Blackpool Convention report 1993 (1)

Barry Littlechild reports on the 17th Blackpool Convention in the March 1994 issue of Film For the Collector magazine.

---

Derek Simmonds’ offer of “the biggest drink you’ve ever seen”, and Maurice Andrews’ whisper of a free lift, finally persuaded me to make the ultimate trip to the film collectors paradise: Blackpool.

The Cliffs Hotel had been mentioned to me for so many years I felt I had shares in the place. This was going to be my first visit and, like most collectors who hadn’t been before, I was getting a bit fed up with the quotes of ‘how wonderful it is….’ after all, I had been to almost all of the other conventions, why should Blackpool be any different? Well, it is, and I have two say nothing else comes anywhere near it, due entirely to the hard work of the Derann staff and its ‘El Supremo’ Derek Simmonds, master of fun, mischief and never quite taking life too seriously.

---

The journey up with Maurice and his lovely wife Silvia on the Friday was, as expected a ‘laugh a minute’ – what, with stories of the time Mr. Simmonds got ‘done’ by the motorway police for having an over-loaded van (full of films!), and the time a nameless collector bid against himself at the film auction, putting up the price (to himself!) by £50 – the nine-hour trip went by very quickly.

Dropping me off at The Cliffs Hotel, Maurice informed me he was staying at a cheaper place around the back! He may have saved a couple of pounds, but for my £25 per night, I got a large double room (all singles had gone) with a colour/satellite TV, on-suite bathroom, and the biggest cooked breakfast I’ve seen in ages.

Saturday morning, up and out for a brisk walk into town…. after half an hour I realised I was walking the wrong way (if only I’d looked behind me, I might have seen something called the Blackpool Tower). Back I went, popping into a local barbers for a trim (if you want to know all there is to know about a town lookup the local barber). Out of the barbers and I meet up with three fellow collectors who were also on their first visit – we soon find a junk shop, and what do you know?, the owner has a list of films and projectors for sale… he said he didn’t know what prices to charge, so we put him right on £20 for a 200ft cut-down! and told him to check out the convention on Sunday.

Blackpool is not how I expected it to be… I think I’ve seen too many George Formby films… didn’t hear ‘Eee Bye Gum’ once… a very friendly town with lots of interesting places to visit and see. Back at The Cliffs, John Huntley of the Huntley Film Archives had arrived. John was also on a first visit (I think the plug on Radio 2’s ‘Cinema Two’ had done wonders). He asked if I could take any films he might buy back to London… “Of course John” (big mistake).

After a short rest , it was into the ‘suit’ for the dinner. In the bar, I just couldn’t believe my eyes… all these collectors who usually carry Sainsbury’s carrier bags and wearing tank-tops, looking smart, presentable, even having the ultimate sacrifice of having a bath! Most of them had brought wives and girlfriends… how on earth do they find partners that are interested in collecting reels of film? We all had place names, not unlike a wedding reception, with the Derann Elite on the top table. Derek then welcomed us all, introduced a Walt Disney Representative, thanked his staff and especially his wife, for all the hard work… and got the meal off to a most entertaining start. The M.C. had us in fits with his competitions and prizes – John Huntley’s table won the main quiz (I wonder why?).

I must say here, that although I was on my own, the family atmosphere makes everyone feel really welcome and at home, anyway after a ‘very merry’ time Derek staggered to his feet and had a question and answer session regarding the hobby – one little fact came out regarding the printing of Super 8 films. Rank Labs apparently will now only print films with a non-wet gate machine, which means we will get clearer pictures but blemishes and odd scratches will be the norm… remember this before thinking of returning a feature with a minor fault. Maggie Allison, the Walt Disney representative, was very knowledgeable indeed, on all aspects of the company – she even managed to put the collector who had ‘one too many’ in his place! Sadly, the answer to “will we ever see ‘Fantasia’ on Super 8?” is no – all the negatives are locked away in Burbank, California… never to be let out. It appears that Derann have kept them (Disney) happy with the royalties they receive, and hopefully we can expect more Disney delights in the future.

