Note: Sadly, since I posted this blog in Spring 2012 the doll museum has closed and the premises are for sale. If I find out any more details about what has happened to Vina's collection, I'll post it here.
In a quiet corner of Nottinghamshire you'll find an almost-secret treasure. This is the Vina Cooke Museum of Dolls in the village of Cromwell... A staggering collection of dolls, dolls houses, and antique fashions housed in a grand Georgian house. Vina and her husband have spent several decades putting this collection together. Some might call it an exercise in British eccentricity, others will call it a labour of love.
The most interesting items are the pieces created by Vina herself. These aren't dolls per se, but reproductions of historical figures and film stars dressed in fantastic miniature costumes. Henry VIII and his wives, and Dame Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev are some examples.
Dorothy, Tin Man and Scarecrow modelled from The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Cowardly Lion looks just like Bert Lahr!
Film buffs however, will be drawn to the display cabinets housing Hollywood stars in authentic reproductions of costumes by the likes of Irene Sharaff (Liz Taylor in The Taming Of The Shrew 1967) and Cecil Beaton (Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady 1964). Cooke is particularly good at painting eyes - Bert Lahr is very accurate! - and the way she has captured the movement of Brigitte Bardot dancing is also very good.
Elizabeth Taylor in The Taming of the Shrew (1967)
A selection of film star dolls can be found in this room including Brigitte Bardot and Yul Brynner.
Cromwell is a short drive or bus ride away from Newark, so I recommend a quick excursion to see the dolls if you are in the area, but phone first to check for opening times. There's also a doll repair service available if diddum's is falling apart!
I was recently invited by Dee of Inside Film to talk to young learners and their parents/guardians about British social realist films at the BFI.
My brief was to give a history of social realism films, whilst considering who the films were made by and for, and offering an analysis of the extracts that I screened. The main thread of the talk was to consider the representations of the working class.
Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (1960)
After a lovely lunch in the Riverside cafe, Noel and a colleague at the BFI helped Dee and I set up.
The screening and three-hour talk went well. A very receptive audience put me at ease. After an introduction to some of the key concepts regarding social realism, the first clip I showed was an extract from O Dreamland (1953). Some members of the audience were shocked that Lindsay Anderson's film was meant to be a sympathetic portrayal of working class trippers at Margate. They rightly pointed out that the people in the film looked like 'zombies' and were filmed little differently to the caged zoo animals at Dreamland Amusement Park.
Other films we looked at included Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (1960), A Taste Of Honey (1961), Kes (1970), Raining Stones (1993), Brassed Off (1996) and A Room For Romeo Brass (1999) - a particular favourite of the afternoon.
A Room For Romeo Brass (1999)
We finished by watching Andrea Arnold's Oscar-winning short Wasp (2003). This sparked some heated comments about whose point of view the film is constructed from, and what audience the film is made for. Someone commented quite rightly that it showed working class single mothers in a bad light, whilst I pointed out that the characters in the film came across as 'grotesques' with no light and shade.
We concluded that not a lot has changed in the years since O Dreamland was made.
No
Lady, Reissue: 1943. Gaumont. Directed by Lupino Lane. Cast: Lupino
Lane. Comedy. Blackpool.
Hindle
Wakes, Gaumont. (Adapted from Stanley Houghton’s 1912 play). Produced by
Michael Balcon, Directed by Victor Saville. Cast: Sybil Thorndike. Drama.
Blackpool.
The sinister song plugger in Hindle Wakes (1931)
1932:
Hotel
Splendide, Film Engineering (Ideal). Directed by Michael Powell. Cast: Jerry
Verno, Vera Sherburne. Comedy. Clerk inherits seaside hotel built on field
where ex-convict buried loot.
Strip,
Strip Hooray! BIP (Pathe). Directed by Norman Lee. Cast: Ken Douglas, Betty
Norton. Comedy. Photographer blackmails fiancee’s father with sunbathing snaps.
Old
Spanish Customers, BIP (Wardour). Directed by Lupino Lane. Cast: Leslie Fuller,
Drusilla Wills, Binnie Barnes. Comedy. Spain. Henpeck on prize holiday mistaken
for toreador.
Holiday
Lovers, Harry Cohen (Fox). Directed by Jack Harrison. Cast: Marjorie
Pickard, George Vollaire. Romance. Couple meet on holiday and each pretend to
be rich.
1933:
To
Brighton With Gladys, George King (Fox). Directed
by George King. Cast: Harry Milton, Constance Shotter. Comedy. Man must take
rich uncle’s pet penguin from London to seaside.
Three
Men in a Boat, ATP (ABFD). Directed by Graham Cutts. (Novel Jerome K. Jerome). Cast:
William Austin, Edmond Breon, Billy Milton. Comedy. Boating holiday.
1934:
On
the Air, Reissue: 1939. (EB) British Lion. Directed by Herbert Smith. Cast:
Davy Burnaby, Anona Winn, Max Wall. Musical. Radio stars on holiday help
village vicar stage concert.
Boots!
Boots! Reissue: 1938. (Amb; 25 mins cut). Blakely (Butcher). Directed by
Bert Tracey. Cast: George Formby. Musical. Hotel ‘Boots; and scullery maid star
in cabaret.
Autumn
Crocus, ATP (ABFD). Producer/Directed Basil Dean. Cast: Ivor Novello. Romance.
Teacher on holiday falls in love with married innkeeper.
Seeing
is Believing,
B & D Paramount British. Directed by Redd Davis. Cast: Billy
Hartnell. Comedy. Police recruit mistakes girl for thief and trails her
aboard
father’s cruise ship.
Gracie Fields sings as the lights go down over Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Sing As We Go (1934)
Sing
As We Go, Reissue: 1953. (EB). ATP (ABFD). Producer/Director Basil Dean. Cast:
Gracie Fields, John Loder, Stanley Holloway. Comedy. Blackpool.
1935:
All
At Sea, Fox British. Directed by Anthony Kimmins. Cast: Tyrell Davis,
Googie Withers. Comedy. Timid clerk spends legacy on sea cruise and poses as author.
Florrie and George arrive at the hotel at Douglas...
...and George is offered a room with a sea view in No Limit (1935)
No
Limit, Reissue: 1946. ATP (ABFD).
Produced by Basil Dean, Directed by Monty Banks. Cast: George Formby. Comedy.
Isle of Man.
Little
Paper People, (ABFD). Producer/Director Margaret Hoyland. Trick. Paper
marionettes: Victorian foibles and seaside characters.
1936:
Love
At Sea, B & D/ Paramount British. Directed by Adrian Brunel. Cast:
Rosalyn Boulter. Comedy. Girl on cruise loves reporter accused of robbing her
elderly suitor.
Unlucky
Jim, Master (RKO). Directed by Harry S. Marks. Cast: Bob Stevens, Agnes
Lenton. Comedy. Adventures of two boys on half-day’s holiday.
1937:
Not
Wanted On Voyage, USA: Treachery on the High
Seas. Dela Films (BL). Directed by Emil E. Reinert. (Based on play by
Maurice Messenger Murder in the Stalls).
Cast: Bebe Daniels, Ben Lyon. Comedy. Singer and crooks seek ruby necklace during
transatlantic voyage.
Ship’s
Concert, WB-FN (Warner). Directed by Leslie Hiscott. Cast: Claude Hulbert,
Joyce Kirby. Musical. Luxury cruise passengers put on show to aid stowaway
actors.
Catch
As Catch Can, Reissue: 1943 (200 ft cut); 1947 Atlantic Episode (Stah)
Fox British. Directed by Roy Kellino. Cast: James Mason. Crime. Girl smuggles
diamond aboard transatlantic liner and crooks try to steal it.
Change
For a Sovereign, WB-FN (FN). Directed by Maurice Elvey. Cast: Seymour Hicks, Chili
Bouchier. Comedy. Ruritania. Drunken double takes place of king on holiday.
Transatlantic
Trouble, Retitled: Take it From Me, WB-FN (FN) Directed
by William Beaudine. Cast: Max Miller. Comedy. Dud boxer elopes on liner with
lady and his pursuing manager is mistaken for millionaire.
Non-Stop
New York, Reissue: 1947 (NR) Gaumont (GFD). Directed by Robert Stevenson. S
(Novel) Ken Attiwell (Sky Steward).
