Why is there no fight footage of Harry Greb?

[chrisJS]

No legit answer been given yet ?, the majority of his fights (of which we know were definitely recorded) were recorded on a type of film which degrades rapidly over time (cannot think of the name off the top of my head, been awhile since this was brought up), his bout with Tiger Flowers was 100% recorded but it's not salvagable because it's too damaged. Same with Tiger Flowers himself though, there was a documentary on Flowers' life and a number of his bouts which were all recorded but we'll never get to see any of it because of irrepairable damage, film back then wasn't as it is today, to put it lightly.

If Greb was 5 years later or earlier chances are we'd have some kind of professional footage from his bouts, but as it is, it's a huge inconvience that he was in that timeframe, one of the many unfortunate coincidences in life I guess.

I still have a feeling that something will turn up eventually though, maybe his bout with Flowers did survive and we'll be able to see the 2 forgotten masters going at it, both at their best, maybe we'll get to see scraps of him mauling Gene Tunney in the 14th round of one of their fights, I refuse to believe every frame of him has been removed from our viewing one way or another.

Something will come through eventually.

To be honest I think if anyone ever finds Greb it will be one of those folks that doesn’t share with anyone.

[SaturdaysRadio]

There's some good information and speculation about the fate of Greb films on other classic boxing forums by people far more knowledgable than me.

One poster here speculated that Greb films were "recorded over". Film cannot be recorded over. 8mm, and Super 8, was developed in the early thirties. Greb's fights would've likely been captured on 35mm, or maybe 16mm film (from what I can surmise via a wikipedia article on film stocks).

I suspect that if a Greb film ever turns up it will have been found uncatalogued in a university library somewhere, or more likely in some non-boxing fan's "junk" that had been passed on to him/her by a deceased relative. At this point, if a Greb film is out there, it belongs to someone who doesn't have a clue what they possess. If they've screened it at all they'd likely have looked at it as some insignificant old time boxing match.

[QueensburyRules]

- -Oh, let us not forget "they" managed to lose all the first moon landing footage from 1969.

Luckily "they" ain't in charge of everything...yet!!!

There's some good information and speculation about the fate of Greb films on other classic boxing forums by people far more knowledgable than me.

One poster here speculated that Greb films were "recorded over". Film cannot be recorded over. 8mm, and Super 8, was developed in the early thirties. Greb's fights would've likely been captured on 35mm, or maybe 16mm film (from what I can surmise via a wikipedia article on film stocks).

I suspect that if a Greb film ever turns up it will have been found uncatalogued in a university library somewhere, or more likely in some non-boxing fan's "junk" that had been passed on to him/her by a deceased relative. At this point, if a Greb film is out there, it belongs to someone who doesn't have a clue what they possess. If they've screened it at all they'd likely have looked at it as some insignificant old time boxing match.

- -What would be the impetus for destroying the film then?

I mentioned the 69 moon landing as lost, but also the controversial first Cooper/Clay bout that could solve the extra time of recovery mystery . All existent video is copies of spliced video.

[smeck]

T

One poster here speculated that Greb films were "recorded over". Film cannot be recorded over. 8mm, and Super 8, was developed in the early thirties. Greb's fights would've likely been captured on 35mm, or maybe 16mm film (from what I can surmise via a wikipedia article on film stocks).

I suspect that if a Greb film ever turns up it will have been found uncatalogued in a university library somewhere, or more likely in some non-boxing fan's "junk" that had been passed on to him/her by a deceased relative.

Yep, when you consider "lost" films like Lon Chaney's "London After Midnight" and Laurel & Hardy's "Bohemian Girl," it's not surprising that boxing footage might be lost. For a while nobody thought mere "entertainment" was worth preserving. That's why the first years of Carson's "Tonight Show" were recorded over. The box set on "Have Gun Will Travel" is made up of both 35mm and 16mm prints. Tons of live broadcasts on radio in the 30's and 40's and TV in the 50's and 60s were simply never archived.

The notorious nitrate film stock was flammable. Other types of film could disintegrate if not properly stored. It's very frustrating. Rare footage is rotting in vaults. There are idiots who are in charge of storage facilities who don't even check what's in stacks of unmarked metal cans, and won't let anyone else do it.

