Katherine Hepburn negatives - which film?

[jtomasella]

I won 25 negatives of Katherine Hepburn at an auction and I was wondering what film they were shot on. They are 8x10 negatives, here is a picture of the notch and one of the contact prints I made yesterday. I'm guessing it is Ektapan 4162
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[Duolab123]

Looks like Kodak Commercial film. Search for sheet film notch codes, lots of information out there

https://images.app.goo.gl/76xkDEVYzkhLp8mq7

[r.e.]

I won 25 negatives of Katherine Hepburn at an auction and I was wondering what film they were shot on. They are 8x10 negatives, here is a picture of the notch and one of the contact prints I made yesterday. I'm guessing it is Ektapan 4162
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As a matter of curiosity, do you know who the photographer was? What movie(s) the photos were for? Who's the actor with her in the photo that you included?

[jtomasella]

Photographer was Gastavo Paraas. I couldn't find much on him except that he was based in NY. Not sure what movies they were or the other actors. I'll have a video up on YouTube in two weeks if you care to see the rest of the pictures.

[r.e.]

Photographer was Gastavo Paraas. I couldn't find much on him except that he was based in NY. Not sure what movies they were or the other actors. I'll have a video up on YouTube in two weeks if you care to see the rest of the pictures.

Thanks, I'll be on the lookout for the video.

[mike rosenlof]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notch_code#Code_notches_and_ISO_speeds_for_Kodak_sheet_films

I think you'll find it...

[Duolab123]

https://images.app.goo.gl/mMJDdLf4VHdFg2KC8

Charles Boyer 1935 "Break of Hearts"

This image looks like it's from the same photo session, clothes match.

[Duolab123]

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[Tin Can]

Who owns copyright?

[jtomasella]

Who owns copyright?
Not sure but this is the only other info I have. The company was dissolved in the late 90's. Probably because the photographer died and left it to the family.
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[Duolab123]

Not sure but this is the only other info I have. The company was dissolved in the late 90's. Probably because the photographer died and left it to the family.
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Make some nice contact prints and hang it on your wall. Beautiful pictures.

[Pieter]

Who owns copyright?

Most probably the studio that made the film. In those days most photographers worked "for hire" and did not retain the rights to their images. Given the age of the image, it is probably in the public domain by now--not sure how many years it takes. The negatives themselves might even be copy negatives, made by the photographer for his own use. Is there any evidence of retouching (very common for a publicity shot) to the image?

[Duolab123]

The negative that was used to make the print, the image I found online, was probably the one that was chosen for distribution. Does the op have the negative of the image I found. Has to be from the same session, the clothes match. Probably a couple hours of makeup, huge hot lights. That would be amazing.

[Jim C.]

I'm not sure what the contents of the negatives are but they're worth saving, or donating
to some place that will archive them, too much of cinema history is lost because studio's
don't care to preserve their history.

[Duolab123]

I would make some great contact prints. Maybe splurge on some Adox Lupex. Or Fomatone, or Ilford warmtone. That's some real treasure, you have the responsibility of taking care of these amazing artifacts. :)

[jtomasella]

Most probably the studio that made the film. In those days most photographers worked "for hire" and did not retain the rights to their images. Given the age of the image, it is probably in the public domain by now--not sure how many years it takes. The negatives themselves might even be copy negatives, made by the photographer for his own use. Is there any evidence of retouching (very common for a publicity shot) to the image?

I don't see any retouching. Some of the negatives have letters and numbers on the bottom though.

[jtomasella]

The negative that was used to make the print, the image I found online, was probably the one that was chosen for distribution. Does the op have the negative of the image I found. Has to be from the same session, the clothes match. Probably a couple hours of makeup, huge hot lights. That would be amazing.

I do not, but I do have the negative of the picture when you google her name, I believe it is the one wiki uses.

[jtomasella]

I would make some great contact prints. Maybe splurge on some Adox Lupex. Or Fomatone, or Ilford warmtone. That's some real treasure, you have the responsibility of taking care of these amazing artifacts. :)

I plan to get 8x10 negative holders, they are just all piled into a sleeve right now. I guess they didn't splurge on archival back then. I contact printed all the negatives on some Ilford pearl rc.

