Fountain Pens In Movies And Tv

[ParramattaPaul]

1 hour ago, Paul-in-SF said:

 

Set in Britain in post-WWII, apparently. Brits working for US intelligence sub rosa to find Russian moles in British intelligence. Summary based on IMDb. 

Ah, thank you.    I may have to give it a look.  I'm guessing Kim Philby is featured.  The CIA missed this one -- https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=7552247c61625dedJmltdHM9MTY2NzA4ODAwMCZpZ3VpZD0zNzdkMDZmYy0yYWVhLTYyZjgtMzRhMC0wYjBkMmJjODYzZGUmaW5zaWQ9NTQ2Mw&ptn=3&hsh=3&fclid=377d06fc-2aea-62f8-34a0-0b0d2bc863de&psq=british+mole+spying+for+the+russians&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaGlzdG9yeS5jb20vbmV3cy9zb3ZpZXQtc3B5LW1lbGl0YS1ub3J3b29kLXJlZC1qb2FuIzp-OnRleHQ9TWVsaXRhJTIwTm9yd29vZCUyMHdhcyUyMGElMjBncmVhdC1ncmFuZG1vdGhlciUyMHdoZW4lMjBoZXIlMjBlc3Bpb25hZ2UsTm9yd29vZCUyMHdhcyUyMHRoZSUyMFNvdmlldCUyMFVuaW9uJUUyJTgwJTk5cyUyMGxvbmdlc3Qtc2VydmluZyUyMEJyaXRpc2glMjBzcHku&ntb=1

 

I bumped shoulders with the CIA 'spooks' a few times in Vietnam during the war.  My lasting impression was not good.

[Misfit]

Anthony Horowitz, the writer and executive producer of Magpie Murders must or is very likely to use fountain pens. Here’s why:  

 

[ParramattaPaul]

1 hour ago, Misfit said:

Anthony Horowitz, the writer and executive producer of Magpie Murders must or is very likely to use fountain pens. Here’s why:  

 

Why?

[Misfit]

At the bottom is a bottle of Caran d’Ache ink and a pen. They are slightly out of focus as the focus on the show was set on the man talking.  I zoomed in for the photo. I should have taken two photos to show him, then tighter on the ink bottle and pen. Of course, they could be props. 

[ParramattaPaul]

14 minutes ago, Misfit said:

At the bottom is a bottle of Caran d’Ache ink and a pen. They are slightly out of focus as the focus on the show was set on the man talking.  I zoomed in for the photo. I should have taken two photos to show him, then tighter on the ink bottle and pen. Of course, they could be props.

Thanks. I couldn't make out what I was seeing. 

[Misfit]

It didn’t help the giant pause symbol took over so much of the screen. 

[Monophoto]

In the opening sequence of one of the early episodes of the Polish TV series (also on Netflix) The Green Glove Gang, one of the central characters (a trio of middle-age women whose hobby is burglary, and who voluntarily move into a senior home to avoid capture) can be seen writing a note about one of hijinks using what appears to be a fountain pen with green ink.

[dipper]

Have just watched the black & white film from Ealing studios: "The Man in the White Suit", from 1951.

 

Alec Guinness's character is given a "new contract" to sign by a group of textile mill owners who want to suppress his new fibre invention.

In their eagerness for a signature two of the mill bosses whip out their fountain pens and offer them for use.

Guinness nearly takes the Parker 51 (I think) - but then exclaims "Oh, that's clever", and takes the other pen.

It has a cigarette lighter built into the back end of the body!

 

Being a nerdy inventor, with little interest in the money aspects of the new contract, Guinness then asks about the ratio of liquids.... "How much petrol to how much ink?"

 

Most of the mill owners are distressed by this. Clearly they are not members of The Fountain Pen Network.

 

But the aged and most distinguished top mill owner, "Sir John Kierlaw", smiles and nods happily. He thinks he has got his man. Guinness's character clearly is a member of The Fountain Pen Network. 🤗🤗.

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

Oh now I'm going to have to watch that movie again sometime -- I don't remember that scene at ALL!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mercian]

The BBC has just re-shown its 1979 series of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (the one with Alec Guinness as George Smiley).

In the final episode, when Smiley has rooted-out the mole from the top level of MI6 and is completing his debrief of the man before he is swapped with some British agents being held by the Soviets, the traitor asks to borrow Smiley’s pen in order to write down a couple of names for him (he also tries to steal the pen).

 

It is only shown on screen twice, with both appearances being very brief.

To my eye it appears to be a black Montblanc 221 (or a 121, I couldn’t see its cap-band).

 

I wondered whether anyone else here saw it and got a better look at it than I did.

[catbert]

13 hours ago, Mercian said:

The BBC has just re-shown its 1979 series of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (the one with Alec Guinness as George Smiley).

In the final episode, when Smiley has rooted-out the mole from the top level of MI6 and is completing his debrief of the man before he is swapped with some British agents being held by the Soviets, the traitor asks to borrow Smiley’s pen in order to write down a couple of names for him (he also tries to steal the pen).

 

It is only shown on screen twice, with both appearances being very brief.

To my eye it appears to be a black Montblanc 221 (or a 121, I couldn’t see its cap-band).

 

I wondered whether anyone else here saw it and got a better look at it than I did.

 

Looks like a Montblanc 12 or 14 to me. There are glimpses of the 'cardinal's hat' cap band when Hayden 'forgets' to return the pen and Smiley asks for it back.

