Use of Actual Vintage Arms as Props in Early Films

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

.... I am wondering if anyone has seen any specific literature on this apparently very esoteric subject. Jerseyman, do you know of references?
The books you noted on the actors as swordsmen, but nothing on the weapons they used.

I have just acquired a 'Celtic/La Tene' sword, with an anthropomorphic hilt in cast bronze, nicely stamped 'Verch & Flothow', Charlottenburg' They made weapons for stage combat for the Charlottenburg Palace Theatre in Berlin late 19c/early 20c. They made swords for plays and operas covering all periods.



I can't find much by googling that, but I did find one of their rapiers that went for a multi-thousand Euro price recently.



I've been told they were made with German meticulousness, with the same methods an original antique one would have been.


You might be able to use that and branch out your research.

[werecow]

Originally Posted by Rick

Splits in the handles of older Sikkins seem almost ubiquitous.

Yeah... The mouth on the pommel end seems almost made to facilitate it.

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by werecow

Yeah... The mouth on the pommel end seems almost made to facilitate it.

I use 'Hooflex' on my horn grips.

[werecow]

Originally Posted by kronckew

:) I use 'Hooflex' on my horn grips.

I've used neatsfoot oil on a dried out yataghan grip before, so that makes sense.

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by kronckew

I have just acquired a 'Celtic/La Tene' sword, with an anthropomorphic hilt in cast bronze, nicely stamped 'Verch & Flothow', Charlottenburg' They made weapons for stage combat for the Charlottenburg Palace Theatre in Berlin late 19c/early 20c. They made swords for plays and operas covering all periods.



I can't find much by googling that, but I did find one of their rapiers that went for a multi-thousand Euro price recently.



I've been told they were made with German meticulousness, with the same methods an original antique one would have been.


You might be able to use that and branch out your research.

That is really helpful!! Thats the first definitive maker name I have seen.
Thank you so much!

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

That is really helpful!! Thats the first definitive maker name I have seen.
Thank you so much!

Another name for you Aug. Schneider, Berlin.


From theatrical swords: (not mine) 19-20c

[Lead Snowstorm]

For those interested in more 'modern' weapons, my most frequently encountered weapons with cinematic heritage tend to be the various trapdoor rifles (usually 1873-1884). On the one hand, they were of course the actual weapons used in the west, which was formerly a very hot subject of interest, although cooling lately.

On the other hand, as the last of the sidelock, hammer-fired rifles, they conveniently could fire cartridge blanks but be mocked-up to look like flintlocks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0lO...rgottenWeapons

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-l...5-c-121427f8a3

[Ian]

Jim,

I'm just getting to your fascinating thread on theatrical weapons. You mentioned people going through old movie companies' prop collections and culling weapons. In eBay's early days there was a Californian seller who had a ton of this stuff. I bought a few pieces. Of note were two swords from Yul Brunner's version of Genghis Khan (1965). Both swords were for extras. Each was a U.S. cavalry saber from the 1860s from which the hilt and guard had been removed and a crude aluminum hilt added. I still have them somewhere and I think I still have the sales docket from the late 90s/early 2000s. I believe the sabers came from Bannerman's Catalog originally and were modified on site by the props people.

I have a few other swords from the same source but I don't know which movies they may have been used in. Again, they were 19th C pieces, and from memory they were Austrian sabers (but I will have to dig back in my archives to get that info.).

Cheers,

Ian.

[Jim McDougall]

[QUOTE=Ian;280106]Jim,

I'm just getting to your fascinating thread on theatrical weapons. You mentioned people going through old movie companies' prop collections and culling weapons. In eBay's early days there was a Californian seller who had a ton of this stuff. I bought a few pieces. Of note were two swords from Yul Brunner's Taras Bulba (1962). Both swords were for extras. Each was a U.S. cavalry saber from the 1860s from which the hilt and guard had been removed and a crude aluminum hilt added. I still have them somewhere and I think I still have the sales docket from the late 90s/early 2000s. I believe the sabers came from Bannerman's Catalog originally and were modified on site by the props people.

I have a few other swords from the same source but I don't know which movies they may have been used in. Again, they were 19th C pieces, and from memory they were Austrian sabers (but I will have to dig back in my archives to get that info.).


Thats outstanding Ian! and thank you for adding to this thread. It sounds like the 'adjustments' that were used in customizing these authentic old weapons to add to the ambience in scenes.
No doubt Bannerman's was a great source for this stuff....after the Civil Wat they literally bought old cavalry sabers by the ton. When the Spanish American war broke out (at the behest of William Randolph Hearst who needed headlines for his papers)...the Army needed sabers for the cavalry and had to go to Bannerman to equip them!