8mm Forum: Puzzler

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Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 05, 2014, 10:38 PM:

A free 'Platter on a Plank' to anyone who can precisely identify this equipment and its historical significance:

Posted by Kenneth Horan (Member # 3) on July 05, 2014, 11:03 PM:

This is the DuMont Electronicam TV-Film system. It was developed by the Allan B. DuMont Laboratories as a means to film a live broadcasted TV show. A DuMont TV camera was optically coupled to a 35mm motion picture camera. So what was seen by the TV camera was also filmed directly onto 35mm film. This eliminated the need for a kinescope recording. The Jackie Gleason Show 'The Honeymooners' is probably the most famous show using this system.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on July 06, 2014, 12:26 AM:

I have the 1954 Laurel & Hardy "This Is Your Life" on Super 8 and am amazed at its quality. Perhaps this equipment was also used on those shows.

Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on July 06, 2014, 12:35 AM:

Paul do you have that camera?

Posted by Paul Spinks (Member # 573) on July 06, 2014, 07:20 AM:

This forum is so great. The combined wealth of knowledge and experience here is amazing. Wonderful old picture too. Films and filming in all its many aspects is such a fascinating subject.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 06, 2014, 07:42 AM:

Well, congratulations to Ken, and no Dino I unfortunately do not have this camera.
Jackie Gleason was not only a brilliant actor (who can forget him in The Hustler) , comedian and song writer, but also a very shrewd and visionary buisiness man. Before anyone had ever heard of the word 'rerun' Jackie realized that there were huge profits to be made for future broadcasts of his shows. When everyone else was filming snowy Kinescopes off Vidicon TV tubes, Gleason and DuMont recorded the shows using the Electronicam system - you can see the credit at the end of every Honeymooners episode. So how lucky we all are today to be able to see pristine quality DVD's of The Honeymooner's, all digitally scanned from the original 35mm Kodak Tri X film stock used in the DuMont Electronicam system. And to see these shows projected on a big screen in your home is truly a revelation.
Gleason really was 'The Great One' in so many ways.

The comedy of The Kramden's is timeless and 'The Honeymooners' is today more popular than ever.
I wonder if 'The Honeymooners' was ever shown in the UK, and if so how well it was received.

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on July 06, 2014, 12:27 PM:

Paul,

I'm a big Gleason fan and a big Honeymooners fan. Yes, back in the nineties Channel 4 showed "The Honeymooners" late on a Friday night here in the UK. I don't think many knew it was even on. I used to tape the shows and watch them over the weekend.

Back in the late 70's Irish TV showed "The Jackie Gleason Show" on a Saturday afternoon. This was my introduction to Gleason. Brilliant.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 06, 2014, 01:49 PM:

Thanks Mike. When I was a teenager in the UK in the 1950's I remember a lot of American comedy shows on the BBC, such as Burns and Allen, Dick Van Dyke, Phil Silvers. But I never saw Jackie Gleason on British TV at all. I knew nothing of Gleason until I arrived in the USA in the 1960's and he was doing his show from Miami Beach.

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on July 06, 2014, 02:36 PM:

Thank YOU, Paul. I didn't realise such a set was available on DVD. I've just ordered it. Looking forward to this.

Incidentally, many of these episodes are available on 16mm, although I'm pretty sure you don't collect 16.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 06, 2014, 02:51 PM:

Mike, the quality of the 39 shows on DVD is simply AMAZING. Pin sharp, deep rich contrast, like watching 35mm thanks to the elctronicam process. You are in for a real treat. [Smile]

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on July 06, 2014, 04:31 PM:

Paul,
would you happen to know if the original Jackie Gleason Show is available on DVD?
Do you know the show I'm referring to? This was a sketch show which featured, among others, Joe the Bartender?

Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on July 07, 2014, 12:09 AM:

Michael the show I think you are referring to was called Cavalcade of Stars and is a particular favorite of mine, so much so that about 10 years ago I made a complete episode list and even interviewed pretty much the last surviving person who was responsible for producing the show and was a powerful VP at DuMont. In some ways their investment in that camera was one of the many factors that led to their demise.. . I believe a great many of the shows still exist in negative form at the Academy of TV, which is now called The Paley Center, but I am not sure if they will ever do anything with them...

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on July 07, 2014, 12:46 PM:

Dino,

Yes that's the show. Wasn't it eventually retitled The Jackie Gleason Show?
Interesting to hear of your involvement there.
It'd be nice to see these released although there may be limited interest.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 07, 2014, 06:48 PM:

Mike here is a link to Honeymooner's DVD's, including some material from Cavalcade of Stars. Also listed are the later color Honeymooner's with Sheila McCrae as Alice. The source is Movies Unlimited in the USA:

http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/product.asp?sku=D31278%20%20&altid=97643

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on July 07, 2014, 07:48 PM:

Well done Ken!

I knew what it was and how it was used. But I didn't know the name of it.

Ya just gotta love this place! [Big Grin]

PatD

Posted by Kenneth Horan (Member # 3) on July 07, 2014, 10:49 PM:

Here is a 16mm version of the Electronicam shooting an episode of 'Captain Video' in 1955.

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on July 08, 2014, 12:28 PM:

Thanks for that link, Paul.

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on July 14, 2014, 01:10 PM:

Hi, Paul,

I received The Honeymooners collection today. I watched the first two shows and the magic came right back. Great stuff and, as you say, the transfers look great.
Thanks again for this link.
[Smile]

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on July 14, 2014, 01:34 PM:

When I was on vacation a local TV station was running a Honeymooners marathon including that one where Alice's Mom comes into the apartment and runs her mouth full throttle, telling Alice she should have married somebody else, criticizing the life Ralph can afford to give her and capping it off by giving away the ending to the play Ralph had tickets to see.

Ralph loses it, but I've always thought the only thing he did wrong was apologize!

"YOUUU ARE A BLABBERMOUTH!!!!!"

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on July 14, 2014, 01:40 PM:

Priceless, even after all these years.
[Smile]

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 14, 2014, 02:13 PM:

Glad you are enjoying it Mike.
When I watch The Honeymooners todaay, it really reminds me of how truly great the early years of Television were. I remember we had only two channels, BBC and ITV, but there was never a dull moment on either one of them. You always had something great to watch no matter when you tuned in. Now I have over 300 channels of DirecTV, and I am really hard pressed to find anything at all worth watching. Certainly there is no comedy series that can come close to Jackie Gleason and The Honeymooners. So I feel really fortunate to have grown up during the golden age of television both in the UK and America, when there were so many incredibly great shows on the air. As Ed Sullivan might say 'IT WAS A REALLY GREAT SHEW"!

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