View Full Version : Leica on TV or the movies :)
So, I am laying in bed watching Married with Children tonight episode: I who have nothing. Al bundy walks through the front door shooting with what appears to be a black M6 with a 75mm. Episode aired last night and I paused it with my DVR. It had a very evident red dot on the front :) Not bad for a shoe sales man :D
I actually saw a couple of Leicas in movies recently.
I sat through The Godfather III on cable a few weeks back. (It ain't good.) In one of the earlier scenes, the camera pans over a room and there are a couple of M3s, I believe, on a night table.
Another movie has been on HBO lately - not sure what the name is, but Julia Roberts is sporting an M6 at one point. (Didn't watch much of it.)
There's a large number of movies and TV appearances on the Leica FAQ @ http://www.nemeng.com/leica/005ea.shtml
Creagerj
05-30-2006, 23:39
Eddie Murphy Raw. Someone is taking a picture of him with an M6 I think.
Maybe the movie with Julia Roberts is "closer". I saw it last night and there was a Leica m6 among the actors :).
I've also seen one in a silly italian movie "sapore di mare" ... and as far as I can remember Gwyneth (what a name ... it's so difficult to write ...) Paltrow in "Sky Captain and the world of tomorrow" holds a Leica II or III.
Bye
Nico
telenous
05-31-2006, 00:27
The movie with Julia Roberts and the M6 is indeed 'Closer' (there's an older thread about that if I 'm not wrong).
Pherdinand
05-31-2006, 00:36
Al and a Leica?
He's not such a big loser, after all, heh?
zuikologist
05-31-2006, 00:56
Slightly OT: Recently saw a documentary about the Uffizzi gallery in Florence and the investigation of one of the Da Vinci paintings. There was a very impressive array of Leica imaging and IR measuring equipment in use, ironically much of it was digital.
YEa. Al had just raided his uncles house after he died. Ended up with all sort of stuff including the Leica and a yellow tooth.
... and as far as I can remember Gwyneth (what a name ... it's so difficult to write ...) Paltrow in "Sky Captain and the world of tomorrow" holds a Leica II or III.
Bye
Nico
I thought the camera in that movie was a modified Argus C-3?
Rob
I recently saw 'Lord of War,' and Nicholas Cage appears to use a black M6 to photograph a woman. Also, on one of those drug/pharmaceutical tv commercials for a men's drug, a bunch of older gentlemen are riding in a convertible car and one of 'gents' in the back seat has what appears to be a Leica D2.
:)
Fedzilla_Bob
05-31-2006, 08:26
I thought the camera in that movie was a modified Argus C-3?
Rob
It waas indeed an Argus C3, the only mods were in post production.
I recently saw 'Lord of War,' and Nicholas Cage appears to use a black M6 to photograph a woman. Also, on one of those drug/pharmaceutical tv commercials for a men's drug, a bunch of older gentlemen are riding in a convertible car and one of 'gents' in the back seat has what appears to be a Leica D2.
:)
I'd seen the leica but wasn't 100% -- now, al bundy using a leica is a selling point for me... a bunch of old guys with junk that don't work doesn't sell the leica to me....
Long live Al Bundy
SteveM(PA)
05-31-2006, 08:31
The movie with Julia Roberts and the M6 is indeed 'Closer' (there's an older thread about that if I 'm not wrong).
Sitting and punching oneself in the face for two hours whilst listening to Damien Rice is the same as watching Closer, I've found.
I'd seen the leica but wasn't 100% -- now, al bundy using a leica is a selling point for me... a bunch of old guys with junk that don't work doesn't sell the leica to me....
Long live Al Bundy
Good points, Memphis... Al has a charming habit of pointing out the quality in whatever he touches... or is it the deplorable???? I forget, but always found him entertaining. I have seen the ads with guys "with junk that don't work"... a leering woman with "come hither" eyes twinkling and a leica anywhere in that picture just does not enhance the message for either product. Although, I doubt it was leica's idea to put their camera in the hands of a now "fixed" guy.
enochRoot
05-31-2006, 17:47
I recently saw 'Lord of War,' and Nicholas Cage appears to use a black M6 to photograph a woman. Also, on one of those drug/pharmaceutical tv commercials for a men's drug, a bunch of older gentlemen are riding in a convertible car and one of 'gents' in the back seat has what appears to be a Leica D2.
:)
pretty sure it was a cl
AOI Photo
05-31-2006, 17:53
Sitting and punching oneself in the face for two hours whilst listening to Damien Rice is the same as watching Closer, I've found.
I lovec closer, but always annoy friends when I point out that she took a picture with the leica, that when printed with sloppy borders is obvoiously medium format. :rolleyes:
Then everyone tells me to shut up :)
bobomoon
05-31-2006, 17:54
Joe Dirt. Alligator tamer scene. Guy in the audience with leica like camera. My mind sometimes craves junk food and I won't apologize.
Fresh Prince of Bel Aire, opening when Will Smith gets out of the cab he's got a leica like camera around his neck. can't tell what it is though.
You always know when a Leica camera is spotted in the movies that, from the way they're holding and "using" the camera, the actor has absolutely no clue how to properly use what is in their hands, right? Someone just handed it to them for the scene.
