Grahame N's Web Pages
FOX
PHOTOS
9.5MM FILM CATALOGUE
The then newish amateur cine magazine, ambitiously named Home Movies & Home Talkies. proudly announced in it's September 1933 editorial pages "A Real Newsreel At Last". The text explained that by the joint enterprise of Home Movies & Home Talkies magazine and a well known press photographic agency - Fox Photos, a monthly film newsreel would be made available on 16mm (silent). Fox Photos of 6 Tudor Street, Fleet Street, London EC4 had a full page advertisement for these monthly newsreel films. Priced at £2.10sh each (£2.50 in today's money) they were about 200 foot (60 metres) long and ran for 8 minutes (obviously filmed at 16 frames/second). . A year's subscription in advance was offered for £25, which represented a £5 discount and came with a free magazine film release.
Within a few months, the November 1933 edition of Home Movies & Home Talkies magazine carried a full page advert announcing that this series, ("The Hit of the Evening") was now available on 9.5mm as well as 16mm, at the same prices. The first 9.5mm newsreel film issue was for September 1933. These 9.5mm films were actually released, I do have one example in my collection. It is evident from the perforation pitch that the films are genuine 9.5mm prints, maybe produced by Pathescope for Fox Photos.
The contents of each release was topical news, filmed by Fox Photos cameramen, on 16mm, but not really up to the standard of the Pathe Gazette or Gaumont British cinema newsreels of the time. Even so, a brave effort for the amateur showman. In December 1933 a range of magazine type films was announced, three 400ft releases and three 200ft releases on 9.5mm and 16mm. The 200ft 9.5mm newsreel and magazine prints were reduced to £1.13sh.6d from £2.10sh; whilst the annual 9.5mm newsreel subsription was reduced to £20 (from £25) with a free 100ft film.
The first nail in the coffin for Fox Photos Film-at-Home News was in April 1934 when Pathéscope announced that the cinema Pathe Gazette newsreel was to be issued (edited I suppose) each month on 9.5mm as The Pathescope Gazette. Now these were 300ft in length and only cost £1.12sh.6d; a shilling less than the shorter 200ft Fox Photos effort. By then our friends at Pathéscope were also taking whole page adverts for the latest 9.5mm offerings, whilst Fox Photos had dropped back to a quarter page, now just advertising the 16mm magazine type film releases. Only an occassional mention of the Film-At-Home newsreel now appeared in the editorial content of the later issues of the Home Movies & Home Talkies magazine. In fact I think that the last Fox Photos advertisement was at the end of 1934, when I assume these film releases were quietly abandoned.
Fox Photos Ltd was owned by George Freston, who died in 2006. The company's still photo image library had, some years before, been passed to the Hulton Archive which is now part of Getty Images.
Copies of these interesting releases on our 9.5mm film gauge must be out there somewhere, keep a look out on dealers' lists and film fairs. Happy hunting!
Below are listed the releases I have discovered listed in contempory advertisements. Hopefully other collectors can maybe add more information ..... Contact me, Grahame Newnham at presto @ pathefilm.freeserve.co.uk (no gaps in real address)
©GLN '96 INTERNATIONAL 9.5 FILM CATALOGUE - ALPHABETIC ORDER LISTING 28/04/2007
------------------------------------------------------------------
9.5mm Number 9.5mm Film Title Class. Issue-Delete Original Film Title Date
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS SEPTEMBER 1933 B/W Silent Nov33- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/09/33 GB
Duke of York at Boys' camp; Trials of new giant engine - Royal Scot;
Opening of Firework season etc.
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS OCTOBER 1933 B/W Silent Nov33- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/10/33 GB
Irish T.T,; Parachute descent from aeroplane; Braemar gathering etc.
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS NOVEMBER 1933 B/W Silent Nov33- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/11/33 GB
Fleet manoeuvres, air-craft carrier "Furious"; Great Fire at Dudley,
burning WW1 huts; sailing of "Discovery" for Antartic etc.
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS DECEMBER 1933 B/W Silent Dec33- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/12/33 GB
Gordon Richards champion jockey winning races 245-247 at Liverpool,
breaking existing record; SS Mauretania at Southampton; State Opening
of Parliament - Nov 21st; Prince of Wales at Bedford School; Winglass
Autogiro at Hanworth; Miss Britain 111 at Southampton; Santa at Harrods.
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS JANUARY 1934 B/W Silent Jan34- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/01/34 GB
Rickmansworth professional ice skating championship; High Wycombe water
rationing; "Fairly Hard" - Linsdale, Bucks; Whaddon Chase Hunt; Peak
district rock-climbing; Circus at Olympia.
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS FEBRUARY 1934 B/W Silent Feb34- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/02/34 GB
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS MARCH 1934 B/W Silent Mar34- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/03/34 GB
Shrove Tuesday celebrations; New air-liner & The Flying Scotsman;
Open air "David Copperfield"; Oxford lacrosse match; Whipsnade Zoo etc.
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS APRIL 1934 B/W Silent Apr34- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/04/34 GB
The Boat Race; The Grand National etc.
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS MAY 1934 B/W Silent May34- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/05/34 GB
Maurice Tate, famous cricketer; Royal Naval & Miltary Tournament;
Westminster Bridge race whilst Big Ben strikes twelve; Hungerford Hop-pole;
Great Moslem festival at Delhi etc.
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS JUNE 1934 B/W Silent Jun34- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/06/34 GB
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS JULY 1934 B/W Silent Jul34- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/07/34 GB
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS AUGUST 1934 B/W Silent Aug34- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/08/34 GB
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS SEPTEMBER 1934 B/W Silent Sep34- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/09/34 GB
1 M(FP) FILM-AT-HOME NEWS OCTOBER 1934 B/W Silent Oct34- :FILM-AT-HOME NEWS ??/10/34 GB
Braemar Games; launching of the "534" ("Queen Mary") etc.
these monthly newreels continue maybe till the end of 1934?
1SB(FP) FLYING SCOTSMAN (THE) B/W silent Dec33 :FLYING SCOTSMAN (THE) ??/12/33 GB
1 M(FP) MAGAZINE REEL NO.1 B/W Silent Dec33 :MAGAZINE REEL NO.3 ??/12/33 GB
1 M(FP) MAGAZINE REEL NO.2 B/W Silent Dec33 :MAGAZINE REEL NO.3 ??/12/33 GB
1 M(FP) MAGAZINE REEL NO.3 B/W Silent Dec33 :MAGAZINE REEL NO.3 ??/12/33 GB
1SB(FP) OUR NAVAL AIR ARM B/W Silent Dec33 :OUR NAVAL AIR ARM ??/12/33 GB
1SB(FP) OUT WITH THE NORTH SEA HERRING FLEET B/W Sil. Dec33 :OUT WITH THE NORTH SEA HERRING FLEET GB
(20+ entries )
Return to: 9.5 FILM CATALOGUE MENU ................ 9.5 MAIN MENU .................... MAIN MENU
Last updated: 08 July 2007
....................... 95flmcatfox.htm ........................
©MM7 G.L. Newnham
04July2007 - Extra info & issues 4 & 5 details added -
many thanks to Nick Gladden, N.W. Film Archive.