'Thunder Rock' (1942)

#1 by Ian Partridge , Wed Jun 29, 2016 10:43 pm

I am looking for this Michael Redgrave feature directed by Roy Boulting of the Robert Ardrey play about the pacifist lighthouse keeper. I am very keen on the films of the Boulting twins and have several on 16mm.

I have added 'Thunder Rock' in the Films Wanted section. I have the last reel (of 3) in 16mm. Possibly someone out there has the other two reels ? There was a large collection of films from an estate sold in a Colchester auction rooms a few years ago. Unfortunately the collector had gone into a sort of mental decline and many of the print reels were left jumbled up and were left 'end out' so it was not possible to tell what title the film was. Also the boxes had been reused and had two, or sometimes three, titles inked on each side. Once the boxes were removed from situ by the auction then it was pot luck what film was inside. Sometimes inspecting the film frames under a loupe and guessing what the title could be from the featured actors in the frames of film stock I was able to assemble complete features from the muddled up reels.

Ian


 
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RE: 'Thunder Rock' (1942)

#2 by Andrew Woodcock ( deleted ) , Wed Jun 29, 2016 10:48 pm

Would have to be on 16mm Ian no doubt. Certainly not a title I've ever seen on eight anywhere.

I take it, it is 16mm you are seeking for this one?


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Andrew Woodcock

RE: 'Thunder Rock' (1942)

#3 by Ian Partridge , Wed Jun 29, 2016 11:08 pm

Yes Andrew, it is a 16mm print I am looking for. I saw the film in the early hours on TV and I was so moved by it and curious about how the strange photographic effects were achieved I wrote to the director.

Redgrave, while intentionally isolated from the cares of a war-torn outside world, is lighthouse keeper on one of the American Great Lakes. He conjours up the spirits of long-drowned shipwrecked 19th century immigrants who gradually take on a tangible life of their own. To achieve this effect the whole film set was designed to be 'wonkey,' at an angle, so the players who exist in his mind appear unneringly distorted.

Ian


 
Ian Partridge
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RE: 'Thunder Rock' (1942)

#4 by Andrew Woodcock ( deleted ) , Wed Jun 29, 2016 11:17 pm

I hope it you find it one day Ian. It sounds intriguing.


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Andrew Woodcock

RE: 'Thunder Rock' (1942)

#5 by Andrew Woodcock ( deleted ) , Wed Jun 29, 2016 11:17 pm

I hope it you find it one day Ian. It sounds intriguing.


"C'Mon Baggy, Get With The Beat"


Andrew Woodcock

RE: 'Thunder Rock' (1942)

#6 by Clyde Miles , Wed Jun 29, 2016 11:20 pm

ian, what was boultings answer?


 
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RE: 'Thunder Rock' (1942)

#7 by Ian Partridge , Thu Jun 30, 2016 12:00 am

Clyde, after six months I received several pages of closely typed 'film script scenario' on the making of 'Thunder Rock' from Roy Boulting. He had typed it out while recovering from a fall, on his old portable that had been twice round the world.

The script has Mutz Greenbaum, the lighting cameraman, and Roy discussing the film in preparation complete with pouring out the single malt. One lens only was used for the entire film rather than the usual telephoto and wide angle lenses used on a normal feature. It was subtle propaganda to encourage isolationist Americans to engage with the war by showing, in the lives of the drowned European immigrants, that one cannot turn away to world events.

Ian


 
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RE: 'Thunder Rock' (1942)

#8 by Clyde Miles , Thu Jun 30, 2016 12:17 am

thank you ian, interesting. best


 
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RE: 'Thunder Rock' (1942)

#9 by Robert Crewdson ( deleted ) , Thu Jun 30, 2016 10:36 am

One of the Boulting brothers lived just outside Oxford, at Eynsham. I think it was Roy. He spoilt a very good film 'A Sailor of the King' (remake of Brown of H.M.S. Resolution), by giving the audience the choice of an alternate ending.


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Robert Crewdson

RE: 'Thunder Rock' (1942)

#10 by Hugh Thompson Scott ( deleted ) , Thu Jun 30, 2016 11:43 am

I remember it being on TV 14 years ago, C4 if I remember, it was a talking point between myself and my mate, as he'd watched
it too that afternoon. A very good film, a nice ghost story. Get some ads posted Ian for the missing reels. I had a similar experience
when left some films etc, the man was losing his grip, some films had been vandalised by mixing footage, some very badly scratched,
but there were survivors.



Hugh Thompson Scott

RE: 'Thunder Rock' (1942)

#11 by Ian Partridge , Fri Jul 01, 2016 2:39 am

Yes it was Roy Boulting that lived in Eynsham.

Perhaps the film shown with the alternate endings, 'A Sailor for the King,' was because they always broadcast the preview theatre copy? And not the version for theatrical release ? The film does ask the audience to fill in a questionaire card on the way out ?

Ian


 
Ian Partridge
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RE: 'Thunder Rock' (1942)

#12 by Robert Crewdson ( deleted ) , Fri Jul 01, 2016 11:08 am

Thanks for that explanation, Ian.


Robert Crewdson

   

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