RCA On The Move - 16mm Film

[cadman]

This week I’ve been offline, so couldn’t share the usual appliance film over in Imperial. However, I did have a new release scheduled this week that was more appropriate for Super. Fans of RCA’s 1960’s electronics will like this one.

I attempted to salvage what color I could, but this print was down-right magenta to start with.

 

[agiflow]

Thanks Cory for this. I can remember the RCA console TVs we had from the 70s to early 2000s. Would be cool to go back to those today. It was like artwork in your living room.

 

[phillymatt53]

Thank you, that was an excellent video!
I'm an old RCA Victor fan, and adore the the quality put into their vintage products.
My parents had a 1961 RCA Victor 23 inch B/W console that lasted decades.
And now I've got a 1963 console stereo that amazes my houseguests, along with a couple of 45 record players in excellent condition.
That video also makes me sad, because all those people worked, were part of American-Made pride that today is just a memory.

 

[circlew]

That was an interesting film, probably made in 1966 or so, based on the cars, clothing, and hairstyles.
Such a shame it's suffering from the dreaded "Eastmancolor fade", that causes prints to shift to magenta or pink. I guess RCA didn't want to go to the expense of Technicolor or Kodachrome prints. Even by the time I graduated HS in 1974, we would occasionally get 16mm Eastmancolor films into the AV room that had started to take on a pinkish cast. Those from Coronet were particularly bad, but sometimes films from MTPS (Modern Talking Picture Service) - a free loan film library of sponsored films from companies such as Esso, Eli Lilly, and others - would also have this issue. Will have to say we never had any problems with any of the rented theatrical titles we got from Universal 16 or Films, Inc.

 

[qsd-dan]

Great film! The music was superb, very Stan Kenton-ish.

 

[phillymatt53]

That was an interesting film, probably made in 1966 or so, based on the cars, clothing, and hairstyles.

The shots of the stereo console control panel being tapped with a mallet, and the record changers on the assembly line are definitely 1966 models.

That was a turning point in the company when they started to go into "Solid State" transistor design on their major equipment.
And with that, their quality became contaminated by design changes and design flaws.
But... as usual, they had to "follow the leader" and jump on the "Solid State" bandwagon like other manufacturers were doing.
I've had plenty of those sets in the shop through the years to observe this.
For instance, the stereo consoles amplifiers were pushed to their limits, stressing the transistors to gain as much power as possible, and those early germanium transistors didn't like that.
The record changers such as the RP-221 (shown in that video) were designed with an annoying control location placed too close to the tonearm, making speed change a chore to do without hitting the tonearm nearby, and possibly damaging the needle.
During that era, they also dropped the "Victor" part of their name, going to simply "RCA". - and in my opinion started a struggle within the company to stay afloat.

The previous designers, particularly during the 1960-1963 "tube type" time period, were fantastic in their work.
My 1963 RCA Victor console has the last and greatest efforts of the company, and it definitly shows it's colors in performance AND styling.
Even my snotty uppity "audiophile" friends are stunned when they hear it.

 

[goatfarmer]

they ad quite the presence in Indiana, wasn't aware of that.

It's also hard to remember how labor intensive things were then. Great job, Cory!