How do I recover iMovie files corrupted by running out of disk space?

I've been using iMovie HD 6.0.3 to create recordings using a webcam from time to time. Usually I just leave the camera on during presentations. On two different occasions I ran out of hard disk space, and have been unable to playback the videos I've recorded. One is very important and I'd like to save it if at all possible. The video data is definitely on the hard drive (I have a 9 gig file), however, attempts to play it using Quicktime Pro or iMovie fail. iMovie acts as if the movie contains no data even though over 2 hours were recorded. (Quicktime Pro responds with a Mac OS Error -1409)
Apparently if iMovie runs out of disk space during a recording, it is unable to save or later recover the file properly. While it seems to store the video data, perhaps the file is missing some sort of critical markers or pointers.
Does anyone know of a way to recover the video from this file? Perhaps there is a tool to somehow pull the video stream out of the corrupted file that was saved by iMovie?
Please let me know if you have any ideas! It is very important that I recover these files. Thanks!

Hi QuakingBog - What happened when you discovered this situation?
1. There was an error displayed on the screen saying it was almost out of disk space.
Did iMovie remain open, with the file showing in the Clips Pane or Timeline?
2. The clip I was recording went from showing the image which was on the camera and elapsed time (which had been over 2 hours just before then) to showing just black and showing a total record time of 0:00 as soon as it ran out of disk space. Even though lots of data was recorded, it went back to looking as if nothing was recorded.
I would be surprised if iMovie 'saved' it of its own accord (it has no auto-save feature). Did you hit Save? If there is a 9 GB file, then obviously somehow something was saved.
3. Yes, I hit save. I also hit "Save As" after this and saved it to an external hard disk with more free space as well. I can't get anything to play from either place.
Have you checked within the project 'package' to see if there are any files actually saved? To check, Control-Click on the project (with the star on it), and select Show Package Contents. Anything in the Media folder? Look for a .mov file in one of the folders - does it play?
4. Yes, there are files in there. There is a Clip 01.mov that is 9.29 gb, but it won't open or play.
In cache there are...
Timeline Movie.mov 8KB
Thumbnails.plist 4K
Timeline Movie Data.plist 4K
In media there is also...
My Great Movie~ 4K
My Great Movie 4K
Any further suggestions would be very appreciated based upon this additional information. Thanks for helping!

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