[Pieter]

I plan to get 8x10 negative holders, they are just all piled into a sleeve right now. I guess they didn't splurge on archival back then. I contact printed all the negatives on some Ilford pearl rc.
Publicity photos were (and still are, really) disposable items, no one really cared about archival issues. There were labs churning them out in great numbers. For years (maybe even still now, I haven't checked) there were shops in Hollywood that would sell 8x10 publicity stills for very little.

[jnantz]

Publicity photos were (and still are, really) disposable items, no one really cared about archival issues. There were labs churning them out in great numbers. For years (maybe even still now, I haven't checked) there were shops in Hollywood that would sell 8x10 publicity stills for very little.

there was a episode on "strange inheritance" regarding children of a woman who worked at a magazine publishing company. the mother kept all the prints &c that were published by the magazine and the show was about their worth &c. the images were made by and of The Who's who from the "picture book" generation, you name them their portrait work or photo-imagery was in the collection .. the appraiser seemed to believe the images were quite valuable ...
I worked for a portrait photographer and made publicity photos all day long. I might have been churning them out, but they were all fixed and washed, it was the "proofs" of all the split and full 5x7 negatives that were barely fixed, and she put a rubber stamp that read "PROOF" across the images. It was a lot harder to retouch words off of an image back then.

[Pieter]

.. the appraiser seemed to believe the images were quite valuable ...
Prints made for publication might have value because they can be historically significant or have been made by or for a well-known photographer. However, they are rarely the best prints since for black and white they need to be printed flatter than ideal as the image gains contrast upon reproduction. Also, retouching can sometimes be crude, since the nuances would not make it to the printed page of the publication. I remember seeing a large print on display at a gallery of Horst's well-known Mainbocher corset photo. There was a lot of spotting of the black background and it was quite apparent from a foot away.

As far as fixing and washing publicity photos, I don't know if that was done to what would be considered archival standards. That takes extra time and effort for what is essentially a disposable print.

[jtomasella]

Prints made for publication might have value because they can be historically significant or have been made by or for a well-known photographer. However, they are rarely the best prints since for black and white they need to be printed flatter than ideal as the image gains contrast upon reproduction. Also, retouching can sometimes be crude, since the nuances would not make it to the printed page of the publication. I remember seeing a large print on display at a gallery of Horst's well-known Mainbocher corset photo. There was a lot of spotting of the black background and it was quite apparent from a foot away.

As far as fixing and washing publicity photos, I don't know if that was done to what would be considered archival standards. That takes extra time and effort for what is essentially a disposable print.

The negatives I have look pretty good and made nice contact prints. A little time spent with them could fix some of the bright spots. It seems they used some bright lights during the shoots. This image as an example
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I have this negative and the contact print is light in the top left which is easily fixed in the darkroom if needed.

[Certain Exposures]

Photographer was Gastavo Paraas. I couldn't find much on him except that he was based in NY. Not sure what movies they were or the other actors. I'll have a video up on YouTube in two weeks if you care to see the rest of the pictures.

What's your channel name? Nice prints.

[BrianShaw]

Not sure but this is the only other info I have. The company was dissolved in the late 90's. Probably because the photographer died and left it to the family.
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I think the company formally lasted until 2000. The CEO/President was Mrs Paraas, but I forgot her first name. Not much seems known about them or their company.

EDIT: HERE... https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ny/152250

[jtomasella]

What's your channel name? Nice prints.

Just my name, John Tomasella. The video of the prints will be out next Saturday

[jtomasella]

The video is now live for those who want to see all the pictures.

[newtorf]

link? thanks! :)


The video is now live for those who want to see all the pictures.

[r.e.]

The film with Hepburn and Charles Boyer, Break of Hearts, is on YouTube. During the war, it was adapted as a radio play, with an introduction by Cecile B. DeMille and starring Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. That version is also on YouTube.

[Duolab123]

The film with Hepburn and Charles Boyer, Break of Hearts, is on YouTube. During the war, it was adapted as a radio play, with an introduction by Cecile B. DeMille and starring Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. That version is also on YouTube.

The Golden Age of cinema, or maybe more to the point, A golden age of cinema. Can you imagine a portrait studio with 20 ft ceilings, massive hot lights on booms, makeup artists 8x10 Super XX. Massive Deardorffs and Caesar Saltzman camera stands. Oh Boy wouldn't that have been something to see!

[jtomasella]

link? thanks! :)

https://youtu.be/Piqu-zsqMj4

[newtorf]

incredibly beautiful! thanks for sharing!


https://youtu.be/Piqu-zsqMj4