Author Topic: The CRPF "Old Phones in Movies & TV" Compilation (Read 354523 times)

Dave F · « **Reply #285 on:** November 26, 2010, 01:29:52 PM »

Near the beginning of Dr. Strangelove, there's a scene where Mandrake and General Ripper are having a phone conversation, each talking on nifty old Call Directors. I have no way to do a screen capture and share the pictures, but maybe one of you out there can do it.

Dennis Markham · « **Reply #286 on:** November 26, 2010, 04:12:41 PM »

Post an audio clip just like you would a photo. Just attach the clip. When the reader wants to hear it and clicks on it, it will open in their defaulted audio program.

baldopeacock · « **Reply #287 on:** December 19, 2010, 11:58:15 PM »

Watching "Miracle on 34th Street" tonight, I counted several D-mounts with both E and F handsets as well as two or three 302s.

Since it's the holiday season and all the classic old movies are back around, might be fun to report classic phone spottings in those old films.

Office scenes in "Miracle" showed multiple D-mounts on a single desk - I guess Macy's didn't pop for multi-line phones.

Brinybay · « **Reply #288 on:** December 20, 2010, 03:45:27 AM »

I'm watching Lady In The Lake (1947). There was a scene where he went into the press room of a police station to use a phone, and he had a choice of a table full of 202s.

jsowers · « **Reply #289 on:** December 20, 2010, 04:46:39 PM »

I think there are some color AEs in the offices and apartments in Lady in the Lake too. And a great scene in a payphone where Bob Montgomery can barely dial the number before he slumps to the floor. That's a great movie, all shot from the main character's point of view. It's a Christmas detective movie. It begins with Jingle Bells and the credits are neat old-fashioned holiday cards from the 1940s.

I have it on DVD and may be able to post some screen shots, if I have time.

About all the 202s, that was common practice before keysets were in widespread use, which didn't happen until the late 1950s. What I would like to see is where they mounted all the subsets. Probably nowhere. You never see subsets in the movies. Every now and then in an old movie I see a phone with no mounting cord and have to laugh.

There's another holiday movie you need to catch. Susan Slept Here with Dick Powell and Debbie Reynolds. They have a multitude of 302s with those plastic color covers on them. This movie's in Technicolor and I guess they didn't want the phones to look blah.

It's from 1954. You'd think they'd have used the new color 500s, but no. The movie is on Turner Classic Movies on Christmas Day at 10am, for those who aren't opening their stocking right about then.

Dan/Panther · « **Reply #290 on:** December 20, 2010, 07:59:19 PM »

Here's 3 from "Lady in The Lake".

D/P

baldopeacock · « **Reply #291 on:** December 20, 2010, 11:35:58 PM »

Dan/P, looks like two ivory AE40s in that second pic?

Brinybay · « **Reply #292 on:** December 20, 2010, 11:52:33 PM »

Quote from: Dan/Panther on December 20, 2010, 07:59:19 PM

Here's 3 from "Lady in The Lake".

D/P

There's a radio behind him on the corner table I'd like to have too, that is, the real one, not a prop. Any gun experts know what that lethal looking pistol is?

Dennis Markham · « **Reply #293 on:** December 21, 2010, 07:31:40 AM »

I thought the spelling of the word "clews" in the newspaper headline looked wrong. It should be "clues". There are several definitions for CLEW but the way it's used on that newspaper it should be clues.

Dan/Panther · « **Reply #294 on:** December 21, 2010, 12:37:23 PM »

Dennis;
great catch, I wonder if that photo is a phortoshop, I can't imagine the studio making that huge a mistake, the two Clues/Clews are not even close in definition.

I tried to blow up the photo of the AE40, but couldn't retain any definition.

D/P

bingster · « **Reply #295 on:** December 21, 2010, 05:13:24 PM »

Collecting old books and magazines as I do (what don't I collect!), that spelling of clue ("clew") is familiar. It was a fairly common spelling of the word once upon a time. I have no idea why, though.

Adam · « **Reply #296 on:** December 21, 2010, 06:13:38 PM »

As I was typing this, Bingster beat me to it. :-) Had this been a few days ago, I would have agreed with you, that "clew" was a misteak.

However, incredibly coincidentally, last Sunday I read an episode of the old "Tom Swift" books, entitled "Tom Swift and His Photo Telephone". It was written in 1914.

As you might know, Tom is an inventor and amateur detective. In this book he uses the word "clew" several times, in the context you'd expect, a piece of evidence or information used in the detection of a crime or solving of a mystery.

I looked it up, "clew" is indeed an archaic variant spelling for "clue".

It comes from the Dutch "kluwen", a ball of string. Unravelling a ball of string can help you find you way back out of a maze, clues, as it were, to help you backtrack.

Dennis Markham · « **Reply #297 on:** December 21, 2010, 06:28:45 PM »

Thanks Bingster and Dave for the education. I just thought it looked funny and looked up the definition on Dictionary.com. I did see a reference to string but didn't relate the two together.

AtomicEraTom · « **Reply #298 on:** December 22, 2010, 01:13:29 AM »

A Christmas Story

Brinybay · « **Reply #299 on:** December 22, 2010, 06:00:25 AM »

Quote from: AtomicEraTom on December 22, 2010, 01:13:29 AM

A Christmas Story

What is that phone?

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