Tag Archives: movie

who needs bells and whistles?

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. 1939 – what a year! The great depression of the dirty ’30s was a decade old and rapidly becoming part of the landscape. One of the worst wars ever (WW2) was about to erupt in Europe inspite of Hitler’s … Continue reading →

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street walker

Posted on July 13, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Not that kind! Some cities have a street photographer who snaps folks walking the streets just like him/her. For example, Vancouver had its Foncie – his fame spred well beyond Vancouver. This November, 1934 article from Popular Mechanics tells … Continue reading →

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do you remember DuPont photo products?

Posted on June 6, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Do you remember DuPont when they made photographic materials? To day the company is still very active, but no long makes movie films and other more traditional photo products. In May of 1932, the company took out a large … Continue reading →

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a flash in the (colour) pan

Posted on May 31, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. Did ya ever hear about Multicolor? It was just a flash in the pan – on market in 1929 and dead in 1932. In those days, colour sequences were EXPENSIVE so movies were mainly shot in B&W with short … Continue reading →

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when economy trumped quality

Posted on May 29, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. In the summer of 1932, the great depression was well underway and grabbing the countries of the world in a death grip, eased a few years later by a world-wide war. In  the August, 1932 issue of American Cinematographer, … Continue reading →

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a brilliant idea

Posted on May 24, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. For most of the 20th century, film reigned supreme in photography. In 1933 for example, the cheap Voigtlander Brilliant TLR camera was touted as the “The New ‘Good Companion’ for Movie Directors” in the April, 1933 edition of the magazine, International … Continue reading →

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be still, my heart

Posted on May 23, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. I don’t remember when I first saw the movie King Kong, but I was transfixed by the adventure. Years later I was astonished to learn that some scenes of the huge ape were shot with a six inch model … Continue reading →

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first motion picture (movie)?

Posted on May 14, 2022 by Robert

Toronto.  My good friend, George Dunbar, writes, “For those of us who have an interest in the history of motion pictures, there’s now a new book about the ‘first known motion picture’ — The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures, A … Continue reading →

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getcha daily colour here!

Posted on May 13, 2022 by Robert

Toronto. The Universal Camera Corporation in the Big Apple (NYC) made many still cameras such as the popular Mercury with the weird circular shutter. They also made movie cameras and projectors. This ad appeared in the August, 1941 issue of … Continue reading →

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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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