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by 
vp19 on 2012.11.14 at 07:41
Current mood: 
weird
For sheer over-the-topness, no Carole Lombard movie can compete with “White Woman,” the late 1933 potboiler she made for Paramount. Top-billed Charles Laughton threw all caution to the wind in his hammy portrayal of a rubber plantation owner in Malaya, and neither Lombard (playing a lounge singer on the lam) nor the rest of the cast makes any attempt to rein him in. Someone has referred to it as “a very strange movie.”
And this someone should know, because he or she is selling it…not as a DVD, videocassette or even laser disc (as far as I know, it has never received any sort of authorized home video release), but as a 16mm print.
That’s a shot of the opening credits in this print, not long after you see this unfamiliar logo:
United World Films, Inc. was a Universal subsidiary created in 1946 to serve the budding home film market. In early 1947, it bought Castle Films, the biggest firm in that industry, and released plenty of titles in both 8mm and 16mm formats before home video rendered that irrelevant in the early ’80s. “White Woman” and many other pre-1948 Paramount titles were bought by MCA in 1957, which five years later purchased Universal.
The seller believes this print was intended for TV stations to use (though he or she apparently doesn’t know whether any of the pre-Code footage was cut from the original theatrical print), adding it’s in excellent condition. Here are four shots taken directly from the print as proof:
This is safety stock (as far as is known, no 16mm American film was issued on nitrate), and if you’re among those who collect film, this might be an intriguing add to your holdings. It won’t come cheaply, mind you; bidding begins at $299.99, with bids closing at 6:21 p.m. (Eastern) next Tuesday. You can find out more by visiting http://www.ebay.com/itm/White-Woman-Rare-16MM-Feature-Film-1933-Carole-Lombard-/130802874320?pt=US_Film&hash=item1e747577d0.