 

 

 

 

[Mercian]

3 hours ago, catbert said:

Looks like a Montblanc 12 or 14 to me. There are glimpses of the 'cardinal's hat' cap band when Hayden 'forgets' to return the pen and Smiley asks for it back.

Thank you for that, and especially for the screen-caps 👍

 

[catbert]

11 minutes ago, Mercian said:

Thank you for that, and especially for the screen-caps 👍

 

No problem. 🙂 I made them earlier for a discussion in the other place. There were also some images from another member showing the more hooded nature of the nib (compared to that of a 121 or 221) when Hayden writes some cheques.

[jameswatts]

On 10/31/2022 at 3:27 AM, Misfit said:

Anthony Horowitz, the writer and executive producer of Magpie Murders must or is very likely to use fountain pens. Here’s why:  

 

According to interviews, he writes his first drafts with fountain pens, and recently gave up his practice of buying a new pen for each new project because he “has too many.”

 

[Paul-in-SF]

On 1/7/2023 at 10:22 PM, jameswatts said:

According to interviews, he writes his first drafts with fountain pens, and recently gave up his practice of buying a new pen for each new project because he “has too many.”

 

 

Our PBS station (or perhaps nationally) is re-running the series Magpie Murders, which ran last year and is adapted, by Horowitz, from his book. I saw the first episode this evening. The mystery author in the book imitates Horowitz himself by writing his first draft(s) with a fountain pen, and then typing them up afterward on a computer. 

 

I couldn't identify the pen -- it has kind of a short nib, and appears to be made of metal, possibly aluminium (Brit spelling). At first I wasn't even sure it was a fountain pen because in the opening sequence he dips it once. But after several glimpses I'm pretty sure it was a fountain pen, even though I don't recognize the model. When he is finished with his book, he takes the pen and breaks it in two (there's his solution for having too many pens!) and ink drops go all over, so another point for it being a fountain pen. I expect at least some of the shots of the fountain pen will show up in each of the 6 episodes, as part of the opening sequence, and if you can see the series maybe you can make out what pen it is. 

 

By the way, I read the book a couple of years ago and remember liking it a lot, but I don't remember the solution to the mystery -- either the one in the story he was writing, or the one about the writer himself. I remember it as being ingenious and clever, as Horowitz is so good at when he does a mystery. This looks like a good, faithful adaptation, if you haven't seen it and like that sort of thing. 

[Paul-in-SF]

Here is a link to the preview of Magpie Murders, and you see several chances to see the pen (including where he dips it in the beginning). At 0:07 you get a good look at the nib. At 1:01 you can see him holding the pen, apparently posted with a metal cap. Starting at 1:21 you can see a couple of seconds of the pen end-on from the back, again apparently posted, and the metal cap looks very distinctive (although I don't recognize it myself). And at 2:14 or so, you can see him breaking the pen after finishing the draft. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWTPHDXe4Eo

 

[Mr.Rene]

On 1/17/2023 at 2:08 AM, Paul-in-SF said:

 

Our PBS station (or perhaps nationally) is re-running the series Magpie Murders, which ran last year and is adapted, by Horowitz, from his book. I saw the first episode this evening. The mystery author in the book imitates Horowitz himself by writing his first draft(s) with a fountain pen, and then typing them up afterward on a computer. 

 

I couldn't identify the pen -- it has kind of a short nib, and appears to be made of metal, possibly aluminium (Brit spelling). At first I wasn't even sure it was a fountain pen because in the opening sequence he dips it once. But after several glimpses I'm pretty sure it was a fountain pen, even though I don't recognize the model. When he is finished with his book, he takes the pen and breaks it in two (there's his solution for having too many pens!) and ink drops go all over, so another point for it being a fountain pen. I expect at least some of the shots of the fountain pen will show up in each of the 6 episodes, as part of the opening sequence, and if you can see the series maybe you can make out what pen it is. 

 

By the way, I read the book a couple of years ago and remember liking it a lot, but I don't remember the solution to the mystery -- either the one in the story he was writing, or the one about the writer himself. I remember it as being ingenious and clever, as Horowitz is so good at when he does a mystery. This looks like a good, faithful adaptation, if you haven't seen it and like that sort of thing. 

 Hi..

It looks like a modern Sheaffer f. pen...maybe a "300" line or something similar...

[Paul-in-SF]

5 hours ago, Mr.Rene said:

It looks like a modern Sheaffer f. pen...maybe a "300" line or something similar...

Thank you, I'm not familiar with those pens, so I looked them up. Very possible, especially the shortened nib. 

[Wet Dreamink]

Hello all, does anyone know the identity of the fountain pen that appears in the movie “Jobs“ (about the life of Steve Jobs, with Ashton Kutcher playing him) in the scene where his lawyer pleads with him to please sign the legal papers granting him visitation rights to Lisa, who was claimed was his daughter???

The fountain pen in question appears placed on top of some documents, in turn placed on the table that the lawyer is seated at.

Thanks in advance, to anyone who can assist in identifying the pen 😋👌🏼😁

[inkstainedruth]

On Sunday evening we watched the most recent episode of Grantchester on PBS.  There's a scene where Will Davenport (the vicar who replaced Sidney Chambers in the first few seasons) is trying to write a letter to his wife, who has gone with his stepson to visit her mother.  No good closeups of the pen he's using, but definitely looked like a fountain pen (I think the current season is set in the mid to late 1950s).  Seemed to have a black end cap (about the size of the piston cap on a Pelikan or that of a 3rd Generation Parker Vacumatic) but I don't think that the pen was a Pelikan -- I want to say maybe a vintage Parker Duofold?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth