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Posted by on February 1, 2008, 7:19 pm
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A fellow phone buff had the honor of picking up and later returning a
loaned Call Director set to be used as a prop in a school play he was
in. There was no charge; he got it at a local business office.
Every movie and TV show has some telephone props in it, ranging from
simple plain sets to large switchboards. Movies that show an office
would have numerous phones (ie "All the Presidents Men" which had
keysets with glowing lights in them.) Often there were scenes where
characters were in a phone booth and a pay phone.
In 1950s-60s sitcoms often the sets were color which were a premium
charge back then.
Most of the time (though not always) the equipment was Western
Electric. (In some productions AE or Kellogg sets were used).
Obviously Hollywood had a need for a lot of telephone sets, and
occasionally working keyset lights. Did the Bell System charge
Hollywood for loaners? Did the Bell System provide key system gear to
make key lights work? Were special keyset lights required to be seen
under floodlights of a scene?
Or did studios own a prop house of various telephone equipment that
was used as needed?
Often the sound and light effects were not authentic; sometimes the
lights on a keyset didn't flash the way they were supposed to. Often
the ringers didn't match the phone. To this day pay phones make a
'ding-ding' sound when coins are dropped even though that was removed
years ago.
As an aside, TV productions made extensive use of operator style
headsets; all the crew wore a headset to hear orders from the
director. Were these supplied by Western Electric? (I saw some made
by RCA for studio use.)
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Posted by mc on February 1, 2008, 11:20 pm
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And is Hollywood served by Pacific Bell or by GTE? (Or whatever they call
them nowadays?)
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Posted by Sam Spade on February 2, 2008, 6:13 pm
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> And is Hollywood served by Pacific Bell or by GTE? (Or whatever they call
> them nowadays?)
>
I think all the studios are in Pac Tel territory although Fox is on the
cusp.
What is known as "Hollywood" per se (a part of Los Angeles) is
completely Pac Tel.
The films that had key sets that worked correctly had a Pac Tel
technical advisor. Just like the films that get flying jargon and
equipment right have an aviation technical advisor.
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Posted by on February 3, 2008, 9:46 am
If you were Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options > And is Hollywood served by Pacific Bell or by GTE? (Or whatever they call
> them nowadays?)
I think studios expanded beyond the original "Hollywood" section many
years ago. Old warehouses became sound stages. Many films were made
'on location' in various cities.
What's weird is when they make a period film today. The old phones
used are a pot pouri of stuff, plenty of AE and Kellog sets mixed in.
Indeed, I just saw an AE color Space-Saver set (they had roundish
bodies while the WE types had square bodies).
I wonder what kind of telephone systems the studios themselves used.
Many industrial plants of that size used privately owned telephone
systems for internal plant communications and Bell equipment only for
external calls so as to save rental charges. On the one hand, some
studio owners in the golden age were frugal, on the other hand, they
had huge egos and liked the big-shot impression multiple telephone
sets gave us.
In the old days the Bell System made specialized PBX/key systems for
use in large residences. The butler could answer incoming calls and
switch them around. There was also intercom capability within the
mansion. I suspect plenty of stars had such systems, and also
customized colored or fancy sets.
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