Possibly lost/forgotten/unseen early Mosconi movie reel.

PhilosopherKing

PhilosopherKing

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JAM said:
Wow! $399.
Click to expand...

For a WWII era armed forces only movie reel that is 80 years old, I don't think that starting bid is out of line. I mean that is the cost of a single CF shaft and people buy those all the time.

If this had some other mainstream celebrity on, it could be worth 10x that amount. I think the value is as much in what the item is as to what is on the film, to someone that is interested in military or billiard history.
 
Someone that does not have a 17 yr old about to start driving and college needs to buy this, digitize it for YouTube and stick it in the billiards museum (is that even still a thing since the guy running it passed away?)
 
PhilosopherKing said:
www.ebay.com

RARE 1945 BILLARDS - CHAMPION OF THE CUE - WILLIE MOSCONI - 16MM WW2 ERA MOVIE | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for RARE 1945 BILLARDS - CHAMPION OF THE CUE - WILLIE MOSCONI - 16MM WW2 ERA MOVIE at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com

Not mine, but looks like a pretty interesting and important thing.
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Bits and pieces of this description sound familiar.

I want to say that maybe like 25 years ago Bert Kinister put out a video or two with an assemblage of these short reel movies as part of his VHS instructional series. If memory serves he said that he had scoured libraries and such for old pool news reels and clips. Shoot, now that I think of it, I might still have a copy buried away somewhere :-o

Lou Figueroa
 
measureman said:
Here's another goofy one $250.00

www.ebay.com

Autographed 1948 Willie Mosconi on Pocket Billiards, autographed, rare printing | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Autographed 1948 Willie Mosconi on Pocket Billiards, autographed, rare printing at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
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That's what they are offering the Mosconi autographed book at. I have an autographed copy in similar condition that did not sell at $55.

As for the Mosconi film, it's probably going to cost another $300 to transfer it to DVD so you can watch it. It's still under copyright, so selling copies could be a problem.
 
lfigueroa said:
Bits and pieces of this description sound familiar.

I want to say that maybe like 25 years ago Bert Kinister put out a video or two with an assemblage of these short reel movies as part of his VHS instructional series. If memory serves he said that he had scoured libraries and such for old pool news reels and clips. Shoot, now that I think of it, I might still have a copy buried away somewhere :-o

Lou Figueroa
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Most have made their way to YouTube.

It didn’t ring any bells for me, but I didn’t double-check.
 
hang-the-9 said:
For a WWII era armed forces only movie reel that is 80 years old, I don't think that starting bid is out of line. I mean that is the cost of a single CF shaft and people buy those all the time.

If this had some other mainstream celebrity on, it could be worth 10x that amount. I think the value is as much in what the item is as to what is on the film, to someone that is interested in military or billiard history.
Click to expand...




They are calling this an "attic find". If it was really found in an attic that could mean a lot of years of heating and damage. This film might not be playable and might be destroyed if you try to. If you wanted to play it the first step would be to send it to someone who specializes in converting film to have it put on a digital format or another common today if it is sound enough to do that.

Looking at the edges of the film in the photo's it isn't evenly rolled onto the reel. The last bit never is as it has to be hand placed but there are other places deeper in. Hints at possible damage.

If I bought this it would be as a collectable, not a playable film. No idea what value that gives it but that would be my limit.

Hu
 
Looks like another copy is in circulation as there is an IMDB entry and review:

m.imdb.com

Champion of the Cue (Short 1945) | Documentary, Short

8m
m.imdb.com m.imdb.com

I've been trying for years to get copies or access to some of the Greenleaf shorts that are part of studio's newsreel archives. But it's likely even if they were located the celluloid would have decayed and they would be difficult to (cheaply) view. This Mosconi film is later and probably used a more modern material.
 
On that silly 626 thread from Dan, one bit of research showed an extensive amount of materials at the Smithsonian Institution.

I've done a broader search, here is the URL:

All Search Results | Query: "Mosconi, Willie, 1913-1993" | page 1 of 41 results | SOVA, Smithsonian Institution

Search results for 'Mosconi, Willie, 1913-1993' on the Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives (SOVA). SOVA provides access to primary resource collections maintained by archival units across the Smithsonian.
sova.si.edu sova.si.edu

They have videos in their archives.
There is more than just videos there, some interesting items!

If anybody finds something new, would be good to add to that collection there.
 
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