Fountain Pens in Movies and TV

[carlos.q]

Tokyo Trial is a 2016 historical drama miniseries in 4 episodes about the International Military Tribunal that was tasked with determining the fate of 25 Japanese civil and military leaders accused of war crimes after World War II. As happens in many historical films, period appropriate fountain pens are not used. For example, one shown in the first episode depicts a shiny metal section which was not typical at the time (1946-1948):

TokioTrials1.jpg

In the remaining episodes it becomes quite evident that the pen used by most of the judges is a Parker IM, a model introduced some 60 years later:

TokioTrials2.jpg

Another scene with the Parker IM:

TokioTrials3.jpg

Hey, is that a Moleskine under the pen?

[gclv_pen$]

Back in September I posted and entry about the 1983 movie "Annie", where Oliver Warbucks forces the evil Miss Hannigan to sign Annie's adoption papers using what I'm guessing is a Waterman 554 1/2, but it's too hard to see for sure. Below is the screenshot:

[Warbler]

I don't know if anyone has a posted about this in this thread(it would take too long to read through the entire thread to find out for certain). But if you want to see a really use of a fountain pen, watch the film Marshall. You will have to wait till the end to see it. I am not going to spoil it here. I really like because what he did with the pen could only be done with a fountain pen, couldn't do it with a ball point or dip pen or a quill pen. It is a good movie, watch it!

[WaltZucher]

I don't know if anyone has a posted about this in this thread(it would take too long to read through the entire thread to find out for certain). But if you want to see a really use of a fountain pen, watch the film Marshall. https://piktid.com/ai-change-facial-expression/ You will have to wait till the end to see it. I am not going to spoil it here. PiktID I really like because what he did with the pen could only be done with a fountain pen, couldn't do it with a ball point or dip pen or a quill pen. It is a good movie, watch it!

Great! thanks will check it out

[Warbler]

I don't know if anyone has a posted about this in this thread(it would take too long to read through the entire thread to find out for certain). But if you want to see a really use of a fountain pen, watch the film Marshall. You will have to wait till the end to see it. I am not going to spoil it here. I really like because what he did with the pen could only be done with a fountain pen, couldn't do it with a ball point or dip pen or a quill pen. It is a good movie, watch it!

Great! thanks will check it out

Great! let me and the others know what you think!

[carlos.q]

Pine Gap is a satellite surveillance base and Australian Earth station approximately 18 km (11 mi) south-west of the town of Alice Springs, Northern Territory and is jointly operated by Australia and the United States. It is also the title of a 2018 Netflix series in which the head spook uses a fountain pen:

PineGap.jpg

[carlos.q]

Bridge of Spies is a 2015 film starring Tom Hanks, that deals with a Cold War prisoner exchange in 1962 Berlin. Part of the exchange occurred by "checkpoint Charlie" which, according to the film, was right by a Pelikan store.

Pelikan_store.jpg

PS. I believe I might have posted this before but I have not found the photo in this thread or the one back on FPN. Anyway, I saw this film again the other night so I'm reposting this.

[carlos.q]

White House Down is a 2013 film about a paramilitary group that takes over said building to kidnap the 46th president of the US (not Joe Biden but Jamie Foxx as "president Sawyer"). At one point in the film Sawyer uses a fountain pen to attack one of the group's leaders.

WHDown.jpg

Spoiler alert: A pen may be mightier than a sword but a handgun is mightier than a pen. Oh well...

[carlos.q]

Masters of the Air is a 2024 miniseries on Apple TV+ about the exploits of a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber group during World War II. In this scene one of the main characters uses a striated pen:

masters1.jpg

In the next scene it appears to be a period appropriate Sheaffer Balance with a military clip:

Masters2.jpg

In another scene an actor uses what seems to be a period appropriate Wahl Eversharp Skyline:

Masters3.jpg

Evidently someone in the props department paid careful attention to detail. No Parkers IMs here!!!

[Yazeh]

@Carlos.q maybe someone on their team has been checking this thread

[carlos.q]

IMDB summarizes the plot of the Stephen King 2017 film titled 1922 in the following manner: "A simple yet proud farmer in the year 1922 conspires to murder his wife for financial gain, convincing his teenage son to assist. But their actions have unintended consequences." In one of the scenes the main character, played by Thomas Jane, uses a golden fountain pen to sign a mortgage:

1922-1.jpg

This is another view of the pen:

1922-2.jpeg

Considering the events portrayed are supposed to take place in 1922 Nebraska a dip pen would be more appropriate, maybe even a Waterman eyedropper. But if you notice the two toned nib, the shape of the pen and clip I would say it was a Sheaffer Prelude...

[carlos.q]

I just saw for the second time "The catcher was a spy", the 2018 film in which the "Former Major League Baseball player Moe Berg goes undercover in World War II Europe for the Office of Strategic Services." (IMDB) In one of the scenes, supposedly taking place in 1944, there appear a number of Parker 45 desk sets...

P45.jpg

An Esterbrook desk set would have been more appropriate as the Parker 45 initially appeared in 1960. In another scene Paul Rudd (as "Moe Berg") uses a fountain pen to sign a baseball, but I couldn't get a good look:

baseball.jpg

Finally "Moe Berg" is shown using a fountain pen with a shiny section which is definitely too modern even for an OSS agent:

Untitled 2.jpg

[carlos.q]

Ok this is an odd one. There is a television documentary series called "Codes & Conspiracies". In the episode called "Secret Prisons" there is a scene where an interrogator puts down this Sheaffer Skrip bottle and opens up a case in which he carries a syringe.

skrip.jpg

The strange thing is that it is implied that these were the instruments used for mind control experiment during the 50's and 60's. Sheaffer Skrip? Really?

[carlos.q]

As many of you well know I'm a sucker for time travel films. Something about traveling to the past - or maybe even the future - really intrigues me. So, I started watching this Korean series on Netflix called "Sisyphus: The Myth" about time travelers from the future after a nuclear war desolates the country. In a scene taking place in 2020, a corporate bigshot is about to commit suicide and as the camera pans over his desk I spotted a familiar shape:

Edelstein.jpg

A bottle of Pelikan Edelstein ink! Unfortunately that's the best shot I could take.

[Yazeh]

@Carlos.q, it'll be fitting if it were a limited edition

[catbert]

Unidentified, possibly Indian ebonite? fountain pen in RRR, set in 1920s India.

RRR.jpg

[catbert]

Most of the fountain pens in Oppenheimer are too distant to clearly identify.

1920s Cambridge

Oppenheimer1.jpg

1940s Los Alamos and Washington

Oppenheimer2.jpg

Oppenheimer3.jpg

Oppenheimer4.jpg

In a meeting to discuss where to bomb, Secretary of War Henry Stimson appears to have a Parker Vacumatic (and note ink bottle on desk)

Oppenheimer5.jpg

Oppenheimer6.jpg

Lewis Strauss's mechanical pencil

Oppenheimer7.jpg

Oppenhimer8.jpg

1950s — Oppenheimer's lawyer's interesting pen

Oppenheimer9.jpg

[catbert]

A dip pen and ink in Poor Things.

PoorThings1a.jpg

(meaningful pause)

PoorThings2.jpg

PoorThings3.jpg

and later

PoorThings4.jpg

[catbert]

A distant glimpse of Kitchener's fountain pen in The King's Man.

King'sMan.jpg

[carlos.q]

catbert you are on a roll!