Tag: film

Auction alert: TV and Film-related sale

Star Wars Episode I Darth Maul full head latex mask

Having grown up in the 70s & 80s, this week’s Auction Alert really triggered some childhood memories for me. The upcoming TV and Film-related sale takes place on Tuesday 28th March 28 2023 from 10am. It’s being held by Vectis Auctions Ltd who are located in Stockton on Tees.

Almost all my movie and TV viewing from that era has come back to life; Six Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, Happy Days, Charlie’s Angels, Little House on the Prairie, Kojak, The A-Team, Dukes of Hazard, Space 1999, Star Wars, Star Trek.

I remember the little girl crushes I had on Erik Estrada from Chips and Paul Michael Glazer from Starsky & Hutch. I wanted to be Farrah Fawcett, I especially wanted her long, blonde hair. I had a series of metal lunch kits (with matching vacuum flasks) that I took my food & drink to school in – mostly Disney character ones, I think. These have now become highly collectable.

Saying all this, the sale includes lots of other memorabilia from the 90s, noughties and the new millennium – I’ve just chosen to reminisce about my youth below!

What TV shows and films did you love when you were growing up?

Sideshow Star Wars Sandtrooper Squad Leader ⅙ scale figure

Lot 4021: Sideshow Star Wars Sandtrooper Squad Leader ⅙ scale figure

Excellent to Near Mint complete, within Excellent opened packaging. Sideshow Star Wars Sandtrooper Sergeant Tatooine ⅙ scale figure, Excellent to Near Mint (missing blaster), within Excellent opened packaging. (2)
Estimate £150 – £220

Star Wars Episode I Darth Maul full head latex mask

Lot 4166: Star Wars Episode I Darth Maul full head latex mask

Signed by Ray Park, with photo of signing, Good Plus to Excellent.
Estimate £40 – £60

Cherilea loose motorbikes and sidecars x three for 12" scale figures

Lot 4242: Cherilea loose motorbikes and sidecars x three for 12″ scale figures

Fair. Loose Action Man Armoured Car, Good. includes weapons, all unchecked for completeness. (4)
Estimate £20 – £40

Thermos Little House on the Prairie vintage 1978 metal lunch box and Thermos flask

Lot 4257: Thermos Little House on the Prairie vintage 1978 metal lunch box and Thermos flask

Flask is Good Plus to Excellent with instruction sheet for Flip ‘n’ Sip top, lunch Box is Good.
Estimate £40 – £60

Chad Valley The Six Million Dollar Man 3D Viewer

Lot 4278: Chad Valley The Six Million Dollar Man 3D Viewer

Excellent, complete, within Fair opened packaging.
Estimate £20 – £40

Denys Fisher 1976 The Bionic Woman Jamie Sommers figure

Lot 4280: Denys Fisher 1976 The Bionic Woman Jamie Sommers figure

Pull back skin on arm has become fragile and cracked otherwise Excellent, with unused accessories, within Good opened packaging.
Estimate £70 – £100

Thermos vintage 1976 Happy Days metal lunch box and flask

Lot 4283: Thermos vintage 1976 Happy Days metal lunch box and flask

With leaflets
Flask is Excellent, lunchbox is Good. Mego vintage 1976 Happy Days Fonzie loose 8″ action figure, Good. (2)
Estimate £60 – £80

Palitoy vintage 1977 Kojak Talking Police Car

Lot 4291: Palitoy vintage 1977 Kojak Talking Police Car

Good, untested, within Good (creased, dented) lift off lid box.
Estimate £80 – £100

Corgi 292 Starsky & Hutch Ford Torino

Lot 4294: Corgi 292 Starsky & Hutch Ford Torino

Finished in red, white stripe, chrome front and rear bumpers (1st issue with 4-spoke wheels) complete with correct 3 x figures – overall condition is generally Near Mint including plastic tray, backing card is Excellent, within a generally Good (plastic window is dented) striped window box.
Estimate £80 – £100

Hasbro Charlie's Angels vintage Jill (Farrah Fawcett-Majors) 8.5" figure

Lot 4299: Hasbro Charlie’s Angels vintage Jill (Farrah Fawcett-Majors) 8.5″ figure

Mint, within Good Plus to Excellent bubble, upon Good Plus punched card. Hasbro Charlie’s Angels Jill’s Flying Skateboard Adventure outfit and accessory pack, Mint, Unused, within Good opened packaging. (2)
Estimate £50 – £70

