Category Archives: history

stills from movies

Posted on May 5, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. A few years ago, at our PHSC monthly meetings (when we met in person – ie pre-COVID) my good friend Ed Warner took videos of each presentation and could easily snap stills without affecting the digital video he was … Continue reading →

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do you remember these two characters?

Posted on May 4, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Movies used lots of stills taken by various professional photographers. In the fall of 1929, a photograph of Stan and Ollie graced the cover of the magazine, “American Cinematographer”. Taken months before the fall and published just before the … Continue reading →

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bridging the gap

Posted on May 2, 2022 by Robert

Toronto.  The site, Rare Historical Photos, shows these photos of the Capilano Suspension Bridge around 1900. The site heading says, “These vintage photographs capture people crossing the famous Capilano Suspension Bridge in Vancouver, 1890-1910”.  These photographs are both vintage and … Continue reading →

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checking shutter sync a half century plus ago

Posted on May 1, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In the dying days of WW2, an article was printed in Popular Mechanics showing an impromptu way to ‘test’ a shutter – flash synchronization. The February, 1945 issue suggests photographing a flash bulb with caution and slow film to … Continue reading →

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keeping an eye out

Posted on April 30, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Ahhh! The roaring twenties. What a great time to be alive (according to the movies). Radio was invented a few years earlier, automobiles had been around for a couple of decades, aircraft were experimental, movies were silent, TV not … Continue reading →

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sky high amusement 1930s style

Posted on April 29, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. This pictorial courtesy of the Illustrated London News in 1930 shows the inside of a transcontinental aircraft – very cramped unlike today’s wide bodied aircraft – and the use of an amateur projector to show movies while flying over … Continue reading →

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perhaps well named?

Posted on April 26, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. The December 1925 issue of American Cinematographer carried an ad for the Debrie Interview, model E camera called “The Greatest of all Motion Picture cameras”. It was said to be ‘light’ at 14 pounds. With a body made of … Continue reading →

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another rope trick

Posted on April 24, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In a recent post, I noted the Hitchcock movie “Rope” and why it was significant. In this article from the November, 1948 issue of Popular Photography, Alfred Hitchcock himself wrote the compelling story about making “Rope”. The story and … Continue reading →

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trying to climb aboard the amateur photo express

Posted on April 23, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Talk about bad timing! This ad for a cheap Agfa camera “made in U.S.A.” appears in the July 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics. A few months later in December of that year, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the … Continue reading →

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roped in

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In 1948, Alfred Hitchcock produced a film called ‘Rope’. I saw it recently – twice – on TV. It seemed odd to me and I wrote it off as an early attempt to recreate  a play as a movie. … Continue reading →

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