Fountain Pens In Movies And Tv

[Freddy]

Movie: The Pianist 2002

Scene: Captain Hosenfeld signing documents.

Is he usin' a contemporary or is it a modern Montblanc?

Starts at 2:54:31 - 2:55:01

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWQ7cynyX9E

 

Fred

[sidthecat]

Majolo, the only ringtops I've ever seen seen were hanging from the neck of Miss Lemon, Hercule Poirot's secretary.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

I have been watching an excellent series on NETFLIX "The Time in Between" Episode 15, 44:30 min it is 1941 in Lisbon , high ranking German officers are signing contracts

One party is using a fountain pen, silver, could not identify , but the Officer is using what appears to be a Ball Point Did Nazi Germany officials have access to Ball points at that time ?? I thought the Biro pen was used in Britain in 1943 for the first time outside of Argentina

 

I have read that both sides used ballpoint pens as secret weapons for their bomber crews in World War II. From what I've read the fountain pens were not the best thing for writing during high altitude, low temperature, very bouncy flights. The ballpoints were less likely to burp ink, etc.

 

I think I only have one source for this information. But I was given a book on ballpoints, so maybe when I read that book I'll have more information on this.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

I watched a NOVA PBS documentary on "Bombing Hitler's Super Gun." In it they have Joseph Kennedy Jr. writing a letter to his father, the infamous Joseph Kennedy Sr. He's using a fountain pen, but I couldn't identify it. I wonder if the actor portraying Kennedy Jr. was holding the fountain pen so ineptly in order to hide the provenance of the fountain pen? It was certainly not a good grip for writing anything.

 

Anyway, there was certainly a pen spotting in this episode of NOVA. It's possible that they just used a modern pen and didn't want any of we sticklers for fountain pen accuracy to notice it .

[maus930]

 

I have read that both sides used ballpoint pens as secret weapons for their bomber crews in World War II. From what I've read the fountain pens were not the best thing for writing during high altitude, low temperature, very bouncy flights. The ballpoints were less likely to burp ink, etc.

 

I think I only have one source for this information. But I was given a book on ballpoints, so maybe when I read that book I'll have more information on this.I had not heard that both sides

I had not heard that both sides used ballpoints in high altitude conditions ---that reminds me of the story during the US/Russian space race the US spent millions of dollars to develop the Fisher Space Pen to operate in zero gravity and any angle while in orbit -- The Russians used a pencil --no idea if that is true or just a joke

[jabberwock11]

It's

 

I had not heard that both sides used ballpoints in high altitude conditions ---that reminds me of the story during the US/Russian space race the US spent millions of dollars to develop the Fisher Space Pen to operate in zero gravity and any angle while in orbit -- The Russians used a pencil --no idea if that is true or just a joke

It's not true at all. The Fisher Space Pen was developed by a private citizen (Paul Fisher) in the early 60s, at the time there was no connection to the space program. Pencils were used by both the USA and the USSR, but the shavings would occasionally clog instruments and combust, so they had issues. When Fisher perfected his design and presented his invention to NASA, nearly a decade after having initially invented it, they tested it extensively and even (by some accounts) dragged their feet in giving it the go ahead for use. NASA did not spend anything to develop it, because they did not develop it. They also did not spend millions to test or adopt it because they were initially reluctant to give it a try and because they bought them in relatively small quantities and at close to cost.

Edited May 28, 2016 by jabberwock11

[Tasmith]

In the 2012 Russian WWII movie White Tiger, a Red Army officer is pointing to a map with what looks like a black Pelikan M205.

Edited May 29, 2016 by Tasmith

[carlos.q]

Movie: The Pianist 2002

Scene: Captain Hosenfeld signing documents.

Is he usin' a contemporary or is it a modern Montblanc?

Starts at 2:54:31 - 2:55:01

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWQ7cynyX9E

 

Fred

 

I couldn't quite catch that pen although it did look like one.

On the other hand, the main character is seen here with a Pelikan 140, which would not be made until after the war, sitting on the desk:

 

[Freddy]

 

I couldn't quite catch that pen although it did look like one.

On the other hand, the main character is seen here with a Pelikan 140, which would not be made until after the war, sitting on the desk:

 

 

The shape of the pen leads me to say Pelikan 100N green binde with a fluted clip and cap band.

Which makes this pen c.1950 and does not fit in with the films time line.

 

Good catch. {thumbsupthingie}

 

Fred

[bleair]

I had not heard that both sides used ballpoints in high altitude conditions ---that reminds me of the story during the US/Russian space race the US spent millions of dollars to develop the Fisher Space Pen to operate in zero gravity and any angle while in orbit -- The Russians used a pencil --no idea if that is true or just a joke

 

It makes for a fun story, but no.