Cast: John Loder, Anna Lee. Crime. 1940. Gangsters try to kill chorus-girl
witness who stows away in transatlantic airliner.
The
Live Wire, Reissue: 1946 (NR) Tudor/Olympic (BL), Directed by Hernert
Brenon. S (Play) Stafford Dickens (Plunder
in the Air). Cast: Bernard Nedell. Comedy. Yankee trickster reforms and
turns worthless land into spa.
Sam
Small Leaves Town, Reissue: 1942, It’s Sam
Small Again (Fed; 9 mins cut) British Screen Service. Directed by Alfred
Goulding. Cast: Stanley Holloway. Comedy. Butlin’s, Skegness.
1938:
Bank
Holiday, USA: Three on a Weekend. Reissue: 1951 (GFD; 18 mins cut),
Gainsborough (GFD). Directed by Carol Reed. Cast: John Lodge, Margaret Lockwood,
Wally Patch, Kathleen Harrison. Drama. Brighton.
Kathleen Harrison and children on the pier in Bank Holiday (1938)
John Lodge and Margaret Lockwood try to sleep on the beach in Bank Holiday
It’s
In The Blood, WB-FN (FN). Directed by Gene Gerrard. S (Novel) David Whitelaw (The Big Picture). Cast: Claude Hulbert. Comedy.
Film fan on day trip to Bologne catches jewel thieves.
Double
or Quits, WB-FN (Warner). Directed by Roy William Neill. Cast: Frank Fox. Crime.
Reporter is double of thief who steals rare stamps on transatlantic liner.
Hey!
Hey! USA! Reissue: 1951 (17 mins cut) Gainsborough (GFD), Directed by Marcel
Varnel. Cast: Will Hay, Edgar Kennedy Comedy. Tutor on transatlantic liner
mistaken by gangster saves millionaire’s son from kidnappers.
1939:
Inspector
Hornleigh on Holiday, 20th. Century Productions (20th). Directed by Walter
Forde. Cast: Gordon Harker, Alistair Sim. Crime.
The
Middle Watch, ABPC. (Based on play by Ian King and Stephen King-Hall) Directed
by Thomas Bentley. Cast: Jack Buchanan, Greta Gynt. Comedy. Girls accidentally
taken to sea aboard battleship must be hidden from admiral.
1940:
Return
to Yesterday, Reissue: 1944 (Renown), Ealing/CAPAD (ABFD). Directed by Robert
Stevenson, Screenplay (Play) Robert Morley (Goodness,
How Sad). Cast: Clive Brook, Anna Lee. Romance. Hollywood star posing as
actor joins seaside repertory company and falls for affianced leading lady.
1941:
Gert
and Daisy’s Weekend, Reissue: 1945 (Sherwood; 10 mins cut), Butcher. Cast: Elsie
Waters, Doris Waters. Comedy. Cockney sisters take evacuees on a trip to the
countryside.
1943:
Millions
Like Us, Reissue: 1947 (ABFD; cut), Gainsborough (GFD). Cast: Eric
Portman, Patricia Roc, Gordon Jackson. War. Family spends peacetime holiday at
the seaside prior to Second World War.
1944:
Hotel
Reserve, RKO. Directed by Lance
Comfort, Max Greene. Cast: James Mason. Crime. France, 1938. Hotel guest
unmasks spy who used his camera by mistake
Chaps on the beach in Hotel Reserve (1944)
1945:
Here
We Come Gathering, Wallace (GFD). Produced and Directed by Barry Delmaine. Children,
Kent. Unpopular boy on fruit-picking holiday rescues girl from sandpit.
1946:
Hands
Across The Ocean, Gordon (BL). Directed by Harry Gordon. Cast: Pearl Cameron, Sgt
Bill Swyre. Romance. GI and English girl fall in love and tour England.
Under
New Management, Reissue: 1948 Honeymoon
Hotel (cut). Mancunian (Butcher). Producer and Director John E. Blakeley. Cast:
Nat Jackley, Norman Evans. Comedy. Sweep inherits hotel and staffs it with army
pals.
Quiet
Weekend, ABPC (Pathe). Directed by Harold French. Cast: Derek Farr,
Barbara White. Comedy. Family spend hectic weekend of romance and poaching at
country cottage.