And yes, there are private collectors who are hoarders and LOVE that they have something nobody else has.

The good news is that every now and then something does turn up, from Edison's original one-reel version of "Frankenstein" to kinescopes (16mm film recording from the TV screen) of live 50's broadcasts. There could be a few junior Jimmy Jacobs guys out there who might pass on and their collections suddenly turn up on eBay or get discovered in a trash can and salvaged.

[QueensburyRules]

Yep, when you consider "lost" films like Lon Chaney's "London After Midnight" and Laurel & Hardy's "Bohemian Girl," it's not surprising that boxing footage might be lost. For a while nobody thought mere "entertainment" was worth preserving. That's why the first years of Carson's "Tonight Show" were recorded over. The box set on "Have Gun Will Travel" is made up of both 35mm and 16mm prints. Tons of live broadcasts on radio in the 30's and 40's and TV in the 50's and 60s were simply never archived.

The notorious nitrate film stock was flammable. Other types of film could disintegrate if not properly stored. It's very frustrating. Rare footage is rotting in vaults. There are idiots who are in charge of storage facilities who don't even check what's in stacks of unmarked metal cans, and won't let anyone else do it.

And yes, there are private collectors who are hoarders and LOVE that they have something nobody else has.

The good news is that every now and then something does turn up, from Edison's original one-reel version of "Frankenstein" to kinescopes (16mm film recording from the TV screen) of live 50's broadcasts. There could be a few junior Jimmy Jacobs guys out there who might pass on and their collections suddenly turn up on eBay or get discovered in a trash can and salvaged.

- -You think Edison's 1 Minute attempt of the first full length aborted feature film in 1896 Langtry, Texas exists?

Bob Fitzsimmons knocked out Peter Maher inside that minute, so they moved upstream to Juarez, Mexico to film bullfights.

I've never seen footage of either. In 1897 Reno, Nevada they filmed Fitz pole axing Corbett, but only snippets of that exist. That was the first ever international blockbuster years before they could get around to filming in what is now known as the movie format.

During that interim most all Jim Jeffries footage has been lost. Jeffries earned a fortune for filmmakers.

[ShoulderRoll]

No legit answer been given yet ?, the majority of his fights (of which we know were definitely recorded) were recorded on a type of film which degrades rapidly over time (cannot think of the name off the top of my head, been awhile since this was brought up), his bout with Tiger Flowers was 100% recorded but it's not salvagable because it's too damaged. Same with Tiger Flowers himself though, there was a documentary on Flowers' life and a number of his bouts which were all recorded but we'll never get to see any of it because of irrepairable damage, film back then wasn't as it is today, to put it lightly.

If Greb was 5 years later or earlier chances are we'd have some kind of professional footage from his bouts, but as it is, it's a huge inconvience that he was in that timeframe, one of the many unfortunate coincidences in life I guess.

I still have a feeling that something will turn up eventually though, maybe his bout with Flowers did survive and we'll be able to see the 2 forgotten masters going at it, both at their best, maybe we'll get to see scraps of him mauling Gene Tunney in the 14th round of one of their fights, I refuse to believe every frame of him has been removed from our viewing one way or another.

Something will come through eventually.

I hope something does come through eventually. I want to see him in action if at all possible.

The more time passes the less and less chance of finding anything salvageable, though.

[BKM-]

Another source said one filmed was supposedly sent threw mail to Jim Jacobs but got lost and never arrived.

Jacobs said that in a Tyson docu.

He should have bought a plane ticket and went to the collector in person to receive the film.

[OctoberRed]

Some of his fights were filmed his Fight with Flowers and Walker fight it was said a private collocter had films of his walker fight and films of him sparring but they were supposlfu burned in a fire.

Another source said one filmed was supposedly sent threw mail to Jim Jacobs but got lost and never arrived.

Tbh Grebs fights were from 1930s which most likely have deteriorated since then but for years the same thing was said about Sam Langford and his films were eventually found hopefully someday someone finds atleast on fight of Greb.

If only they had reliable overnight shipping then.

[klompton]

Lots of bull**** flying around in this post.

[ShoulderRoll]

Lots of bull**** flying around in this post.

Clear it up, please.