Fountain Pens In Movies And Tv

[Water Ouzel]

I did almost chuckle at the moment when, having finished the story, Holmes carefully screws the cap back on -- and then pushes it closed with a snap

I find myself doing that now and then, probably because it's better to start unscrewing a slip-cap, than pulling off a screw-in cap on an old pen.

[jabberwock11]

I was just watching Dexter when I spotted a familiar pen. This is season 3 episode 8 and at about the 22 minute mark there is a Monteverde Invincia (black tie model) being used to address envelopes. It's pretty cool to randomly notice (and recognize) fountain pens in movies and on TV.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

Over the weekend I saw a piece of the PBS show on Martin Luther. Of course they had the actor playing Luther writing in parts of the film.

 

I think they had a problem with the writing for this docu-drama. At one point it really looks like the actor is writing with a quill, The point of the quill, seen sort of from above, is rounded, and the letters are printed a bit large.

 

In quite a percentage of the other shots of Luther writing it is obvious to me that they have plugged a metal dip pen into the end of the quill. In these shorts you see Luther writing much more than in the shots where I believe that the actual quill pen is being used. You can see the writing going onto the paper better in these closeups, too.

 

Those metal dip pens weren't being used until hundreds of years later.

 

Nevertheless it was interesting to see handwriting with a dip pen of some sort on TV.

[carlos.q]

 

Nevertheless it was interesting to see handwriting with a dip pen of some sort on TV.

During the TV series "Turn: Washington's spies" there are various scenes that portray cursive handwriting with a quill.

[dan in montreal]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but in Carol by Todd Haynes, the character Therese uses a black Esterbrook J at the department store where she works. Later in the film she uses what seems to be a maroon Parker 21 when she writes in her planner at home (as you only see the section, I'm assuming it's a 21 and not a 51 since the character is rather poor). Also, in the scene where Therese first meets Carol in the department store, a man announces on the loudspeaker system that the store carries the entire lineup of Parker pens. The film is set in 1951-1952. It's really quite a beautiful film and the art direction is spot-on.

[corgicoupe]

We were watching an early Inspector Morse episode, The Last Enemy, and the pathologist remarked that she preferred a pen to a typewriter. Morse replies, "So do I, with a nib, and you fill it from a bottle."

[tinta]

Morse replies, "So do I, with a nib, and you fill it from a bottle."

Thank you!

You have reminded me to purchase outright, the whole Morse series, based on Colin Dexter's scholarly novels. We have not been able to get Morse for quite a while now, from either PBS or our local Ontario public broadcaster TVO.

When I watched Morse regularly in the past, it never occurred to me to be looking for fountain pens.

See how FPN has affected us?

Edited January 7, 2016 by tinta

[rwilsonedn]

Yesterday evening I was watching an episode of Murder in Paradise (another fun British mystery series) on PBS. The screenwriter obviously had been damaged by childhood trauma with fountain pens. The script has one of the investigators saying that a suicide note couldn't have been written under duress because it was clearly written with a fountain pen and there were no signs of blotting or smearing. Wow.

ron

[Hangglidernerd]

David is using a fountain pen...now to try and see if any of us can I.D, the pen.....

[cobalt]

The new Fiat 500 commercial shows icons, one of which is a fountain pen.

[Ernst Bitterman]

David is using a fountain pen...now to try and see if any of us can I.D, the pen..... {video}

 

It's not impossible that it's a Pelikan M200.

 

But it could as easily be a TWSBI Mini. Not much to see, and in very brief flashes.

Edited January 8, 2016 by Ernst Bitterman

[torstar]

Thanks Dan in Montreal for the Carol update, which I viewed on Friday afternoon.

 

Mad Men has ruined me for any attempts to recapture that era in the cinema or on TV, which is a good thing.

Edited January 11, 2016 by torstar

[sidthecat]

The late Mr. Bowie's pen looks an awful lot like a Sailor Pro Gear, which would make sense if you knew that his Web handle was "Sailor".

Edited January 13, 2016 by sidthecat

[steveh114]

The music video for Disturbed's cover of "Sound of Silence" shows music being written with a Pilot Varsity.

 

 

Edit: someone beat me to it. forgot to look back. Whoops.

Edited January 13, 2016 by steveh114

[Cordovian]

 

It's not impossible that it's a Pelikan M200.

 

But it could as easily be a TWSBI Mini. Not much to see, and in very brief flashes.

The pen changes during the video. When he first uncaps it at 2:43 it has a flat top cap but then at 3:19 the cap is lying on the desk and has a crown cap like a Pelikan.

[sidthecat]

Bet he broke it.

[flipper_gv]

In the zoolander 2 trailer there seems to be some limited edition something in there.

 

http://i.imgur.com/Gn9rtg0.png

 

(bleep) finally found it. Montegrappa Excellentia

 

http://www.novelli.it/images/limited/2141205873.jpg

[jameswatts]

I'm pretty convinced that the pen David Bowie uses in "Lazarus" is a Parker Duofold Centennial. The shape of the nib and feed, the slight taper at the back and the gold ring are the most obvious clues. And the cap does have a slight crown to it.

[PS104]

Just saw H8ful 8

The cowboy, Gage, is writing with a fountain pen

[cobalt]

War and Peace, currently on BBC: lots of dip pens and feather quills!

 

Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky (Jim Broadbent) does some writing then uses ponce and makes a great scene blowing it all over his desk! Also some good examples of writing (Russian script, though).