Photographic proof that about seventy years ago, the Globe & Mail was once cool.
Unidentified group of men with the Globe & Mail's Grumman G-73 Mallard amphibian at the Toronto Island Airport, circa late 1940s. (Toronto Archives, Fonds 1257, Series 1057, Item 2049)
The straight vertical windows on the control tower indicate that this photo was taken prior to the early 1950s, when it was upgraded with now-familiar sloping glass windows. The Grumman G-73 Mallard was only in production from 1946 through 1951, further narrowing the possible date of origin.
This film is remarkable for several reasons, which are best enumerated and illustrated by reading through the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater’s Foreign Correspondent online exhibit. But I’ll endeavour to give you a brief summary here.
Director Alfred Hitchcock was able to spin a gripping and oddly prescient tale of a fictionalised Second World War—which at the time of filming had really only just begun. In fact the Tripartite Pact (establishing the formal alliance of Axis powers Germany, Italy and Japan) was signed a month after principal photography had wrapped. The film opened to U.S. audiences at the commencement of the Battle of Britain, and a scene in which the Germans bomb London was echoed a week later when the Germans actually bombed London for the first time in that conflict.
The art director had to build reproductions of Waterloo Station, the Hotel Europe, two ocean liners, a large flying boat, and a 3-storey windmill.
Locations in Europe had to be re-shot after the ocean liner carrying the original location footage was torpedoed by a U-boat.
A full-scale mock-up of an Imperial Airways Empire flying boat was constructed, at a cost of $47,000. A crash scene involving the mock-up added $250,000 to the film’s eventual $1.48 million price tag.
This film is definitely a priority in the growing list of films I need to see.
James Kightly, journalist and author of the Vintage Aeroplane Writer, shows off the glamorous postwar conversion of Consolidated PBY-5A 34045 (civil registry N69043) to a Landseaire flying yacht. His informative and droll image captions are not to be missed.
You’ll forgive me for marvelling at the aesthetics of film photography, flying boats and pleasant company, of course.
Mid-cabin sleeping area. (Loomis Dean / LIFE magazine. February 2nd, 1950)
Suunbathing on one of the Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp radial engines. (Loomis Dean / LIFE magazine. February 2nd, 1950)
Lounge/bar in one of what was formerly one of the waist gunner blisters. (Loomis Dean / LIFE magazine. February 2nd, 1950)
On-board shower. (Loomis Dean / LIFE magazine. February 2nd, 1950)
Moored for port visit. Note nose gunner blister has been removed; bow is more streamlined than typical wartime PBY. (Loomis Dean / LIFE magazine. February 2nd, 1950)
At the saloon table, playing cards. (Loomis Dean / LIFE magazine. February 2nd, 1950)
A-Team (2010) cast, left to right; Bradley Cooper (Lt. Templeton Peck), Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson (Sgt Bosco ‘B.A.’ Baracus), Sharlto Copley (Capt. ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock), and Liam Neeson (Col John ‘Hannibal’ Smith). (Source: Dr. Malo / Slashfilm.com)
It would be hard to find a filmgoer who does not lament Hollywood’s recent obsession with cannibalizing itself, remaking the hits of yesteryear in a vain attempt to draw shrinking audiences to ever-more-expensive spectacles. Once in a blue moon these remakes are spectacular (like Christopher Nolan’s reboot of the Batman franchise); more often they are profound disappointments that only serve to remind us of the old aphorism that one really can’t go home again.
I strongly suspect that Joe Carnahan’s A-Team film is going to fall squarely into the disappointment side of the divide. It’s based on a campy 1980s television show about an improbable premise; the show’s television plotlines regularly stretched the boundaries of credibility (something that its kiddie audience of the time could easily overlook; adults, less so); and Jessica Biel features in the cast of the new movie. If there is an internationally recognised signal for poor filmmaking, that signal is Ms. Biel. Yes, she is a very pretty woman, and we would doubtless extend her great courtesy should we ever make her acquaintance. But someone looking over her filmography could be forgiven for thinking that her agent is actually trying to destroy her career, with some success.
Regrettably, recent news from British Columbia is telling me that I will be required to see this film (although likely not first-run in theatres). Mr. David Wiwchar for AlberniPortal.ca notes that the gargantuan Hawaii Mars, a 63-year-old Martin JRM-1 flying-boat, has a moment in the limelight for the A-Team film. (Note that there are spoilers in the linked article, but not in what I have excerpted below.)
PORT ALBERNI – The Hawaii Mars performed in front of the cameras Thursday, as the plane has a starring role in the big-screen version of the popular 1980’s TV show ‘The A-Team’.
Large movie cameras were mounted on a pair of helicopters and also on boats, as the crew of Hawaii Mars performed multiple “touch-and-go” take-offs, landings and aerial maneuvers near Vancouver.
…Originally, the second Coulson Flying Tanker ‘Phillipine Mars’ was supposed to do the flight since 20th Century Fox invested almost $200,000 to improve the planes airworthiness, with Hawaii Mars busy fighting fires in California. But as the filming schedule dragged on, the Hawaii Mars returned from Lake Elsinore and became available for the filming.
…The BC Government has asked Coulson Water Tankers owner Wayne Coulson if the Hawaii Mars could perform a few water drops in Burrard Inlet during the upcoming Olympic festivities, so the break in filming allowed crew members to plan for the event.
