Yazeh (June 22nd, 2021)
Paul Newman uses a Parker 51 to decode a secret message in Hitchcock's 1966 political thriller "Torn Curtain":
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A few minutes earlier in the film someone used a Sheaffer with an awesome B or BB nib to write a note. Regrettably I was unable to take a picture...
Not a fountain pen but rather a dip pen as used by actor Ben Whishaw, as he portrays author Herman Melville in the 2015 movie "In the Heart of the Sea".
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In the recent film Mank, Gary Oldman is working on screenplays with what appears to be a Parker Big Red mechanical pencil, like the two examples in the middle. (Wish I'd stopped the movie and done a screenshot, but my wife would have objected.)
Unusually high grip so as not to obscure the handwriting?
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Daniel Day-Lewis's couturier Reynolds Woodcock carries a fountain pen throughout The Phantom Thread, set in the early 1950s. Some glimpses while sketching and one fairly clear nib shot with 'Parker' engraving. Perhaps a Duofold?
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Meanwhile, Leslie Manville as his sister Cyril has a very different pen. Montblanc? Conway Stewart?
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carlos.q (June 28th, 2021), gclv_pen$ (January 2nd, 2024), INeedAFinancialAdvisor (June 28th, 2021), Yazeh (July 1st, 2021)
Elaine's fountain pen in "The Gymnast" in season 6 of Seinfeld. Elaine tosses the pen into her bag capless (?!) creating an inky mess in her bag. Later in the episode, her hands become covered with ink when she reaches into the bag. The usual Seinfeldian disaster ensues.
Last edited by guyy; June 29th, 2021 at 02:58 PM.
carlos.q (June 29th, 2021), gclv_pen$ (January 2nd, 2024), INeedAFinancialAdvisor (June 29th, 2021), Yazeh (July 1st, 2021)
Fountain pen scenes with Ogata Ken playing writer Mishima Yukio in Paul Schrader's 1985 biopic "Mishima". Judging by the clip, one of the pens is a Pilot. The other could be a Sailor or perhaps an MB. Either Ogata didn't know how to use a fountain pen (doubtful) or Schrader or someone directed him not to use it correctly; he repeatedly dips the pen in a bottle of ink in the scene with the Pilot. Also, Mishima wrote beautiful manuscripts, but what's showing on paper is not great calligraphy.
All that's nitpicky, because Ishioka Eiko's gorgeous sets and the Phillip Glass score are the real stars in this one.
In American Hustle, a chief prosecutor has a Sheaffer on his desk that would have been vintage even at the time this movie was set (late 1970s), presumably more for display than use.
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Another dip pen with an interesting story. This is from the 1998 romantic fantasy "The Love Letter". This movie's plot is described by IMDB as "20th century computer games designer Scott exchanges love letters with 19th century poet Elizabeth Whitcomb through an antique desk that can make letters travel through time."
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Bonus trivia #1: When Scott's mother hands him a bottle of ink she says: "A bottle of ink. I got the Waterman people to duplicate the formula they used back then." Really?
Bonus trivia #2: This movie is based on a short story written by Jack Finney, the same guy that wrote "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", one of the greatest sci-fi thrillers of all time.
Bonus trivia #3: According to the movie, Elizabeth Whitcomb lived in a 19th century town called Willoughby. Some of you may remember another time travel story from the Twilight Zone TV series called "A stop at Willoughby" that had the following closing narration by Rod Serling: "Willoughby? Maybe it's wishful thinking nestled in a hidden part of a man's mind, or maybe it's the last stop in the vast design of things—or perhaps, for a man like Mr. Gart Williams, who climbed on a world that went by too fast, it's a place around the bend where he could jump off. Willoughby? Whatever it is, it comes with sunlight and serenity, and is a part of The Twilight Zone."
HAHAHAHAHAHA riiiiight... the same "Waterman people" who said there was "no change" to their BB when there obviously, verifiably was?
Those "waterman people"? Ok... I believe them... millions wouldn't, but I do!
Is that really bad/sloppy product placement? or did someone actually genuinely put "the waterman people" (and close up on bottle!) in the script without being paid to do so!? thoughts?...
Thoughts? Call me judgemental if you like, but my thoughts include two questions (amongst others). 1. Who writes such dribble, and what illicit hallucinogen are they abusing? 2. What 'studio mogul' decided that was even a viable story line?
1. As I mentioned in the OP, the story was written by Jack Finney, the same guy that wrote "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". As to what hallucinogen he used, I don't know.
2. As to what "studio mogul" decided it was a viable story line, the movie's Executive Producer was Richard Welsh, who has produced another 62 made-for-TV movies, mainly for the Hallmark channel. Although the movie is definitely not Oscar material, it has a 7.3/10 IMDB rating and a 77% rating by Rotten Tomatoes, so it ain't that bad...
Finally I have to admit I have a special soft spot for any movie with a time travel theme...
Yazeh (July 5th, 2021)
This is probably screenwriter's fantasy. It is quite common. Everything in the script is to dramatize and create mystery. Often times, it's hard to transfer, stuff that works well in fiction (which our imagination, conjures) to screenplays. Then you have the director, producer, prop master etc, who add their "expertise".
For ex. In the man who invented Christmas, Charles Dickens clearly uses India ink and not iron gall. In Mary Queen of Scots, I believe, they use, India ink too. Iron gall will be a watery blob, not as dramatic as black ink....
Interesting enough, Willougby is Kate Winslet's love interest in Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Eveytime I see the movie, I get the Willougbys..
admittedly, my movie going experience is very limited.
I mean, I grew up in the 80s and I still haven't seen Bambi or E.T.
And I don't intend to... I mean, I know what happens...
******SPOILERS********
Bambi's mom dies, and he goes to live with his dad and everything is fine, except for the dead mom thing...
ET gets in an accident, gets sick, gets better, makes the world's most expensive long distance phone call and his mom and dad come and pick him up.
:P
In the second episode of the fourth season of The Expanse, the UN secretary-general, aboard a shuttle in Mars orbit, retrieves but does not bother to recap a floating fountain pen. Why the other stuff in the room isn’t floating I have no idea. (The people have magnetic boots that work through carpets, apparently.)
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According to this post, Sean Connery was using an anachronistic Conway Stewart 58 in that scene.
Scrawler (July 7th, 2021)
The villain wields a Montblanc in Lupin season 2 episode 3.
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BlkWhiteFilmPix (August 16th, 2021), carlos.q (July 8th, 2021), gclv_pen$ (January 2nd, 2024), guyy (July 8th, 2021), INeedAFinancialAdvisor (July 9th, 2021), Yazeh (July 8th, 2021)
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