The CRPF "Old Phones in Movies & TV" Compilation

[bingster]

I just got the big box set, myself, and one thing that really surprised me is the number of episodes I'm not familiar with.  I've always watched the marathons, and it seems like many of the episodes on the DVDs never appear on them.

[Just4Phones]

That was the episode    Thanks Dan   

[Kenny C]

I watched the whole episode and noticed this stuff,

Her phone # is KL 5-2368

The E1 handset has a Bullet transmitter and the spit cup is crooked

And can her Ring just be one long if she was on a party line?

[bingster]

I never got that she was on a party line, but yes, party lines could have a standard ring.  That's where the subsets and phones with a vacuum tube come in (and frequency ringers from non-Bell companies).

[Kenny C]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv1zRTBMUJw&feature=related

go to 0:39

[bingster]

As many times as I've seen that, that's the first time I noticed that!  At any rate, the only time coded ringing was used was when everybody's phones rang on every call.  Frequency ringers, etc., caused only one party's phone to ring (a standard ring) on a call. The others remained silent.

[jsowers]

As many times as I've seen that, that's the first time I noticed that!  At any rate, the only time coded ringing was used was when everybody's phones rang on every call.  Frequency ringers, etc., caused only one party's phone to ring (a standard ring) on a call. The others remained silent.

My grandmother was on a party line like you mentioned above. Her number card said at the bottom "Answer 2 rings" and the 2 was written in. It was Southern Bell and I think only two parties on the line. That double ring was very distinct and we all knew not to answer if it rang once. The phones had standard ringers and later when she went onto a private line, she used the same phones.

[Bill Cahill]

Not meanning to steal your thread, but, Turner broadcasting has been showing the Little Rascals. In one, they show a beutiful view of a cathedral radio. Looks like it could be a Peter Pan radio. It's got a grill cut out of a boy holding something up in the air.
Bill Cahill

[HobieSport]

For some great old phones, watch the movie "Public Enemies" with Johnny Depp playing John Dillinger. There's a great line when Dillinger goes into the underground "bookie" room, where he is asked "What do you see?" and Dillinger says "I see a room full of phones".

Then, when Dillinger is at his hideout in the woods, just before the big shootout, there is a WE 302 in the room. Unfortunately, the year depicted is 1933 or '34, and as we know the 302 came out in '37. Well, that's what the props dept. get's for not consulting us...

-Matt

[gpo706]

The Professionals episode "The Purging of C15" has Doyle dismantling an ivory 706 which has a detonator wired to the dial which Bodie has to hold for some considerable time at the 7 notch.

Also I was watching the original 1956 "Invasion of the Bodysnatchers" and Kevin McCarthy has a phone which has "MADison 5 - 0100" in a close up on the dial.

Was this a fake exchange for the film, BTW there's lots involved in the plot that has the phoneco hijacked by the "pods" superb movie.

[jsowers]

How about the SOUND of old phones? I'm thinking of a couple of recordings from the radio series Suspense!. Sorry Wrong Number and The Hitchhiker. Both have plot lines centered around making a phone call, and like the old radio shows themselves, the listener can only "see" the action in his/her mind. I'm sure the experts here could tell the make and model of the phones just by sound :)Funny how so much effort was involved in making and receiving a call, especially long distance, from the operator connections across the country and waiting for the coins to drop into the payphone.

Not sure how to post an audio clip, but if I can I'll try to...

I love both of those Suspense! episodes.  You can often find them on CD at the Cracker Barrel restraunts for sale.  I believe "10 cents a dance" with Lucille Ball also has some telephone sound effects, but I could be wrong.  "The Hitchhiker" has been a favorite story of mine for many years.

Jeff

Jeff, I agree about Suspense. One of the greatest radio programs ever. Most every old-time radio program is available free at:

http://www.archive.org/details/radioprograms

Below is a link to The Hitchhiker with Orson Welles featuring some great payphone sounds and (farther down the list on the right) Sorry, Wrong number with Agnes Moorehead, featuring a whole lot of phone action. It even has the separate east and west coast versions. They repeated Sorry, Wrong Number many times over the life of Suspense, from 1942-1960. The sound quality of these isn't that great because of the compression of the files.

http://www.archive.org/details/OrsonWellesOnSuspense

[tjmack99]

I love how Agnes Moorhead wanted the operator to "make the same careless mistake again" and get patched back in to the call where the killers were plotting her death....sounds easy enough right?

[cchaven]

Thanks for the links!

I think Agnes Moorhead is going to give herself a heart attack from how worked up she is getting long before the murderers arrive!  Definately a lot of good telephone usage in that..since the whole thing centers around her bedroom phone.  As for Orson Wells and "Hitchhiker"...his delivery in that episode is almost beyond compare.  It truly did keep you in Suspense!  The best payphone action is getting towards the end when he calls back to his mother.

Jeff

[Sargeguy]

Not exactly an old phone, but an old movie: From 2001: A Space Odessy aboard the space station.  Dr. Floyd calls his daughter on the Bell System "PICTUREPHONE"



Here is a wide shot of the phone booth.  Note the 60s era Bell System logo.

[rdelius]

And 10 button keypad
Robby