It arrived!
The container was just like the picture. It felt heavy in my hand. The moment of truth... I lifted the lid and there it was. Looking all right. No damage what so ever.
5" of 8mm which would be something like 15 minutes of material. Not just some images from years long gone. No, color footage of either game 3, 4 or 5 of the 1955 World Series at Ebbet's Field. I closed the container and decided to wait till the next day to find out more.
That night I dreamt about the film. About the content being 1 minute of World Series footage and the rest being family trip images. I woke up early and prepped my projector. I wasn't off the mark, I'm afraid...
Not what I was hoping for
Let's get the negative out of the way first. I hate to dwell on that. Of the 15 minutes of shots, 6 minutes are from Ebbets Field. Which is a shame for an item advertised as '8mm film of the 1955 World Series'. The footage clearly is from Yankee fans who were hoping to clinch in Brooklyn, took their camera along with them. Why I think they are Yankee fans? Because the only film Yankee players. With that being said, let's move on and see what those 6 minutes brings us.
1955 World Series, game...?
The film starts with shots of Yankee players warming up at good old Ebbets Field. It felt weird, seeing Ebbets in color. Sure, I'd seen it before on youtube, but never from a World Series day, as far as I know. The 1955 World Series was the first World Series televised in color. Of the official broadcast only sections of game 5 exist. So color images of that Series are mostly those of fans bringing in their camera’s. Loads of them would have used black and white film, come to think of it.
So, there is smooching with some Yankees and a good view of Ebbets Field. I never knew the ushers wore red coats and a red cap. So there is that! The score board with the Schaefer sign and game start. Dodger players running onto the field from the dugout and then the big question. Which World Series game is this? Game 3, 4 or 5?
Welcome to game...
The starting pitchers for game 3 was Johnny Podres, for game 4 Carl Erskine and for game 5 Roger Craig. There is no time or date stamp on these kinds of 8mm films, and recognizing players in this particular film is not possible. Sure, when I see a catcher, I know it's Campanella, but who is on the mound? So, this first piece of film is followed by another (after an interlude of 'funny' takes with some cops). So, I thought the makers of the film had gone to two games, either game 3 and 4 or 4 and 5. The pitcher has a very high kick so my first guess was Erskine in game 4. Since Podres was a lefty it has to be Erskine.
More Yankee smooching
The second part brings us more smooching. We see some Yankees players up close. Not shabby ones at that. You'll see, among others, Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Irv Noren and Mickey Mantle. There is some more batting practice and another view of Ebbets Field.
So, there you go, roughly 6 minutes of color images of the 1955 World Series. I had hoped for more but it's still a cool artifact to have.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten