35MM film wanted

I do not understand how anyone could legally own a 35mm print of a feature film. They are the property of the studio/distributor.I have called trying to book retro showings of known “classic” films only to be told by the distributor that no print exsists, or booked and received the available print only to discover that it was hacked to death and should have been destroyed. Then I have heard and read of “collectors” who claim to have mint copies of the same films. Those prints can only come from one place, and there is a name for how they are obtained.

Has something changed in the last 10 years?
do the studios/distributors sell prints now?

Justin, the well-known film collector magazine The Big Reel lists deals who have for decades offered 35mm prints for sale to collectors and institutions. Many of these prints were intially turned over to these dealers by studios getting rid of surplus material, by warehouses who were recouping money for defaulted storage payments. It is not true that individuals or archives or educational institutions cannot legally own 35mm prints. In fact, that is absurd! The same is true for 16mm prints, the preferred format for private film collectors before the advent of video and DVD. Many still do collect in that format. The question of rights, however, is a whole different matter. What you show privately in your home is one thing, but public showings or rentals to others for public showings can be copyright violations. If the film is in public domain, you can do anything you want with it, whether video, 16mm, or 35mm.

Many prints of classic films from past decades were saved and protected by private collectors. When studios lost copies of films or recklessly destroyed them, archives like UCLA, MoMA, George Eastman House, would often obtain them for their collections from PRIVATE COLLECTORS, as well as from donations from the studios themselves.

During televised film preservation series on TCM and AMC requests on behalf of archives routinely ask people to search their attics and garages for old films. The late film scholar William K. Everson bought and was given innumerable copies of 16mm prints from folks he knew at the studios and showewd them (always free) in his classes in New York. Studios sold huge numbers of 16mm films to TV stations in the days when that format was used for telecast. They made the first sale. And by that fact of “first sale,” every subsequent sale was legal. The same would be true of 35mm if they made the first sale, which is evidence that they did by selling blocks of movies to wholesale consolidators.

Years ago George Eastman House bought many 35mm and 16mm prints of films from me (Italian films, not Hollywood product) when I got rid of my Italian collection in favor of video and DVD a good number of years ago. Everything was legally purchased by me from from dealers in the Big Reel and other dealers and by warehouses selling the former holdings of now-defunct companies. These dealers who did not steal the huge inventories they offered and were unfraid to sell them FOR PRIVATE USE. If the studios objected, don’t you think the advertisers in The Big Reel selling 35mm and 70mm(!) prints would have had their asses sued off??? As far as studios and distributors not selling, they may say that, but in reality that is not always what they do, since it is less expensive to sell off large caches of 35mm prints after they are no longer need than to pay to destroy them as they also do.

Different studios, different distributors will have differing…and inconsistent…policies on this issue. Also, as I pointed out, storage facilities routinely sell prints when storage fees are not paid, in order to recoup their costs. Sometimes smaller film companies and distributors go out of business (common in the foreign film distribution market) and those wind up on ther for-sale lists. So you are inaccurate, very inaccurate, in saying that the only way to get 35mm film is by “takening the item,” that is by theft. These are not thefts that I am talking about! If people had 35mm collections returned to studios, it is possible that they were misusing them via paid public exhibition in violation of copyright.

This whole 35mm issue is becoming moot, given the inevitable move toward digital projection. And what will be a concomitant result? Ironically you will see more and more 35mm prints for sale to nostalgic collectors with a lot of space in their garages.

I do have the animation films from Fox Animation Studio. I bought them from Fox when they closed the studio. I have “Anastasia “and “Titan A.E.”. There are the original films, the color test, the pencil test, and all of the cut outs that were not use in the movies. I will sale them. You can reach me at or

I know this is no an 80s film but in e bay they are selling the last Bond movie in 35 mm. It apears to have subtitles in spanished, so is a rare thing, more a collectors Item I supouse. Despite Im not interested in ths particular ittem, I supouse it can be worth something in the future. If you want to check it out go to ths link:

View link

I agree with the other poster. Anyone, yes anyone with the money can buy a 35mm print. They do not belong to the studios any more than DVDs belong to the studios. If you want to buy to view in the privacy in your own home, then you are perfectly within your rights to do it and no one can stop you. However, if you wanted to show them publicly it would be another matter. But then again so would the public exhibition of a DVD!

I have in my ownship 35 mm film Anastasia and Titan A.E.. They are the orginal films from Fox Animation Studio in Phoenix AZ. Got them from the Studio when I bought everything left. There is the pencil test, color test, and cut outs from the films. If your are interest, I can be reached at

I have tons of 35mm trailers taken from a theatre in boxes.

There’s a 35mm feature of ‘Close Encounters Of The Third Kind’ on ebay at the moment. View link Last week there were two 35mm copies of ‘Star Wars’ sold. Both over $700 each copy. ‘Alien’ and ‘Teenwolf’ and ‘Deadly Friend’ also sold the same week. Loads of these features are appearing for sale online just lately.

i have some 35mm features and trailers for sale and some equipment film splicer,film cleaner, film frame counter etc.. if interested please send e mail to joe