I got a print of Idle Hands (from Technicolor) when the film first opened. The film was brand new and had not been ran before. I started inspecting it. Reel one, two, three, whoops! Reel four was stuck together as if someone had let it soak in a bath of super glue! I couldn't even peel the paper reel band off.

So I look at reel 5...same thing. Reel 6? You bet, stuck together almost melted.

Needless I called Technicolor and informed them about the second half of the print. They of course couldn't get another print out to me in time (WHY WON'T THESE PEOPLE SHIP ON WEDNESDAY TO CORRECT FOR THESE SCREWUPS BEFORE THE FILM OPENS!!!!!). Anyway, so basically everything in the second can of film was ruined. They agreed to ship me out replacement reels 4-6 which would conveniently arrive opening afternoon after our first advertised shows.

That next afternoon comes and there are the reels. They look fine, are loaded and ran.

We played the film for a whopping two weeks.

Breakdown time. Time to set up the table and get the film back into the cans. I start with reel 6 and when I reached the splice I find I cannot reattach the head leader back onto the reel. Why? Simple. I HAD STORED THE LEADERS IN THAT PARTICULAR EVIL CAN! What the hell? All the leaders for those replacement reels are ruined and won't unwind!

So again I call the fine folks at Technicolor and explain what is going on. They agree to send me out an empty film can, as I explained to them the film will be dead by the time it gets back to them. Days go by, I call again. "We'll get that can right out to you." A couple of weeks go by. "Well, we decided to just have you wrap the reels in plastic trash liners and ship it back with the original cans." (Of course I got my assurance that they would be fully responsible for the print once it left my theater.) Anyway, since I always wrap the reels in tiny trash liners, the film was ready to ship. I placed the 3 reels of film into the can of death and sent it away. Funny how I had to nag them to pick this thing back up!

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Aside from all of the other bone-headed stories, I think Technicolor has the most instances of FOGGED film out of anybody.

Maybe 1/2 dozen times a year. You'll come to a lab splice and the film will go BLACK for about 10 ft. on the average, then you get all sorts of pretty colors (Yellow & blues) for about the next 20-30 ft. Somebody in the lab GOOFED and exposed the film to the light, I guess!

You often get trahed film too... where the reel gets dished out and then some guy just pounds it back down and slaps the reel on it.
The edges of the film are all crumpled and torn! You're lucky if it runs without fouling in the proj.! Usually it's toward the center (core) of the reel.

As was mentioned, it takes 3 days to get the replacement, leaving you to either run the film as is or PRAY! ...And the customers always complain, "It was right in the middle of the BEST SCENE!!!"

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The last theater I worked at we ran the new version of 101 Dalmatians. The theater down the road got 3 prints to run a Saturday morning Disney store sneak preview. They were to open it on 2 screens. Thankfully, this horrible theater decided to only build 2 prints and interlock one of them! Anyway, when they gave me the two cans of film, I had the first half with one print number and the second half with the other print number. I called Technicolor that instant and again when the film shipped out, and they ASSURED me both times there wouldn't be a problem. Need I say more? We had to fight that one pretty good until FINALLY someone in their depot found the screwup! ...and of course, no apologies.

As to their policy of making Airborne ship prints across the street, what most theaters do is ship the empty cans with leaders through Airborne and handle the film themselves. (I think someone at Technicolor must be getting a little something under the table with every shipment...or has a whole lotta stock in Airborne.)

And while we're on the subject of the fine service provided by TES, guess how they inspect their films? They teach their kids (yes they employ kids...I had a friend who worked there briefly) to just unwind the first 20 feet or so of the film ONTO THE FLOOR and check the "identification frame" to see if it matched the first frame on the reel. I didn't know this, but apparently if those two frames match, then the print is perfect and has no missing footage within the reel or damage. Oh yes, and masking tape splices are fine. Wow, all this newfound knowledge.