There are plenty of theaters that specialize in showing classic movies. Shouldn't some of those have a copy of the original OT on film? Who supplies those type of theaters with their classic movies anyway? That might be an even better place to look. If you found a theater that had a copy, maybe they would be willing to rent it out? Maybe whoever supplies them with their movies rents or leases them to the theaters in the first place?

As far as the transfer goes; don't colleges and universities often have film departments that might have the resources to do such a thing, such as a telecine machine? If they have a broadcasting school then I would think they would need to have a telecine machine, since it is the only way to show film content over the air (NTSC broadcast). I'm just throwing random thoughts out here as I don't know much about it but it seems like it would be easier to get the cooperation of students at a college than it would be from an official transfer house; considering the legal issues involved. And, if copies of the original films could be rented or otherwise temporarily obtained it should be a lot cheaper than trying to buy them.