Fountain Pens in Movies and TV

[catbert]

The brief pre-credit scene in the first episode of Magpie Murders could almost have been designed for this thread.

A mystery writer uncaps and fills a fountain pen (a Sheaffer 100?),
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uses it to write a first draft
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and correct a printout.
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Plenty of incidental glimpses with atmospheric lighting
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and writing shots with glistening ink.
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Even the white dot on the clip is featured.
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At the end of the scene, the pen (foreshadowing) meets a violent end. A breakaway stunt pen and CGI ink splatter, I think.
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[carlos.q]

No wonder the writer uses a Sheaffer 100. Using (and breaking) a Pelikan or Montblanc after finishing each story would be very expensive!!!

[catbert]

No wonder the writer uses a Sheaffer 100. Using (and breaking) a Pelikan or Montblanc after finishing each story would be very expensive!!!

Coincidentally, the second episode refers to the writer's taste for expensive pens.

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[catbert]

In the Magpie Murders title sequence, a nib morphs into a sword (more foreshadowing).

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Anthony Horowitz, who wrote the screenplay and the novel on which the series is based, has a similar writing process to the writer in the story:

I have a desktop computer and a laptop but I always write the first draft with a fountain pen. I like the feel of the nib on paper, the flow of ink, the sense of being part of a tradition that stretches back to my heroes: Charles Dickens, George Orwell.

I have about 10 different pens and choose the one that most suits the character I’m writing about. My favourite is a silver Caran d’Ache which writes incredibly smoothly. I also use Europa notepads. They come in different colours which again suit my mood and the quality is excellent. My only other fad is a very expensive, ergonomic chair. But then I spend a lot of time sitting in it.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...thony-horowitz

He recently dropped his habit of buying a new fountain pen for each new project: “I liked a pen that personified each book. But I’ve got too many now.”

https://www.thebookseller.com/author...-adult-writing

[FredRydr]

Operation Finale, where in 1960, Adolf Eichman is presented with this pen to sign a consent to being taken out of Argentina to stand trial in Israel. Based on the pen's section, I'd guess it was made around 1930. It has the appearance of a genuine gold pen. Can anyone identify it? Might it be a Conway Stewart lever-filler? (It reminds me of the solid gold Kaweco eyedropper I once had because it came to me by way of Argentina.)

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[catbert]

In Blue Mountains, ink bottles on a manager’s desk suggest the presence of a fountain pen somewhere. (Unless, given how busy he is, the bottles contain aspirin or antacid.)

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Years ago, I enjoyed an arthouse screening of this movie and searched in vain for a copy. Then, last month, the Guardian reviewed a re-release and I found it on YouTube.

Blue Mountains review – brilliant Georgian shaggy-dog satire on the Soviet mindset (Guardian)

[carlos.q]

From the 2016 crime thriller "The Take": a scene in which the French interior minister has a Graf von Faber-Castell on his desk.

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A question to ponder: If you had an office with a view of the Eiffel Tower... why would you have an Eiffel Tower souvenir as decoration?

[catbert]

...

A question to ponder: If you had an office with a view of the Eiffel Tower... why would you have an Eiffel Tower souvenir as decoration?

In order to do something like this?



Michael Hughes's souvenir optical illusions
Photographs of souvenirs blended seamlessly over famous landmarks.

(I think the pyramid one is better — and it's a pen stand.)

[catbert]

A glimpse of a Pilot Falcon towards the end of the trailer for The Colour of Ink.

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[kazoolaw]

Marlowe with James Garner in the title role. Movie has a tenuous relationship to Chandler's Little Sister.
Everything sets Marlowe as a scruffy PI, until he writes a note with a Montblanc 14(6 or9).

[carlos.q]

From the 2013 Korean spy thriller "The Berlin File"... it seems that if you're involved in the international illegal arms trade and you want to buy some missiles, you should sign the contract with a fancy fountain pen:

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[catbert]

Having established in an earlier scene that this character is a fountain pen user,

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The Resort illustrates the dilemma he faces when several other pens fail to write.

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To lend or not to lend?

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[catbert]

(The Resort continued)

What starts out well

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quickly becomes a worst-case scenario.

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The moral? Never lend your pens.

[carlos.q]

The Twilight Zone episode: What You Need. The scene where the protagonist is given a leaky fountain pen from which a drop of ink chooses a winning horse. There are some closeups, and I think it's a Wearever.

The pen won't leak in this later scene, so he cannot pick a horse and he blows his top.

Saw this episode today. I don't know if it's a Wearever (don't know much about the brand) but here is the closeup with the drop of ink about to fall:

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For those of us with film nerdy needs: this is the 12th episode from season 1 of the series, and was originally aired back in 1959.

[carlos.q]

In the Netflix series "Transatlantic" fountain pens are frequently used but not easily identified. In this scene the actor is using a pen that appears to be a Pelikan 100:

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[carlos.q]

Krigsseileren (translated as "War Sailor") is a Norwegian Netflix production that tells the story of two friends who find themselves serving on cargo ships during World War II. Unable to return to Nazi occupied Norway, the main character (Kristoffer Joner) frequently writes letters to his wife back home, even though there is no way to get the letters to their destination. Although this particular scene occurs in 1940, Joner writes the letter with what appears to be a modern Pelikan (note the plastic feed):

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No spoilers here but if you decide to watch the movie I can tell you it is very well made... and very sad.

[carlos.q]

Back to the Netflix series "Transatlantic", in this scene of episode 3, two of the main characters appear using fountain pens at the same time:

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The series prop master appears to have been very diligent as far as fountain pens are concerned. No distracting anachronisms that I could detect and there was even a scene where one of the characters used a vintage eyedropper.

[Robalone]

EDB7CDA8-6CB7-4DE5-A872-5934C74752D8.jpgHere’s a shot from 'The Wind Rises' one of my favourite movies of the many from Miyazaki 🥰
There will be folks that can translate……Im guessing the pen isn’t an actual brand …..is it ?

[carlos.q]

Im guessing the pen isn’t an actual brand …..is it ?

Looks like it was copied from one of the models made by Cross. A “cross” between Peerless and Apogee perhaps?

[RobJohnson]

Sorry in advance, no pics and not quite in the spirit of this thread, if there are objections then I am happy to delete this post.

There is an English journalist Clive Myrie who is making a series about touring Italy which includes a trip to Florence. He is staying in an amazing hotel and the owner takes him to her studio and teaches him a beginners lesson in calligraphy, the only fountain pen I saw was a Lamy Al Star.

If you have access to The BBC iplayer then I can recommend the program, sorry again, cannot post links or pics.