Photos by Richard Airbright, no reproduction without permission
This can of 16mm film was bought in an auction lot. It is a positive colour print from Rank Film Laboratories, of some rushes of Birmingham University, Faculty of Science, care of BBC Pebble Mill. There are 1010 feet of rushes, and the note is dated 8/9/78.
Does anyone know what the rushes would have been shot for, and how might they have ended up in an auction lot?
Thanks to Richard Airbright for sharing the photos.
The following comment was added on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:
Malcolm Hickman: ‘When Producer choice started, I had to charge each unit according to the space they occupied. Film Unit had rooms of rushes in cans. I asked why they were kept after the film was finished and transmitted. They said that they wanted to keep them in case they wanted to recut the film. I eventually persuaded them to get rid of them and save the space. I’m not sure what Mike Aldridge would have done with them. Possibly just junked them. Not sure what this particular can was from.’