Bibliography: Gifford, 2001, Catalogue
of British Film
The phantom ride was a popular genre or
filming technique of silent cinema. For the production of these films a camera
was attached to the front of a train or other vehicle in order to capture the
excitement of speed and motion. These early films usually only ran for a minute
or less and often appeared as a fairground or theatrical attraction. For
example, the early film pioneer R. W. Paul made a film entitled On a Runaway Motor Car Through Piccadilly
Circus (1899) ‘which showed the view from a car ‘speeding’ through the
streets’, probably created by ‘under-cranking’ the camera during filming
(Chanan, 1980: 286).
Of perhaps more interest here, however,
is Paul’s film from the previous year, A
Switchback Railway (1898), for which a camera was attached to the front of
a rollercoaster. Barnes (1983) comments that ‘audiences in those days were not
accustomed to such cinematic view-points [sic]
and would have found the film much more thrilling than we do today’ (Barnes, 1983:
17-18). He goes on to say that it is ‘an interesting film and still entertains,
but its appeal today is far different from that which was originally intended’
(Barnes, 1993: 18). It is a valid comment, but it could be argued that Barnes
is considering the film in the context of it being a novelty and a contrast to
the ‘complexities of modern-day cinema’ (Barnes, 1983: 18). What should be
considered is that although the phantom ride disappeared as a subject matter in
its own right, due to the ‘narrativization of cinema’ and longer running times,
it became incorporated into the narrative as a momentary ‘attraction’
(Elsaesser, 1990: 60; 56).
As Charles Musser suggests, as early as
1899 phantom rides ‘became incorporated into the travel narrative, enabling the
showman to literalize the traveller’s movement through time and space…G. A.
Smith made a one-shot film of a couple kissing in a railway carriage – a gag
which had comic-strip antecedents. He suggested that showmen insert Kiss in the Tunnel into the middle of a
phantom ride, after the train had entered the tunnel’ (Elsaesser, 1990: 128).
In an echo of R. W. Paul’s ‘switchback’
film, an exciting rollercoaster ride scene appears in the Blackpool Pleasure
Beach sequence in Hindle Wakes (1927).
The camera shots cut between point of view (POV) shots from the front of the
rollercoaster, and shots of the main protagonists Fanny Hawthorn (Estelle
Brody) and Allan Jeffcote (John Stuart) reacting to the thrill of the ride.
Other Pleasure Beach ride POV shots appear in Sing As We Go (1934) and the documentary Holiday (1957), again combined with reaction shots from the
holidaymakers in order to construct a thrilled reaction from the cinema-going audience.
The Big Dipper sequence from Hindle Wakes (1927)
In later years, the phantom ride also
reappeared elsewhere in a different guise. One such example was the ‘Cine 2000’
at Alton Towers theme park which attracted visitors between 1980 – 1992. This
was a large dome-shaped cinema which the audience stood inside, immersed in POV
shots being projected on the concave ceiling of the dome. As the author of the Alton
Towers Almanac website comments:
The Cine 2000 was a must have attraction in the early
eighties, with many other parks around the country also installing them at
about the same time… The movie itself was made up of specially filmed scenes on
roller coasters, racing cars, and such like. The idea worked well, and many
times I can remember people falling over, as they completely lost their sense
of balance while watching (Alton Towers Almanac).
Today,
phantom rides also appear as a marketing tool on the Blackpool Pleasure Beach
website and on the Pleasure Beach YouTube channel, which features POV videos
from the front of the Pepsi Max Big One, Infusion, and Revolution rollercoaster
rides, for instance. Similarly, there are numerous amateur videos uploaded on
YouTube by thrill-seeking holidaymakers who have either filmed their POV of the
rides, or else, turned their cameras onto themselves to capture their faces as
they scream. The phantom ride may have faded as a cinema genre or subject, but
these examples prove that it still lives on today in some form, with marketing
teams and amateur filmmakers considering the POV shots from these rides as
worthwhile content for sharing on the internet.
POVs from 'The Big One' from the Pleasure Beach YouTube channel
Bibliography & External Links:
Barnes,
John, 1983, Pioneers of the British Film,
London: Bishopsgate Press
Chanan, Michael, The Dream That Kicks, The Prehistory and Early Years of Cinema in
Britain, 1980, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul
