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Original 1973 35mm production film archive relating to Peter Medak\'s Ghost in the Noonday Sun, starring Peter Sellers.
A fascinating group of 16 separate lengths/rolls of original 35mm Kodak Safety Film, containing approximately 606 frames in total, associated with the notoriously troubled 1973 production of Ghost in the Noonday Sun.
The material includes:
Multiple sequences prominently featuring Peter Sellers in costume
Numerous costumed cast/performance sequences
Shipboard and rigging scenes
Set and behind-the-scenes production activity
Numerous original production clapperboard sequences
Clearly readable boards naming Ghost in the Noonday Sun and director Peter Medak
Identifiable slate/take numbers including Slate 47 Take 1, Slate 55 Take 8, Slate 56 Take 4 and Slate 60 Take 3
Further slates including 52, 54 and 124
Handwritten film leaders, including identification referring to Ghost in the Noonday Sun
Approximately 597 colour frames plus a short 9-frame black-and-white shipboard sequence
One particularly clear clapperboard sequence appears to carry a September 1973 date.
Importantly, the Kodak film itself carries the + / triangle Kodak manufacturing edge code, corresponding to 1973, providing independent physical dating of the film stock consistent with the production period.
The archive is accompanied by an original handwritten letter dated 26 March 1996 from Adrian Briggs to “David”.
In the letter Briggs states that he is enclosing small spools of film which he believes are all from Ghost in the Noonday Sun, adding that some “clearly show Peter Sellers.” He hoped frames from the films might be used to raise money for charities represented by the recipient.
The original letter will be supplied with the archive. The precise residential address has been obscured in the listing photograph only for privacy; the original document has not been altered.
The individual rolls vary considerably in content, from production slates and handwritten identification through to extended actor sequences. One roll alone comprises approximately 105 frames of a costumed performer, while others contain changing performance images rather than repeated individual frames.
Several sequences show additional recognisable-looking principal cast members; however, apart from Peter Sellers, we have deliberately not attributed individual performers where their identities have not been independently confirmed.
These films have not been cut into individual collectors\' cells and are being offered together with the letter as a single archive.
The precise technical generation of the film has not been professionally established. We therefore describe it conservatively as original 35mm production-related film material and make no claim that it constitutes original camera negatives or original rushes.
Condition:
Vintage production film dating from 1973 with age-related surface marks, scratches and handling wear varying between rolls. Some sections show more noticeable scratching than others. Nevertheless, many frames retain surprisingly strong colour and clear imagery. Please study all photographs carefully as they form an important part of the description.
An unusual surviving archive relating to one of the most notorious productions of Peter Sellers\' career, offered intact with its accompanying 1996 provenance letter.