 

The graphite dust is "not good" in space (as in graphite dust floating can and will short out electronics) and wood shavings can be dangerous both for breathing and as a serious fire hazard.

 

The ESA, NASA and Russian space programs have used grease pencils as well as ball point pens in space

Edited May 30, 2016 by bleair

[carlos.q]

 

The shape of the pen leads me to say Pelikan 100N green binde with a fluted clip and cap band.

Which makes this pen c.1950 and does not fit in with the films time line.

 

Good catch. {thumbsupthingie}

 

Fred

 

Yeah... ever since getting the FP fever I can't watch a movie or a TV show without searching for these things.

The picture on the desk is not the best. I concluded it was a 140 from an earlier shot showing what could be the same pen:

 

 

Hey... Is he writing on a Moleskine?

[Water Ouzel]

 

It makes for a fun story, but no.

 

The graphite dust is "not good" in space (as in graphite dust floating can and will short out electronics) and wood shavings can be dangerous both for breathing and as a serious fire hazard.

 

The ESA, NASA and Russian space programs have used grease pencils as well as ball point pens in space

 

And the Fisher Space pen wasn't developed using millions of taxpayer dollars, either. The pen company developed it, then tried for some time to get NASA to use it.

 

Sometimes the truth just isn't as much fun as the myth.

[Papamud]

In the movie "42," Jackie Robinson signs his contract with Montreal with a fountain pen of some kind.

[inkeverywhere]

A month or so ago I responded about a scene from a British deco called 24 Hours in Emergency, a true life account of a hospital emergency department. Watching this show more closely since, fountain pens make appearances quite regularly being used by the staff.

 

Is Britain the strong hold of the fountain pen in this day and age?

[Tasmith]

 

And the Fisher Space pen wasn't developed using millions of taxpayer dollars, either. The pen company developed it, then tried for some time to get NASA to use it.

 

Sometimes the truth just isn't as much fun as the myth.

As my photography mentor Max MacKenzie used to say, "The truth doesn't make a good story, that's why we have art".

[gweimer1]

Not really a pen observation, but I was watching "Chasing Rainbows" on TCM last night. It's an old Jack Benny film. There is a scene where one of the characters is smoking in the dressing room, and lays a cigarette on top of a hairbrush. The other character rushes over and takes it off - "Hey, careful with that. That brush is made of celluloid"

[pkotrcka]

In Silicon Valley they used some MB to not signing the contract :-) reffered as "my Blanc"

[Goudy]

Watched that movie last night and, of course, noted the reference to the Waterman 402 - a pen in what might have been an original box. When I searched w/Google for that pen I got another image than the one that was shown on the "Worthpoint" site.(?)

 

A search here on FPN lead to a 2007 thread that referenced a sterling silver British overlay that seemed to describe the pen in the movie. As there was no image I have no way of confirming and it did sound very similar.

 

I wonder which actor, director or writer specified that pen for the movie????

I could only manage to watch the first half hour of The Last Witch Hunter, but I liked the exchange between the actors when Vin Diesel gives Michael Caine the Waterman 402:

 

Vin Diesel: I had your initials engraved on it. It probably lowered the value quite a bit.

Caine: Not to me.

[marcelo]

Does anyone know which fountain pen Ricardo Darín uses in the beginning of the Oscar-winning "The Secret In Their Eyes" (El Secreto De Sus Ojos)? I'm really curious about it!

 

Here's the best image I could get of it:

 

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii33/mmmcosta/Watches/Darin_zpskkyhnnsu.jpg

Edited July 25, 2016 by marcelo

[Shavely Manden]

Spotted a fountain pen (in the context of a generic-fancy-desk background) in the first episode of the anime Bananya:

 

 

Initially I thought the animator had a Platinum 3776 in mind, but the 3776 lacks the ball-ended clip that this pen has. The Sailor 1911 has a similar look and also comes in a burgundy, but it too has a straight clip like the Platinum. The fact that the animator bothered with a fair number of details for a one-off shot lasting only a few seconds (e.g., the band at the bottom of the section and the double band at the base of the cap) makes me think s/he was looking at an actual pen when s/he was drawing this, but given the shape of the clip, I'm not totally sure what s/he was modeling it off.

 

EDIT: Looked a little harder, and it's a spitting imagine of a Pilot Custom 74. (Including the clip shape.)

Edited August 10, 2016 by Shavely Manden