After all the chat, Derek managed to find his beloved GS1200 for the film show – he apologised for being a little over the top, drink wise, and hoped the picture would be on the screen! This is why Blackpool is so popular, nothing formal here, you get what you get… and great fun it was… the picture did hit the screen, perfect picture and sound, with fantastic clips from ‘The Jungle Book’, ‘Beauty & The Beast’ and archive material from yesteryear. The highlight being ‘The Black Hole of Calcutta’, rare footage from a 35mm nitrate negative, brought back in all its glory by Ian and Arthur of Perry’s Movies, with technical help from Larry Pearce of LGP. I understand Perry’s will print copies on polyester stock for cash only. Sadly, the festivities ended at 12.20am. but this didn’t stop Maurice Andrews conducting deals with anyone who would listen! I went off to bed holding an aching jaw caused by too much laughter!

Sunday morning… Down for breakfast and the dealers are setting up as we eat. The sense of excitement builds as we see dealer after dealer entering the Hotel with crate upon crate of film memorabilia. 9.45am on the dot, and the crowd is let in to a really spacious area crammed with goodies. C.E.C., Perry’s Movies, Buckingham Movies and Tony Hutchinson are the only tables I recognise form ‘Down South’… I’m, sure there were more, but who’s looking at faces… film, film, and more film is just begging to be bought. John Huntley has got so much he is asking for assistance from Geoff Wheeler!

People were spending as if money was going out of fashion. By lunch time Derek said 649 collectors had actually paid to enter, plus goodness knows how many had sneaked in side doors, but he couldn’t care… never have I seen him so happy. Whilst all of this was happening, John Shearsmith and his ACE magazine, were hosting ‘The Ten Best Amateur’ films in another area… I would have liked to have seen this, but how can you tear yourself away from a convention like this? Maybe a better idea would be to have ‘The Ten Best’ on the Saturday afternoon when things are quieter? Anyway, at 1.30pm the event to witness was about to happen – the legendary Auction!

Derek, Ged, John and two lovely ladies had got this in perfect order, how easy it would be to, just let it happen, with no organisation… a riot would of course broken out. John wheeled in a trolley with more films than I have seen in Derann’s shop! Derek was in his element, the 16mm film was auctioned off first; bargain after bargain going under the hammer at remarkable speed. One had to be quick to purchase!

‘War Of The Worlds’ 16mm colour, on Polyester stock and in excellent condition was snapped up by me, followed by a new Super 8 copy at half the price of the 16mm. ’42nd Street’ was on offer at £20 – a bid of £10 was heard, this went up to £15… Derek asked if the seller would be happy with £15? It turned out to be Maurice Andrews, who said he would have been happy with the £10!!! This is how it went on; jokes, bargains and abuse. Derek stopped every so often to give interesting little chats on past dealers and experiences… did you know Tony Powell of Powell Films was still alive, but in hiding? – or that Peter Burt of Portland Films lives just a few miles outside Blackpool and that a ‘home made’ glamour film intercut with a holiday film was one of his best sellers!

After three hours of the most entertaining ‘showbiz’ auction I have ever witnessed, a ‘knackered’ Derann team took a short well-earned rest. Back in the dealers room I found John Huntley with so much film that three of us had to help him transport it home (he must have financed a world tour for Tony Hutchinson) he was, needless to say, delighted! Sadly, it all had to come to an end, my hotel room was filled with film of all gauges… I even managed to get five 9.5mm sound features at a bargain price of £60.

Geoff Wheeler organised a night out in Blackpool on the evening, complete with dinner and cabaret. We all got very merry, I seem to remember giving Tony Churcher a hard time – sorry Tony, hope we are still talking?

Monday morning; Maurice and Silvia stacked all my goodies in the car and off we went. Getting home in the early evening, I looked back on four days of great fun made possible by many people headed by Derek Simmonds. For anybody who hasn’t been before, don’t worry about being a loner. The hotel staff are very helpful, and fellow collector will always put you right. It’s worth putting a little money away each week, over the year, for this venue, for as we know, film collecting can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it. I found the northern hospitality much more friendlier than expected, and as a collector I found enough rare material, reasonably priced, to last until next November… As Arnie said “I’ll be back” – just try and stop me. The only note was, when I projected my 16mm ‘War of the Worlds’, a good 10 minutes was missing, and it wasn’t polyester – an address in Spain will be hearing from me! Does the 8mm buyer want to sell?…

Maybe next year.

B.L.