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