Historical accuracy in films

[AlanBeckett]

I find the (visual) historical anomalies more amusing than irritating. However, the dialog is another matter. In the last episode of Heartbeat I could be bothered to watch the reply to a question was 'absolutely!'. I also started to watch the updated version of the Foresight Saga, but gave up. The family gathered after the funeral of the old man, and one said to another 'You must be devastated'. Really?
On a more positive note the old episodes of Poirot are very good as far as I can tell. He has a splendid Ekco
Alan

[peter.sables]

Originally Posted by percival007

Well as someone who doesn't understand Morse Code but knows how to use Go Ogle i have come up with NOTHING!!!!!

Please put me out of my misery, i love this track and have often wondered!!

James.

The morse. say's RADIOACTIVITY.... Simples.

Pete G4MRU

[mickjjo]

I'm sure I remember an episode of Dads Army when Arthur Lowe is on the telephone and the handset lead changes between scenes from a period braided cloth one into a curly black plastic one! Maybe I should get out more....

Regards, Mick.

[Michael Maurice]

If you've watched the Sound of Music.

Towards the end, Captain Von Trapp is pushing his car out of the drive of his house, he is clearly seen steering a RH drive car. Slightly later, Herr Zeller, (The Gaulighter) orders one of his officers to fix Captain Von Trapps Car so it will work, he enters the RH door to start the car.

What on earth would an Austrian Captain be doing with a RH drive car when in Europe they all had LH drive cars.

[Station X]

And of course when Julie Andrews knocks on the front door of Von Trapp's house there's a window beside it. She steps inside and there's no window. Or is it the other way round?

[kalee20]

Bringing back on topic, "Swallows and Amazons" starts with a footnote giving the date (1920's), but part way through there's a scene with a Philips 634 in it (release date 1933).

At least it wasn't a DAC90...! Though with the pace of development then, there's quite a difference between a 1920's and a 1930's set.

[TFGtv.com]

Originally Posted by Michael Maurice

What on earth would an Austrian Captain be doing with a RH drive car when in Europe they all had LH drive cars.

They didn't! When Austria was annexed by the Nazis Hitler ordered a literally overnight change from driving on the left to driving on the right. The inclusuion of that right-hand-drive Mercedes was quite deliberate to emphasise the theme of Austria under occupation. The Czech Republic and Hungary also drove on the left prior to WW2.

Absolute historical accuracy is often impossible to achieve largely down to a lack of anecdotal evidence as to how things were done. This is actually one of the key benefits of forums such as this one as people are interested in, recount and record the tiny little details that make scenes work or not... and it's simply amazing the tiny things that can catch one out! Watch collectors for instance agonise at length about the inaccuracy of James Bond's Rolex Submariner in "Dr No" And though the post does seem to have become lost I recounted in detail last night how (now obsolete) electronic trickery (in the form of the Quantel Painbox) was the only recourse to a heard of errant non-period cows in a period drama.

As for valve radios and the like 'warming up' on screen; this was a issue even 'back in the day' with artistic license often (necessarily) taking precedence over historical fact. Readers may care to note the 'warm up' time of current tecnology such as Blu-Ray players (up to a couple of minutes) and large LCD sets. My Hitachi set takes a good 10 seconds to start; a long time on screen!

In 40 years time will we be musing over the accuracy of current films in that respect I wonder? What I can say is that if I had to film a scene where even a modern set is switched on and shows a picture I wouldn't wait for warm-up... I'd simply feed it a picture from black.

Incidentally; isn't it the case that back in the 60's (I'm thinking ITC era; Persuaders/Avengers that sort of thing) many black-and-white sets were seen on screen with colour pictures optically printed on to them? Must fish out an example...

[Michael Maurice]

Originally Posted by TFGtv.com

They didn't! When Austria was annexed by the Nazis Hitler ordered a literally overnight change from driving on the left to driving on the right. The inclusuion of that right-hand-drive Mercedes was quite deliberate to emphasise the theme of Austria under occupation. The Czech Republic and Hungary also drove on the left prior to WW2.

Point taken!

[GMB]

This seems to be an example of where absolute accuracy can sometimes be perceived as being wrong!

I'm sure I have seen other examples like that but I can't think of any at the moment.

[Station X]

The classic must be the Titanic helm order "Hard to port", whereupon the helmsman turns the wheel to starboard. (Or maybe it was the other way round) This was correct in 1912. The present convention of turning the wheel in the same direction as the helm order wasn't adopted until about 1921.

[Tim]

There are people who STILL believe Vikings actually had horned helmets, largely due to the influence of Hollywood.

[geofy]

Originally Posted by Station X

The classic must be the Titanic helm order "Hard to port", whereupon the helmsman turns the wheel to starboard. (Or maybe it was the other way round) This was correct in 1912. The present convention of turning the wheel in the same direction as the helm order wasn't adopted until about 1921.

In the Cameron 'Titanic' film this was correct. 'Hard to Starboard' and then Officer Murdoch later says he tried to 'Port round it', The seemingly reverse order being because it was what the Stern of the ship direction was going in. First swinging to Starboard by the helmsman turning the wheel to Port to make the Bow go to Port then 'Porting round it' to try to make the Bow go to Starboard and Stern swing to Port. Of course as the Main propellers where reversed and the mid propeller stopped, the water was turbulent on the already inefficient rudder because of the stationary turbine propeller taking up the room. Seems more logical to give the later convention.

Earlier Titanic films had round demisters on the Bridge window and Klaxon sirens.

Geof

[geofy]

But we can forgive Steve McQueen for riding a 'German' Triumph Trophy in 'The Great Escape' even if he didn't do the jump stunt.

[Station X]

In the Cameron 'Titanic' film this was correct. 'Hard to Starboard' and then Officer Murdoch later says he tried to 'Port round it',

I didn't say it was incorrect, although many people think it is.

I was wrong about the date the change was made. It was 1932 when it became an offence to give "reverse" helm orders, It's possible that some shipping companies used direct helm orders before that date.

It's said that reverse helm orders were a hangover from tiller steering days.

[geofy]

Originally Posted by Station X

didn't say it was incorrect, although many people think it is.
It's said that reverse helm orders were a hangover from tiller steering days.

As the title is about historical accuracy in films, you where indeed pointing out that this was correct, though no doubt any watching the film without knowing this might think it is wrong. Though those wrapped up in the Rose Jack saga probably wouldn't notice it

Geof

[Peter.N.]

Devotees of 'Last of the summer wine' will no doubt remember that the 'kitchen' is behind the counter on the left as you enter the cafe, those who have been to Holmfirth will have observed that there is actually a solid wall there behind which there is a walkway and some steps, the strange thing is that the view through the front window is accurate, you can see the buildings opposite, presumably that would be for the benifit of those having visited the area, did they not think they wouldn't notice the lack of a kitchen?

Peter

[Lee de Forest]

I contacted a Swedish collector and this is his reply.
The set is a Concerton radio, made by the Swedish company "Stern & Stern". It's a simple set, made for just the local radio station. The colour on the speaker is made later.
After some searching I found it on the internet. (Concerton V12, 1934, valves E452T, E443H, 506)
http://www.radioar.se/fabrikat/conserton/V12/V12.html

[Michael Maurice]

By mutual consensus we've decided that this thread meandered in and out of its topic, so we've decided to consign it to history!