Fountain Pens In Movies And Tv

[sidthecat]

There's something ineffably charming about the ballpoint pen being a Secret Weapon. One imagines someone like Strangelove brandishing a Bic in his artificial hand:

 

"Ziss, mein friends, vill vin us zee var!"

[carlos.q]

In the 2014 film "Kingsman: The Secret Service", fountain pens are used in various moments during the movie. In this scene, it is shown that a well dressed english spy must use a Conway Stewart fountain pen:

 

 

The pen is a clever murder weapon that will remotely trigger a previously administered poison, by using the pen's lever:

 

Edited August 13, 2016 by carlos.q

[dojocho]

Aug 28th, Discovery Channel, Churchill's Toyshop.

An episode covering a small independent taskforce that develops special weapons during WWII.

 

Mr Churchill uses a green striated Pelican fp to write and sign his name. IRRC, Churchill used an Onoto and this lack of attention to historical details quite disturbs me in a series covering WWII.

 

regards,

 

Hugo

Edited August 29, 2016 by dojocho

[gweimer1]

There are websites dedicated to consistency errors in movies and TV. Nobody is ever perfect. It's all that little stuff, especially things like clothing, furniture, art, and, yes, fountain pens.

 

I remember an episode of Happy Days that featured a Shure microphone, and a pinball game, that didn't exist until the 1970's.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if they picked the Pelikan because it looked better.

[tinta]

I'm an unabashed Heartbeat junkie.

Fridays @ 9:00 on TVO here in Ontario, every week.

 

I love the time when these stories are set, the music, the clothes, the cars. It reminds me when we were young & carefree & did a circle tour of the Cotswolds in a Mini, way back in the early 70s (though Heartbeat takes place in Yorkshire).

 

Anyway, I was watching last Friday when Sgt. Craddock was interrupted by I believe Mike Bradley & the camera panned onto Craddock's desk. The Srg. was writing with a black fountain pen. Possibly a hooded one.

 

I wander what brand of pen would it have been (as this was that time when most folk were transitioning from the FP to the Biro)?

 

I've PVR-ed every Heartbeat show I can. I will go back to this episode & take a closer look (maybe in slo-mo).

My wife is getting used to me looking for fountain pens. She has gotten good in spotting them too, though pens are not exactly her strong suit.

Edited August 29, 2016 by tinta

[sd10521]

On the Smithsonian Channel they had a program, I Was A Jet Set Stewardess.

About seven minutes in they show a group taken written exams and the woman in the center of the frame is using an Esterbrook. It's just a quick shot so look carefully for it if you watch.

[hmj]

The Truth Is Out There...

 

The following pictures are from the opening scene of The X-Files: Season 3 Episode 21 (titled "Avatar"). FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner is preparing to sign divorce papers when he stops to reminisce about this pen (an old anniversary gift from his wife). My apologies for the poor quality pictures, but these are the best I can offer. If you're curious and have Netflix, the pen makes its appearance in the first 20 seconds of the episode.

 

Does anyone recognize the pen?

 

 

 

[sidthecat]

My local PBS station has been running a four-day "Downton Abbey" binge, and in Season 6 (set in 1925) The Dowager Countess is keeping up her correspondence with a rather large gold pen. Anyone care to hazard a guess at its make?

[dogpoet]

Not a film, but this pop video probably was on MTV at least once or twice back in '88 when Dream Of Life came out.

People Have the Power (Patti Smith)

Some nice footage of her actually writing with the pen and having a clue how to handle it, rather than just using it as a prop as well...

[inkstainedruth]

I'm an unabashed Heartbeat junkie.

Fridays @ 9:00 on TVO here in Ontario, every week.

 

 

I think I ran across that show last Labor Day weekend, when we were up near Niagara Falls, and staying at a small hotel south of Niagara on the Lake. The episode I saw had to do with kids doing drugs, and one of the guys who were the main local dealers had a hairstyle that really looked more '80s than '60s. But overall I rather liked the show and wouldn't mind seeing it run here in the States.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[dogpoet]

Given how long that one's been running for, they should be into the '80s by now, really.

[Bookman]

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

 

[Freddy]

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

 

 

Yup..that's a movie I revisit every now and then.......

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/168373-fountain-pens-in-movies-and-tv/?p=3299046

 

Fred

 

It's simply economics...today it's oil...Right...In 10 or 15 years...Food...

Plutonium...Maybe even sooner. Now what do you think people

are gonna want us to do then? ~ Higgins on New York City

street during Christmas season.......................

 

Ask them.....Turner

[Bookman]

 

Yup..that's a movie I revisit every now and then.......

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/168373-fountain-pens-in-movies-and-tv/?p=3299046

 

Fred

 

It's simply economics...today it's oil...Right...In 10 or 15 years...Food...

Plutonium...Maybe even sooner. Now what do you think people

are gonna want us to do then? ~ Higgins on New York City

street during Christmas season.......................

 

Ask them.....Turner

 

This seems like an overlooked and underrated gem. Except for the musical score, I think it holds up very well after 40 years. I'll see it anytime, but I always see it around Christmas. I have a liberal view of what constitutes a Christmas movie. This is one of mine, along with The Bourne Identity (2002). (Odd:There's a sizable overlap in plot details between these two, as I'm sure you've noticed, and yet because of the casting, camerawork, pace, and music the similarities seem insignificant. At least they do for me.)

[mercurius]

Seamus Heaney pen anyone?

There was a report on BBC News at Ten last night about the opening in Belaghy ( Northern Ireland) of a new centre called HomePlace dedicated to the life and work of the poet Seamus Heaney. They showed various shots of the exhibits including a quick one of the FP he used.

Anyone venture a guess at what it was? Could be a Platignum or an Osmia.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

Three types of pen from the 2015 Movie Mr. Holmes, starring Ian McKellen, as a 93 year old Sherlock Holmes. He is trying to solve a mystery that involves his own failing memory.

 

The greater part of the movie takes place in 1947. It is not quite an anachronism that Holmes grabs a ballpoint refill to make a mark in a special journal that he keeps, although given the year and the circumstances of this household, it doesn't seem probable that they would have this lying around. The journal is to keep track of lapses in his memory; his doctor wants him to make a mark every time he can't recall a name.

 

MrHolmesBallpoint by waranoid, on Flickr

 

When we see him writing at greater length, it is with a fountain pen.

 

MrHolmesFP2 by waranoid, on Flickr

 

In a flashback, late in the movie, we see Dr. Watson writing a Holmes story using a dip pen.

 

Jwatson by waranoid, on Flickr

Edited October 1, 2016 by ISW_Kaputnik

[carlos.q]

On last Friday's episode of Hawaii 5-0 a British MI-6 agent is arrested and among his possessions was pen that I first thought was a MB149. Upon closer inspection the pen is revealed to be a Jinhao 159:

 

 

The fact that the pen would spray acid through the nib gives a whole new meaning to "acidic inks"...

 

 

[dogpoet]

Maybe it wasn't a gimmicked pen but was just full of superchrome or baystate blue?

[gweimer1]

I wish I could find a still shot of it, but as I was watching my Pinky and The Brain DVDs this week at home, there is one episode where they show a fountain pen laying on a pad of paper.

[Dragonmaster Lou]

Not TV, but a fountain pen is featured pretty prominently in the picture at the top of this story about Bill Belichick's time as Cleveland's head coach: http://www.nfl.com/belichickletters