Connecting the Dots

The following episodes are among the missing, within the realm of the show’s fan collectors, and are eagerly hoped to find:

No one is as yet known to own any of these episodes. It would be wonderful to find them, but as time progresses, the chances of finding episodes of a show that ran 60 years ago are getting slimmer.

Often the collectors of 16mm film originals of old TV series pass away, and their heirs think, "Who would want these old films? Who can even watch them?" And toss them in the garbage, so they are lost forever.

And though many have asked, the studios themselves have not stored these half-century old programs, and do not have them. It is a simple matter of not having space and thinking there is no market for such programs. They are in the hands of collectors only.

There was a time when there was a monthly publication in newspaper format, called The Big Reel, which was essentially a periodical for buying and selling films of all kinds. One could place ads for films for sale, and ads for ‘wanted to buy’. This publication was a godsend to those who actually wanted 16mm films and even movies on 35 and 70 mm. The publication is defunct, and thus, film collectors, and their collections, have faded into obscurity.

It was through The Big Reel my husband found our first Adventures in Paradise episode, The Archer’s Ring, and the night it arrived as a surprise to me, he rented a 16mm projector from a local camera store to be able to show it. We own 6 episodes of the show on film. We now also own our own 16mm projector.