Addar Products Corp. vintage 1973 Planet of the Apes Dr. Zaius model kit

Lot 4315: Addar Products Corp. vintage 1973 Planet of the Apes Dr. Zaius model kit

Within Excellent sealed packaging, cellophane has split and opened at one end. Playpal Plastics Apjac Productions vintage 1974 Planet of the Apes Galen money bank, Good, missing bottom stopper. (2)
Estimate £40 – £60

Ideal "Chips" Free Wheeling Motorcycle

Lot 4325: Ideal Chips Free Wheeling Motorcycle

Suitable for 8″ figures, Excellent, Within Good Plus to Excellent lift-off lid box, with inserts.
Estimate £30 – £40

Mattel Mork and Mindy Robin Williams as Mork

Lot 4330: Mattel Mork and Mindy Robin Williams as Mork

With talking space pack, 9″ tall, Excellent to Near Mint, within Good window front box.
Estimate £40 – £60

Four cinematic offices you’ll never forget

Still from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)credit

Of course, the main thing we see when we’re watching a film is the actors and their interactions; we listen to their dialogue and watch their body language to get the full import as to the movie’s message.

Sometimes, however, the environment they’re in is just as important – it sets the backdrop, makes us feel free, fearful or inspired. In films which feature offices, you’d be forgiven for overlooking many of the sets – they’re just there to provide a place to sit, to show that people are at work. Then there are the films that use the office setting as a protagonist in itself – after all, many of us spend five days a week in one of these places, so why wouldn’t these environments loom large?

Here are four films that use offices as effective – and memorable – characters.

Still from 'The Incredibles' (2004)credit

The Incredibles

Life as a decommissioned hero is a miserable experience for Mr Incredible and there’s no greater sign of this than his cookie-cutter, grey and oppressive little office cubicle. This box is where he sits day after day, trying not to deny insurance pay-outs to elderly clients, until his bullying jobs-worth of a boss pushes him too far and ends up pile-driven through each and every wall in the place. This 2004 hit gives us a worthy metaphor for busting out of corporate chains if ever there was one.

Still from 'The Matrix' (1999)credit

The Matrix

Another maze of grey cubicles in this 1999 film, and another hero breaking out of them (almost). Keanu Reeves gets a weird call from a weird mobile phone that (weirdly) arrives in the post. The (weird) call tells him to get out of his office and so he tries. However, he (probably quite sensibly) bottles it and the men in black grab him and stifle further comment by making his mouth seal over. That doesn’t happen at your average commercial property in St James, eh?

Still showing Floor 7½ from Being John Malkovich (1999)credit

Being John Malkovich

1999 was a year for surreal offices and the Mertin-Flemmer Building in Being John Malkovich was particularly strange, what with having a half-sized floor and all. Floor 7½ gives us some very memorable moments – a pastiche corporate training video which explains the story behind the half-floor being just one. Apparently, a sea captain fell in love with a dwarf and promised to build a half-sized floor in his new office building just for her. If that wasn’t weird enough, a filing cabinet on this floor hides a portal into John Malkovich’s consciousness. Would you go through it? Really?

Still from American Psycho (2000)credit

American Psycho

This 2000 film looks back at 1980s bear-pit corporate culture through the eyes of Patrick Bateman, who may or may not be a status-driven murdering sociopath. Bateman is a mergers and acquisitions specialist who hangs his entire identity and mental stability on his cool clothes, his fancy juicer and the exotic fruit he pushes through it and his moisturiser. When his colleagues and rivals show how cool and influential they are too, he doesn’t like it. When there’s a good old dinkle-swinging contest over business cards in a conference room, Bateman finally tips over the edge and then it’s nail-guns and dead tramps all the way.

What films can you think of that contain iconic or memorable offices?

Tuesday Huesday: El Zurdo

'Tuesday Huesday' blog post banner

vintage poster from "El Zurdo" aka "The Left Handed Gun" starring Paul NewmanImage credit: Cinemamix

Happy Left-Handers Day! Adelle is left-handed (along with about 10% of the world population). To celebrate we’re featuring a vintage Spanish film poster for El Zurdo (meaning southpaw). Starring Paul Newman, the original English title is The Left Handed Gun. It refers to the (disputed) fact that the infamous outlaw, Billy the Kid was left-handed.