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Post by Peter Prentice on Apr 27, 2009 8:02:46 GMT
Thanks Chris, will be in touch.
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Post by Peter Stirling on Apr 27, 2009 8:15:52 GMT
Peter.
Is it just the shipping costs ? or are you having to pay for the archive as well?
You probably know that the director of photography Oliver Wood is still very much with us and has gone on to do stuff like The Bourne Identity etc ?
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Post by Peter Prentice on Apr 27, 2009 9:35:30 GMT
Hi Peter.
Yes, it IS just the shipping costs. I have been given a rough estimate of 13,000 HKD, or £1,150 to have everything shipped over. Getting the Popdown material sent here has already cleaned me out financially, I'm sorry to say, so I could certainly do with some assistance. To have suddenly become custodian of the filmmaker's entire output was something I wasn't quite bargaining for!
Oliver Wood is already in the loop. He kindly responded to a letter I sent out back in December, but his memory of the production is a little hazy (as is almost everyone's!). Something he did point out was the plot's similarity with a certain 1970's film starring David Bowie (something I must admit I had overlooked). Like many others, he never got to see the finished film and would be interested to see it today.
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Post by Peter Prentice on Apr 27, 2009 9:54:17 GMT
Actually, while I'm on the subject. If any of the following people happen to stumble across this thread, please contact me at Popdown1968@yahoo.com :
Jane Bates Carol Rachell Mike Foale Bill Marshall Bill Aron Claudio Ardito Tony Hicks (NOT the Hollies' guitarist, apparently) Debbie Slater Nicole Yerna Nicola Austin Elly (Ellie?) Powell John Robbins Margaret Evans Yvonne French Marita Leslie Anne Dunhill Angela Basset Roydon Wheeler Anne Sinclair Anne Lambert Amanda Lear (yes, THAT Amanda Lear!) Veronica Gardnier (aka Contessa Veronica) Maria Toledo Rocky Allen and/or Cindy Zare Renate Torri
I would love to hear your memories of the film!
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Post by Peter Prentice on Apr 29, 2009 14:38:06 GMT
The three 35mm reels arrived yesterday, along with two 35mm reels of what appears to be material from one of Fred Marshall's Asian productions. Due to their condition (they were in noticeably poorer shape than the first shipment), I was unable to determine their exact contents, but one reel does appear to contain 60's-themed material - a good sign.
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Post by ajsmith on May 28, 2009 6:31:14 GMT
Hi there Peter; how goes the cataloguing of these reels? How far have you managed in breaking down exactly what's on them, and what material, if any, is from Popdown? Sorry to bother you about this: just very excited about the mention of these recovered reels and their contents. It was above and beyond the call of duty for you to pay for their shipment and I'm very greatful you made the investment.
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Post by Peter Prentice on May 28, 2009 12:17:24 GMT
Hi there Peter; how goes the cataloguing of these reels? How far have you managed in breaking down exactly what's on them, and what material, if any, is from Popdown? Sorry to bother you about this: just very excited about the mention of these recovered reels and their contents. It was above and beyond the call of duty for you to pay for their shipment and I'm very greatful you made the investment. Hi AJ. The 16mm reels are currently in the hands of Chris Perry at Kal so, frustratingly, I still have no idea as to their exact contents. The markings on the reels suggest that most of them, if not all, ARE from the film. I decided against making too close an inspection of the reels for fear of damaging the material, but the outer frames of one did appear to show the actress and model, Jane Bates. For the record, the eleven reels were marked as follows: 1 BELLY DANCER PIX (presumably something to do with 'exotic dancer', Yvonne French) 2 T.L. SURFING TRK 3 PIX - STARS IN THE SNOW + ROCKY ALLEN & CINDY (I would imagine Stars in the Snow is a reference to the St. Moritz sequence. Rocky Allen & Cindy were a couple of Trinidadian limbo dancers) 4 unmarked 5 BELLY DANCER (probably Yvonne French again) 6 CARNIVAL PIX 7 START - EYE TEST PIX 8 TIME INTO MOTION - START - [undecipherable word crossed-out] - TRACK 9 EYE TEST - SOUND TRACK 10 ROCKY ALLEN & CINDY - ACTION (ORIGINAL) 11 CARNIVAL SOUND Needless to say, everyone connected with the film is eager to see the material. For many it will be the first footage they have ever seen. My overriding priority at the minute is to save Fred Marshall's film library. To that end, I have been trying to drum up support amongst the Asian film community - critics, distributors, academics, fellow filmmakers etc. Progress is slow, however, and time is rapidly running out; some material has already been shipped out to a neighbouring school for temporary storage. I am scheduled to meet up with several people involved in Popdown next week, and I'm hoping they will be able to shed further light on some of the many mysteries still surrounding the film. Former models, Anne Dunhill and Debbie Slater, are the latest recruits to the project.
