There was no official report on the 1986 Convention in Film for the Collector magazine, but Derann’s Derek Simmonds referred to it in issue 5 in an article on Newsreels. The after-dinner speaker at the 1986 Convention was Bob Danvers-Walker, the voice of Pathé News.
Newsreel reunion
The cinema newsreel has, for me, always held a magic that T.V. news has never been able to capture or produce. Even though T.V. news stretches to half an hour, I always feel the cinema newsreel in the short 8 minutes they had, seemed to be able to put over the stories so much better, and certainly with more “life”. Perhaps it was that touch of showmanship that T.V. never seemed to be able to perfect.
I well remember my first visit to Wardour Street, and the studios of Pathe News, for me a thrilling moment was shattered when I discovered that the background music was taken from records, I had imagined the large Pathe Studio Orchestra to be assembled for every newsreel issue. How very naive I must have been all those years ago. My local ABC cinema proudly displayed photographs showing how the newsreel was made, the cameraman, the sound recording team AND A PICTURE OF A LARGE ORCHESTRA, (I wonder what the trades description act would make of that today).
Nevertheless, cinema newsreels still weave their magic spell for me, despite their age. I still find them compulsive viewing, and can watch them again and again.
When we decided to ask Bob Danvers-Walker if he would be the after dinner speaker at the Blackpool convention, rather than write I decided to telephone him. It was quite a thrill to hear that famous voice on the telephone, despite the fact he was explaining the reason for being quite a while answering the telephone – he was digging up the potatoes out of his garden … At any moment I expected him to say “This is Pathe News”.
Chatting away on the telephone was quite interesting and rewarding, as I learned much about the newsreel, and when we met, for the first time, at Blackpool, we had quite a long and interesting chat about the goings-on in Wardour Street (I wish Bob had covered some of the funny stories in his after dinner speech). Sadly, Bob is now the last remaining cinema newsreel commentator, perhaps the beeb or ITV will make another programme covering the cinema newsreels, I certainly hope so, there is such a wealth of information that only someone like Bob Danvers-Walker can divulge.
Newsreels on 8mm (and on 16mm for that matter) are still as popular as ever with the reviews of the year easily being in the lead. Try showing one to a young teenage audience, they will find them fascinating, for they tell a story of a time they have never seen.
An interesting fact I learned from Bob was that in the early days, the music, sound effects and commentary were recorded all in one go. He told me that many times everything would be perfect right up until the last few seconds, he would then fluff his lines, and the whole thing would have to be recorded again. Much easier today, when single words can easily be edited out of a track.
In my cinema days I can remember showing a newsreel containing an item that had only happened the day before. The newsreel boys, the labs and editors used to work flat out, often through the night to get the news on the cinema screens as soon a possible. The newsreels, or special items to be spliced into the current newsreel, were then put on the train and it was the projectionists job to get to the station and collect the news – all exciting stuff but rather different today. Can you imagine how the labs suffered as the newsreels closed down, millions of feet of film a week suddenly lost, sound recordists, cameramen and editors all found themselves surplus and out of a job. Many of them found jobs in T.V., others turned to different industries, but at least we have records of those days on film, and we can perhaps re-live some of the excitement when we turn down the lights, switch on our projectors and suddenly hear the Pathe rooster once again give his famous crow, or the Fox fanfare boom out “This is Movietone” why not tell us which is your favorite newsreel, and why. Was it PARAMOUNT, UNIVERSAL, PATHE, GAUMONT SRITISH, MOVIETONE …???. We look forward to hearing from you.
DEREK SIMMONDS
Photography by Keith Wilton
Blackpool Film Collectors' Convention 