16mm Home Movie w/SOUND: 1958 rock 'n roll dance party

$

213

Hello. Up for sale is 300 feet of 16mm Kodachrome Home Movies with optical SOUND. Excellent condition with near mint images, superb color, no vinegar odor. The film comes mounted on a 400-foot reel. This footage is in the public domain.

Click this link to view more screenshots:

http://webpages.charter.net/philnorm/dancing.jpg

Wow. What a treasure. I collected dance films for over 10 years and this is one of the jewels. This film was shot in Hollywood, California, at what appears to be a New Year’s Eve party. On the edge of the film it reads, “Developed Jan. 1959” so this was probably shot during the waning hours of 1958. All 300 feet is dedicated to a dance party in a small living room – decorated for the occasion. The camera is on a tripod and portable lights are utilized – so the color, brightness and contrast are superb. The camera’s range looks to be set at about 8-10 feet, so the folks dancing in the back are slightly out-of-focus. Other than that – superb.

Keep in mind these folks aren’t dancing to the oldies. They are dancing to rock ‘n roll music hot off the presses and sweeping the country by storm. The style of dancing is probably best described as rockabilly swing. Wild, wild stuff!

The film is divided into four separate parts, and for each part you’ll hear a different song – most likely played on an unseen phonograph. The microphone used to capture the music also captures any hoots and hollers let out by the dancers. Here are the songs the folks at the party dance to:

1. Don’t know for sure, but it’s a hard-drivin’ rockabilly song. The tune is missing its intro; it begins right before the solo breaks with a chorus of male singers singing/repeating something like “Rock it and boogie” or "Rock 'n roll boogie" then a raunchy tenor sax solo, then a Jerry Lee Lewis-style piano solo. The entire length is about 1:45. It's a great tune - whatever it is.
   
2. High School Confidential by Jerry Lee Lewis. Except for the opening :20 seconds or so, the entire song is heard to the end, including two piano solos and vocals by The Killer. Wow!! Length is about 2:00.
3. Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry. Missing the opening few measures to the song, so the length is about 2:05. The dancers raise the roof. One young man kicks into the camera.
   
4. Unknown to me. It’s a grinding (slow) blues/rock number. A male singer is heard for a few bars before a lengthy raunchy guitar solo. About 1:15 in length.
   

An amazing one-of-a-kind home movie. Don’t let this one pass you by.

The winning USA bidder to pay $4 for Priority Shipping with Delivery Confirmation. Canada to pay $15 and Overseas to pay $20 for Priority International. Thanks and good luck!