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Post by Greg H on Jan 27, 2010 17:00:22 GMT
Hello all, ive just been watching the open door on the tales of mystery and imagination boxset and I was wondering if anyone knows why that episode and house of usher exist while the rest from the original run do not. Were these two simply stashed on a shelf somewhere or is there more to it? any info appreciated.  |
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Post by Frederick Thompson on Jan 27, 2010 17:26:39 GMT
This is only a guess but as the original stories were by Margaret Oliphant and Edgar Alan Poe it may be that they were retained because of their literary pedigree.
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Post by Daniel O'Brien on Jan 27, 2010 17:32:02 GMT
This is only a guess but as the original stories were by Margaret Oliphant and Edgar Alan Poe it may be that they were retained because of their literary pedigree. I wonder if the survival of these two episodes was little more than chance. Many of the lost 'Mystery and Imagination' stories had distinguished literary sources, including several M.R. James adaptations and Oscar Wilde's 'The Canterville Ghost'. |
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Post by cperry on Jan 27, 2010 18:37:49 GMT
Just random luck, I found the cans as part of a TVNZ return.
c
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Post by Greg H on Jan 27, 2010 19:27:57 GMT
Oh! Well, i'd like to say a big thanks to you for that Chris. i have thoroughly enjoyed watching them Cheers very much!! |
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Post by davemachin on Jan 27, 2010 20:30:13 GMT
It's really a shame more of the original series of Mystery and Imagination doesn't exist as I watched some of them in the sixties and found them much better and more atmospheric than the Thames version, which is a different series in everything but name. If Chris found these had come back from New Zealand, maybe it raises the hope there are more there if the series was sold to that country.
Even though I would like to own the ABC episodes, I didn't buy the box set as I am unimpressed by the Thames series and didn't fancy paying for just two episodes! The ABC archive is in a poor state and only slightly healthier than the Rediffusion one. Another of their supernatural series that seems lost is Haunted with Patrick Mower, which I would also like to see.
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Dave
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Post by Peter Stirling on Jan 27, 2010 20:48:19 GMT
It's really a shame more of the original series of Mystery and Imagination doesn't exist as I watched some of them in the sixties and found them much better and more atmospheric than the Thames version, which is a different series in everything but name. If Chris found these had come back from New Zealand, maybe it raises the hope there are more there if the series was sold to that country. Even though I would like to own the ABC episodes, I didn't buy the box set as I am unimpressed by the Thames series and didn't fancy paying for just two episodes! The ABC archive is in a poor state and only slightly healthier than the Rediffusion one. Another of their supernatural series that seems lost is Haunted with Patrick Mower, which I would also like to see. . Dave Apparently ask anybody who has seen it 'Lost hearts' is an absolute classic and superior to the BBC version, likewise John Fraser in 'casting the runes' looks excellent. Seeing Brucie in the Canterville Ghost would have been a treat also. I agree, I think although Thames thought themselves aloof and apparently only employed the cream of ABC staff, some of their productions are downright tatty and Sweeney Todd held together by Freddie Jones is about the best of the bunch IMHO. However that was not the only Canterville Ghost to hit the screens that year, another one shot for ABC USA featuring Douglas Fairbanks, Peter Noone and Frankie Howard looks an absolute hoot with a cast like that. Somebody might know if it still exists ? |
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Post by davemachin on Jan 28, 2010 11:22:20 GMT
Yes unfortunately I don't recall watching the version of Lost Hearts but I do recall a few others slightly. Even that clip of Casting The Runes is really atmospheric in the few existing minutes and makes you want to see the rest. They knew obviously how to create a spooky mood on a small budget and did it really well. I don't know if the two that survive are representative of the overall quality of the series but even if not are still light years ahead of the Thames run.
Fairbanks, Howerd and Noone sounds a really whacky line-up. I would like to see that!
Dave
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Post by gileshill on Jan 30, 2010 9:25:11 GMT
Just random luck, I found the cans as part of a TVNZ return. c Hello Chris, When you were helping at ABC, did you learn where any other "orphan" film prints came from? Like the two Public Eyes and The Frightners from the Avengers? I also wonder did one Public Eye only turn up a bit before the DVDs because on the Mausoleum Club in the run up to the first DVD they said that Network had helped track one down. I also read on here once that there is a vault with disputed ownership at Pinewood and wondered if they have any ABC material perhaps? Is the dispute even over? Thanks and keep up the good work! |
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Post by cperry on Jan 30, 2010 10:50:33 GMT
The Frighteners was at Thames, it had been used for Ian Hendry's TIYL.
In the same pile as House of Usher I found the P Eye Don't Forget You're Mine which was missing. Nobody Kills Santa Claus was there for years before, I don't know where it came from.
I am unaware of Network ever finding an episode, there were rumours of some in private hands that they followed but they weren't returned.
The clip on the DVD which is ex CV-2000 was found by Simon Ellis in a filing cabinet at Teddington and transferred for our events. We gave the master of that to Network as well.
c
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Post by davemachin on Jan 30, 2010 14:19:13 GMT
I am very interested to know that more Public Eyes were thought to exist in private hands, Chris. This is one of my favourite series ever and I would like to see some more of the ABC series. Such a shame that those hoarding the episodes didn't feel generous spirited enough to come forward so Network could use them for their (brilliant) sets of dvds. From what you say, Chris, I deduce that you seem to know for sure more episodes do actually exist out there even if the owners prefer to keep them to themselves?
Sorry if this is a bit off topic.
Dave
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Post by cperry on Jan 31, 2010 8:39:06 GMT
just rumours dave
:-)
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Post by simoncoward on Jan 31, 2010 12:20:05 GMT
Still a bit off topic...
"The Frighteners" was also used for a clip in the GOODBYE TO ABC programme in 1968. That may have been what inadvertently saved it in the first place - perhaps just being in a different place at a different time to all the other episodes.
A clip from "Nobody Kills Santa Claus" was shown on television in 1976/77 - in the game show THOSE WONDERFUL TV TIMES.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2010 16:14:56 GMT
Interesting, Simon. Presumably the Santa Claus clip was still transmitted from VT at that time? Does that game show edition survive?
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Post by Nick Cooper on Feb 2, 2010 17:05:09 GMT
The Frighteners was at Thames, it had been used for Ian Hendry's TIYL. So where, timewise, does its use in Quadrophenia fit in? |
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