The linked article also includes a small image of Port Alberni seen through Hawaii Mars‘ cockpit windows; I have reproduced it here so you may avoid the spoilers.
Source: AlberniPortal.ca
One wonders if part of that $200,000 upgrade package for sister ship Philippine Mars also included an instrument panel upgrade for Hawaii Mars. This July 2006 photo from Flickr user World Wide Murman shows a panel comprised of old steam gauges, with even the more contemporary radio stack containing many components (Nav, ADF transceivers and transponder) that are about as old as I am. The Technisonic TFM-138 VHF/FM transceiver is probably the youngest component in that panel; even the GPS (a Garmin GPS 150) has since been discontinued:
Compared to the July 2006 photos, the AlberniPortal.ca image seems to show a very nice retrofit of a Garmin G600 “glass cockpit” PFD/MFD combination, plus new components in the radio stack.
The flying-boat’s role in February’s Winter Olympics is also noteworthy; I wonder if it part of the opening ceremonies, or merely a sideshow to keep people entertained during the actual sporting events.
MYSTERY SOLVED: Flickr user Tom Harnish has captured a more recent (October 2009) image of Hawaii Mars‘ instrument panel. The PFD/MFD pair is definitely a Garmin G600 system. The separate NAV/COM/ADF transceivers have been replaced by a pair of Garmin GNS 430Ws; these are all-in-one GPS/Nav/Com solutions. The existing Technisonic TFM-138 VHF transceiver has been supplemented with an additional (and newer) TFM-138B model, and the XPDR is now a Garmin GTX 330 (or its lesser but similarly-styled sibling, the GTX 327).
Not a bad facelift for a plane that was built before even basic VORs were invented.
The British Columbia-based Coulson Group has thoughtfully provided footage from Martin Mars training and currency flights in Southern California.
WARNING: Contains regrettable Nickelback soundtrack, although the case could be made that it is semi-appropriate, as the Mars really is the last surviving rock star of flying boats.
The RAF’s Nos. 201 and 230 Squadrons, operating Short Sunderland V flying boats, supplied the British North Greenland expedition between 1951 and 1954. Later in 1954, the squadrons ferried the entire expedition (including the husky dog teams) back to Pembroke Dock, Wales.
Star Wars fans will be interested to know that a hangar on the former RAF flying boat base was also the fabrication site of a full-scale Millenium Falcon model, built in 1979 for the filming of The Empire Strikes Back.
This aircraft was built in 1943 for the RAF (as a Short S.25 Sunderland), but ended up being held in reserve and not used in wartime operations. It was transferred back to manufacturer Short Bros. & Harland as surplus in 1947, and subsequently converted into the civil version (Sandringham) for airline use.
It was leased by Tasman Empire Airways from the UK Ministry of Transport, given the New Zealand civil registry ZK-AMH, and flew as RMA (Royal Mail Aircraft) Auckland until the end of 1949. It then operated for a variety of Australian carriers (with Australian civil registry VH-BRC) until 1974, and a Puerto Rican airline (with US registry N158C) until 1978, when it was sold to a private owner.
Following the death of its owner it lay derelict until 1980, but was then sold to a UK science museum in 1982. Throughout its long career this aircraft logged over 19,500 flying hours. Today, VH-BRC is one of three Sandringhams still extant, and is preserved at the Solent Sky aviation museum.
Whenever the Berlin Airlift is remembered, the C-54s of the United States Air Force justifiably get a lot of the glory. But it was very much a team effort, with the transport fleets of all US military services (and most Western allies) heavily invested in the airlift. One aspect that I was not aware of until quite recently was that the Royal Air Force even used its Short Sunderland flying boats. The Sunderlands operated from Finkenwerder, Hamburg, alighting on Lake Havel in Berlin. They flew until winter icing rendered the lake too hazardous for arrivals.
NOTE: There is even a tiny bit of Canadian content, mainly parcels marked with a maple leaf and “Made in Canada”, appearing at the 00:35 mark. Try not to snicker at the irony of things marked “Keep Dry” (salt, probably) arriving via flying boat, and being offloaded into a smaller boat for transport to shore.
Chris flies a desk for a living but is an aeronautics enthusiast who delights in the Golden Age of Aviation. He admires all the pioneering men and women who travelled the world equipped with only a map, compass, sextant, and the conviction that there was no place they could not reach.
Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent" (1940): Flying boat crash scene, terrific. Previous 2hrs to get to that mark: so-so. 2010/03/05
There's a species of giant, 'ornamental' onion called Globemaster. http://bit.ly/HcqeN As in C-74, C-124, C-17. Was it named after the acft? 2010/03/03
I want to be miffed over Kevin Smith's inconvenience on Southwest Airlines, but part of me is just horribly entertained by it all. 2010/02/14
Ah here we go... video of the Airborne Laser Testbed engaging the Romulans. http://bit.ly/dfaNqk#fb2010/02/12
Airborne Laser spanks short-range ballistic missile in flight http://bit.ly/a9VlMd ...But shouldn't there be some kind of cool phaser video? 2010/02/12
Chris flies a desk for a living but is an aeronautics enthusiast who delights in the Golden Age of Aviation. He admires all the pioneering men and women who travelled the world equipped with only a map, compass, sextant, and the conviction that there was no place they could not reach.
