Fountain Pens In Movies And Tv

[inkstainedruth]

Okay I'm now re-watching that scene from the aforementioned episode of Danger Man.... The episode is "A Man to be Trusted", and Drake is investigating the murder of two British agents. Lt. Mora tells Drake that the (second) murder victim -- was "a conservative Englishman -- he used a fountain pen!" Then slides (pops) the cap off one-handed (doesn't unscrew it) and sprays ink as if the pen was a button filler (but doesn't remove a blind cap). Episode is in black and white, but I'm thinking that the pen is definitely black. RE-thinking the idea it was a Sheaffer, because it's not torpedo shaped; the cap finial and clip -- which is about all you really see -- *might* belong to a Conway Stewart (the finial is a slightly pointed dome shape), which is what I'm seeing on a number of CS pens currently on eBay (I don't know enough about the brand to know specific models). The bottom of the clip seems to be diamond shaped or like that of a Parker "arrow" clip. Couldn't tell if it had a cap band or not (I can slow down "rewind" on my DVR but not the fast forward) The scene is in about the first five or ten minutes into the episode (I can't be precise because of all the ads that Charge TV sticks in (it's an hour and a quarter timeslot).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[mana]

"Labyrinth of Lies" > https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3825638/

 

Excellent movie about a fascinating topic, would recommend that one to anyone interested in the post war era. Plenty of fountain pens there, main character has a Pelikan 400NN FP + BP set, also saw a slew of other age appropriate FPs (Montblanc for example). The folks at the prop department & set designers really seemed to know their stuff...

[inkstainedruth]

Another episode of Secret Agent (aka Danger Man). In the episode "That's Two of Us Sorry", John Drake is tracking a long-believed dead person, who is thought to have stolen atomic plans. He travels to a small island off the coast of Scotland, after the missing man's fingerprints show up on the briefcase where the papers had been, posing as a government auditor on vacation. He's trying to match fingerprints from an empty bottle to the WWII era file and a photo of the ones from the briefcase, and making notes, and appears to be using a Parker 51 (!) but in the next shot (a continuity glitch, IMO) the pen no longer is posted and also appears to possibly be some sort of lever filler....

It's sort of a strange episode and makes me think in some respects of the old horror movie The Wicker Man (the original one with Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee) in that the islanders have secrets and don't care much for outsiders -- especially snooping "government" outsiders....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[inkstainedruth]

And yet another pen in another episode of Danger Man/Secret Agent: in the episode "It's Up to The Lady", a defector leaves a note for his wife, before escaping the people tailing him). and again, it looks like a Parker 51 being used.... (Glover, the defector, also has a 2 pen desk set in his office).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Ink Stained Wretch]

The Father Brown mystery series produced by the BBC and viewable on PBS stations in the U.S.A. is set in the early 1950s. Quite a number of scenes show people using fountain pens.

 

The fountain pens aren't always handled well, e.g. they are left somewhere after use and the cap is not put on, which we all know will dry the pen out pretty badly after some time. But there are fountain pens used for much of the writing done on the program, and the Police Inspector has a nice desk set on his desk.

 

[pen2paper]

Miss Potter...appears to be silver overlay.

[carlos.q]

During the TV mini-series "The Little Drummer Girl" the main character uses a modern Conklin Duragraph to forge a letter, which is odd as the events supposedly occur in 1979:

 

[senzen]

From Mrs. Wilson.

 

[inkstainedruth]

Joan Crawford uses some sort of desk pen in her office in the old film noir melodrama Mildred Pierce.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[antichresis]

From the 2018 "Tomb Raider" film.

[BorisoftheStars]

There is a movie that has a fountain pen in it... I don't think I can mention it here due to its rating; however, Santa used one in The Nightmare Before Christmas.

[Cordovian]

From the 2018 "Tomb Raider" film.

Montegrappa Parola?

[antichresis]

Lamy Safari?

Claire's Camera (Hong Sang-soo, 2017)

Edited December 23, 2018 by antichresis

[antichresis]

Montegrappa Parola?

Sorry, I'm not really that familiar with Montegrappas to confirm.

[antichresis]

Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

Director: Drew Godard

Cinematographer: Seamus McGarvey

[JotterAddict62]

I just seen the Clint Eastwood film The Mule and I saw a P45 double desk set with the plastic & metal tapers on the cartel bosses desk.

 

There was another desk set on Laurence Fishburne's desk.

 

If you have ever seen the 1954 film Executive Suite there are plenty of desk sets to watch out for.

[tsdesai]

What's that film where all the professors quietly lay a pen down on the table next to whoever it is they are honouring? Ah, A Beautiful Mind.

Lots of pens to spot!

 

I thought this would be one of the first to get a mention.

 

Cheris

That was John Nash. He was awarded the nobel prize for his work in game theory. I was searching through this thread if anyone has mentioned it.

[inkstainedruth]

Oh, now I'm going to have to watch that movie again....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[carlos.q]

Oh, now I'm going to have to watch that movie again....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

There are actually two similar scenes: one in which the young John Nash observes a professor being honored and another one in which the old Nash is honored.

[inkstainedruth]

Another fountain pen in another episode of Danger Man (or, its US title, Secret Agent). In the episode "Dangerous Secret" Drake smuggles a dart which contains a recording transmitter in a fountain pen where the nib and section unscrew. (He then uses the shaft of an umbrella to shoot it across a hotel courtyard.) I didn't get a good look at the pen (and of course the series is in B&W) but I'd swear that barrel looked like a mackerel tabby Esterbrook J-series pen....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth