Well many thanks to
Richard Layne
for spotting the announcements for this event.
As I may have (occasionally) mentioned in the past, AMOLAD is
my favourite of the P&P canon and having the mighty Jack
Cardiff (now in his 85th year) present and offering to discuss
it as well - wonderful.
I got there about 30 minutes before it was due to start and
Jack and his entourage arrived shortly after I did. I managed
a few quick words with him after introducing myself by saying
"Do you mind if I worship at your feet?" :)
I was having a quick cup of coffee and a cigarette outside & got
chatting to this lovely French lady who I'd seen in Jack's entourage.
She's doing a thesis on P&P so I told her to stay in touch - here's
hoping :)
[She is
Natacha Thiery, now a PaPAS member, doing a thesis at Oxford but
now back in Paris]
Richard spotted me and after sorting out our tickets (they'd lost
mine again !! But they found it eventually) we all trooped inside.
A good turn out. It looked quite full (about 50 or so peoples).
Jack was introduced and we sat back to enjoy the film (after
a glitch at the start). It was the BFI restored print so lovely
quality. There was something a fraction odd about the sound
though. I didn't time it but it was almost as if they were a fraction
more basso as if it were running very slightly slow.
Afterwards and after a rousing round of applause, Jack took a
seat at the front and the Manager asked for questions.
Nobody else looked like starting so I leapt in with "Jack, did you
get into much trouble with Technicolor over this & BN?"
That gave his a good chance to tell us all about how he was
chosen for the Technicolor training and how strictly they regulated
any use of it in the early days.
There were a few other questions and then we retired to the bar
upstairs where, after a bit of confusion, Jack signed copies of Magic
Hour and he also signed my copy of the AMOLAD book (what
a hero !!)
He has got a copy himself but wasn't 100% sure about the story
behind it's publication. He confirmed that all the major members of
the cast & crew were given copies though.
We then settled back for a more relaxed (over a glass or two) Q&A
session. I asked him particularly about the Camera Obscura - he
confirmed it was a pure studio shot and he
said he was pretty sure (it WAS over 50 years ago) that he'd had
the idea after seeing one in Portmeirion (where they filmed "The
Prisoner" that weird Patrick McGoohan TV series). I also asked
about that shot where David, Marius & Roger walk through the
glass panelled door from the operating theatre back to where Kim
is waiting. I'd always admired it and had never heard anyone else
comment on it. I thought it was almost done too well and hardly anyone
noticed it.
[It was really a clever piece of matte work, the door frame wasn't
really there, it was filled in later, frame by frame.]
It wasn't just me asking though, others were asking questions
about Monroe, Loren, Hitcock, The African Queen and much more.
While we were milling around in the bar I went to thank the manager
for organising it and he pointed out the person who'd really organised
it - the lovely French lady who I'd been speaking too earlier :)
So I thanked her and asked her again to get in touch - here's hoping.
It appears that this was really just the final event in a 2 or 3 day
event for French film students - a lot of it had a P&P angle.
I had been puzzled by the number of French people there.
Ian Christie had given a talk on "How others see us" and there were
various other things. Richard spotted the poster for them all as he
left - I'd be interested in what they got up to but my French is
nowhere near enough to have joined in.
All in all a lovely time was had by all - well I certainly enjoyed it :)
Steve
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Jack signing away
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The Phoenix Cinema, Oxford
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Other P&P trips
