I think you all should be realistic about how great this 16mm transfer could be. Let's remember that the GOUT is the result of a very high end scan of a 35mm print. Yeah, I know it also got a bit mangled along the way, and it's not anamorphic. But can we really expect to give a 16mm print to the local shop (or even to me) and have it come back better than the GOUT? Like I said, it is likely to be VERY interesting for research, is likely to have some pleasing qualities, an intriguing soundtrack, and who knows what cool little surprises here and there... heck if it has the original crawl, who knows what else it has? But it also is likely to have some noticeable film grain, color fading issues, problems on the borders, scratches, inferior sound, uneven lighting, poor blacks and whites, and who knows what other imperfections.

The whole reason I do my own 16mm/8mm transfers is because after years of hiring a variety of shops do them for me, I finally decided if you want something done decently you have to do it yourself. Now I see all the flaws in my own work, and worse when I see the horrors other people get back from the "local pro". So all I have to say is, although I know I can produce something very cool out of a decent 16mm print, don't expect the holy grail no matter who does the transfer - unless someone here has access to a real meticulous Hollywood top-end film scan (which I highly doubt). For one thing it would cost considerably more than the print itself, if you could even get such a shop to do it.

That said, I hope someone from this forum wins. It would be a REALLY fun project.