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Post by Ant Harvison - WIPED NEWS on May 28, 2009 18:33:45 GMT
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Post by Peter Prentice on Jun 8, 2009 17:50:52 GMT
Great news to report.
Contemporary Films believe they have a new, unscreened print of the film. As it is only two reels it is very likely to be the same theatrically released version that was screened at the Scala in 1984.
In addition, I may have located a copy of Chelsea Bird elsewhere.
It was Peter Stirling who first pointed me in their direction, but it wasn't until after last week's London rendezvous with Richard de Clare that I made an enquiry. I already knew that Contemporary was the distributor of an Andy Warhol documentary Richard had acquired whilst working for Fred Marshall, but I had no idea they were the recipients of one of the 6-8 prints of Popdown in circulation until Richard mentioned it in passing.
We are extremely fortunate to have it. The film was part of a batch of about 500 titles that were moved from Contemporary's old storage vault in Highgate in December and earmarked for destruction. Amazingly, just a fortnight ago, Contemporary's owner Eric Liknaitzky went to oversee the process and pulled out a few films for further research - Popdown being one of them! Talk about saved in the nick of time! I don't think I would ever have forgiven myself for not acting sooner on Peter Stirling's tip-off.
A private screening is already being arranged, and I'm hoping a proper screening can be organised at some point. Eric is keen on releasing the film on DVD, as is everyone connected with it, but obviously one or two things will have to be ironed out before we reach that stage. If it's at all possible, I want to include Chelsea Bird, the 16mm excerpts and a gallery of Jak Kilby's marvellous stills as bonus features. That would really feel like job done!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2009 20:22:30 GMT
Very nice to get this kind of good news - I wish more of the hunts for missing material achieved this kind of result! Thanks for keeping us in the picture at every stage. Is it safe to assume that the film is safe and archived now?
One thing: what happened to the other 500 items earmarked for destruction and what did this Highgate collection consist of?
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Post by Peter Prentice on Jun 9, 2009 8:00:02 GMT
Very nice to get this kind of good news - I wish more of the hunts for missing material achieved this kind of result! Thanks for keeping us in the picture at every stage. Is it safe to assume that the film is safe and archived now? One thing: what happened to the other 500 items earmarked for destruction and what did this Highgate collection consist of? Although a visual assessment has been carried out, it still needs to be checked, which is why a screening is being hastily arranged. Eric seems pretty upbeat about the print, so I think we should be okay. I must admit I was a little concerned to hear about the 500 titles. I only found out yesterday, so I haven't had a chance to ask Eric about them, but I will do when an opportunity presents itself.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2009 10:02:27 GMT
Thanks Peter. I'm only worried that other valuable / rare / missing material may be in there. I find it truly shocking that whole archives are still being routinely junked in this day and age. We seem to have learned nothing at all from the mistakes of the past.
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Post by Peter Prentice on Jun 9, 2009 17:58:05 GMT
I asked Eric about the titles and he told me it was mostly material damaged beyond repair or duplicate material already held by Contemporary. Nothing important!
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Post by Peter Stirling on Jun 9, 2009 19:27:45 GMT
Hi Peter that is brilliant news ! thanks for the feedback.
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Post by Peter Prentice on Jun 9, 2009 20:10:45 GMT
Hi Peter that is brilliant news ! thanks for the feedback. Think nothing of it - you helped recover a long-lost film! Let's hope we can get it out on DVD as soon as possible.
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