People who make movies really ought, at minimum, browse forums like this, or consult people like myself. I have heard, however, that props people do not treat valuable antiques very well, and even lose them, which is why many collectors will not hire out their pens for this purpose.
Kaputnik (September 2nd, 2018)
An associate of mine has a restored vintage ex-police Mini-Minor. He's been approached numerous times by movie production companies to use his car in period dramas. He knocks them back every time because he knows their track record through other restorers who have made the mistake of lending out their cars.
I was surprised to see on the news that the local governor signed a law with a bunch of Pilot Varsity pens:
PilotVarsities.jpg
catbert (September 5th, 2018), Dragonmaster Lou (September 4th, 2018), gclv_pen$ (January 2nd, 2024), Kaputnik (September 4th, 2018)
That is interesting...the governor of Puerto Rico???
0.5mm vs 0.7mm graphite sizes is much like 9mm vs 45acp...they both work if you know what you are doing. - me
Looking for Caran d'Ache Type 55 2mm set and Rotation .7 pencils.
Very interesting. Since, in such cases, the signer typically hands the pens to people in the room as souvenirs, I wonder if they felt disappointed that the pens weren't something a little more upscale. No worries about the cost to the taxpayer if he was willing to buy them out of his own funds.
On the other hand, Varsities do write remarkably well, and are very reliable. No embarrassment with buying a bunch of ****** luxury pens and finding that a couple of them won't write.
"If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
G.K. Chesterton
azkid (September 4th, 2018), Dragonmaster Lou (September 4th, 2018)
In the second of the two-episode series on Mark Twain, the narration talked about written correspondence among members of the Clemens family in 1885, and on screen there was a BCHR slipcap Conklin crescent-filler placed on a letter. Not anywhere near as sloppy as the Sheaffer inlaid nib (above), but still about 20 years premature.
Picky. Picky. Picky.
Best I could do with my phone's camera and the TV screen. Kept playing the show forwards and backwards trying to get the best shot until my wife and son were ready to throttle me. This is from Season 3 of "Jeeves and Wooster," an episode called "Hot Off the Press." No idea what the pen is. Wish I could have gotten a better look.
Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur. — Horace
(What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke’s on you.)
[QUOTE=calamus;247911]Best I could do with my phone's camera and the TV screen. Kept playing the show forwards and backwards trying to get the best shot until my wife and son were ready to throttle me. This is from Season 3 of "Jeeves and Wooster," an episode called "Hot Off the Press." No idea what the pen is. Wish I could have gotten a better look.
<snip>
It looks like a modern Pelikan.
ethernautrix (December 15th, 2020), FredRydr (September 7th, 2018)
A lot of people here are fairly quick to notice a fountain pen that is grossly wrong for the era, such as an early 1900s Conklin in 1885 as mentioned above.
But how many of us would spot an anomalous dip pen? Think of this as either the nib, the holder, or both. I would probably be fairly easy to fool, unless the camera lingered long enough on the nib for me to identify it positively as a modern brand. With the holders, I really have only the vaguest notions of what was available when.
"If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
G.K. Chesterton
There's one (Pelikan) on Sir Michael Caine's desk in Last Love, in which Mr. Caine plays an American widower living in Paris.
It's there as he seals envelopes enclosing handwritten letters.
Last edited by BlkWhiteFilmPix; September 7th, 2018 at 09:47 AM.
Bob
Making the world a more peaceful place, one fine art print and one handwritten letter at a time.
“If ‘To hold a pen is to be at war’ as Voltaire said, Montblanc suggests you show up in full dress uniform, ready to go down like an officer and a gentleman among the Bic-wielding hordes.” - Chris Wright
Paper cuts through the noise – Richard Moross, MOO CEO
Indiana Jones used a notebook in the map room, not an app.
www.bobsoltys.net/fountainpens
Scrawler (September 8th, 2018)
Last edited by calamus; September 8th, 2018 at 04:53 PM.
Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur. — Horace
(What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke’s on you.)
carlos.q (September 8th, 2018)
Montblanc 149 in Jack Ryan's pocket when FBI Special Agent Dan Murray stops by Ryan's office in Clear and Present Danger
Bob
Making the world a more peaceful place, one fine art print and one handwritten letter at a time.
“If ‘To hold a pen is to be at war’ as Voltaire said, Montblanc suggests you show up in full dress uniform, ready to go down like an officer and a gentleman among the Bic-wielding hordes.” - Chris Wright
Paper cuts through the noise – Richard Moross, MOO CEO
Indiana Jones used a notebook in the map room, not an app.
www.bobsoltys.net/fountainpens
Looks like a Jinhao X450 on Last Week Tonight.
LastWeekJinhao.jpg
Video here: https://youtu.be/NpPyLcQ2vdI?t=545
Pixels (2015): As alien invaders disguised as 1980's video game characters attack the Earth, a Waterman Phileas sits on President Cooper's desk.
Phileas.jpg
gclv_pen$ (January 2nd, 2024)
A Sheaffer Snorkel is mentioned but not seen during a recitation of possessions in Truffaut’s Tirez sur le pianiste/Shoot the Piano Player (1960).
tirezsnork1.png
tirezsnork2.png
The entire exchange:
Fido (kid): What's that?
Ernest (driver): A musical lighter.
F: That's great.
Momo (other guy): Show him your watch.
E: Look. And I've got a gadget that rings when the parking meter is up. (pauses)
F: Is that it?
E: A new Snorkel-brand pen from America with automatic refill and retractable nib. A fiber belt from Oceania. A hat for the tropics. My suit's from London, made of Australian wool. I have vented shoes of Egyptian leather. I've got so much stuff I could puke.
tirezsnork3.png
tirezsnork4.png
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