Of course, Yul Brenner knew but I never saw him use one in any scene. Come to think of it, did he every play a character in a modern setting?
amateriat
07-07-2006, 19:29
Off-topic only in terms of brand and format: In the just-opening film "Heading South", Charlotte Rampling (who gets my vote as Most Fearless Actress) is handling what looks to be a Rolleiflex TLR. I'll have to see the film to see if she handles it convincingly, but that will likely be relatively low on the priority list when I plunk myself into my seat to watch. (The events of the film take place roughly around 1970 in Haiti.)
Of course, the hottest actress who truly knows her way around a Leica is Jamie Lee Curtis. But I digress...
- Barrett
David Murphy
07-08-2006, 01:13
The old TV series "Secret Agent Man" with Patrick McGoohan (also known as "Danger Man" in the UK) is full of episodes wih Leica's (screw mount), Rollei's, and various early Japanse SLR's. The are often used for spy work. I recently saw all the shows from a boxed DVD set.
There was some movie, from the 80's (I think), with Mathew Broderick (I think), set in NY City that prominently feature a camera that looked like a late model Leica M. It was used in many scenes.
Creagerj
07-08-2006, 02:31
The (New) Oman, the photographer who is one of the main charactors totes a Lieca M7 (chrome) in several scense. Also in Erotrip one of the charactors is supposed to own a leica and I'm fairly certian that he has one in one or two scense. However on the DVD cover for the move he is holding a contax G2 so I can't be certian.
http://movies.aol.com/celebrity/natalie-merchant/48495/video Click on carnival.
Bob Dylan "Highway 61 Revisited" album cover. Does anyone recognize the camera?
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0000024SI.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V65010128_.jpg
Natalie Merchant, "Carnival" video.
http://photo.net/bboard-uploads//00BiC4-22665884.jpg
I have a camaera in the movies question: "Blowup", David Hemmings returns from a night of living and photographing in a homeless shelter or something like it. He pulls a camera and film out of a paper bag. What camera? I think it was a rangefinder. I know he had a Nikon F in one of the studio scenes. Probably a Hasselblad as well.
amateriat
07-08-2006, 07:57
The camera in the Dylan album cover shot is a Nikon SP. Ms. Merchant appears to be handling an M3.
- Barrett
Mugambo (sp) with Clark Gable and Ava Gardner-one character has an LTM Leica around his neck while filming gorillas
I watched "The Impassioned Eye." No Leica. In fact, I don't think I saw any camera.
xayraa33
07-08-2006, 08:31
Charles Bronson in the ABC tv detective series " Man With a Camera" which ran from 1958 to 1960, the character, Mike Kovac, used a Leica M3 with a flash gun most of the time it seems.
There are some good shots of a Leica III (B?) in 'The end of the affair'. There is even a shot of the main characters walking by a Leica sign-board outside a shop. The film is situated in the UK in 1944 - 1947.
Wim
IGMeanwell
11-01-2006, 00:46
Not to resurect an old thread ... however there is a Leica sighting in the new version of "The Omen"
I believe its an M7, however you don't get a very good look at it
To be honest, they show the photographer using a D2h at one point... then show him making chemical prints of the same shots (though later he says he used both film and digital)... I know you can project a digital file to make a chemical print... just not very common
wongyboi
11-01-2006, 01:43
Eurotrip the teen comedy.
The show has scenes pretty much based around the Leica one of the character has.
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pesphoto
11-01-2006, 06:20
High Art with Ally Sheedy has Leicas
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The ultimate Leica reference in a movie that has nothing to do with photography is Euro Trip. Observe the lines below:
- Is that a new camera?
- It isn't just a camera, this is a Leica M7 . Uber-sensitive exposure settings, legendary cloth shutter system.
- Let me see that thing.
- No can do. I spent four years tutoring
lacrosse players to pay for it, so nobody touches my camera but me.
- It's like your wiener.
- No, it's not...
- Jenny...
- Cooper, leave him alone.
-Where'd you get all that? Wait. Where's your Leica?
-Sold it.
-What? You sold your Leica? But you loved that thing.
-Is that a Leica M6?
-Actually, it's an M7. It's got the built-in light meter.
-Oh It's so beautiful. So sleek, so powerful. How's the new lens system?
-Makes the Nikon look like a disposable.
-You really know your cameras. And you're very cute.
-Me? Really?
-I'm going on break. I was going to step out back and have a cigarette. Would you like to join me?
-I don't smoke.
-Neither do I.
However, regrettably the guy is sporting a Contax G2 on the movie poster..
http://stokmatik.blogia.com/upload/eurotrip.jpg
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telenous
11-01-2006, 23:50
The old TV series "Secret Agent Man" with Patrick McGoohan (also known as "Danger Man" in the UK) is full of episodes wih Leica's (screw mount), Rollei's, and various early Japanse SLR's. The are often used for spy work. I recently saw all the shows from a boxed DVD set.
.
Patrick McGoohan and Leica - what a classic combination. I really have to watch again Danger Man, stupendous series (ditto for The Prisoner). If only McGoohan hadn't turned down the Bond role...
shutterflower
11-01-2006, 23:55
I saw Sofia Copolla holding a Contax G2 on the set of Marie Antoinette.
telenous
11-01-2006, 23:58
ANd here's a link with many movies that feature a Leica (be warned though, it will spoil the fun of spotting them yourselves):
http://nemeng.com/leica/005ea.shtml
Of all these films, perhaps my favourite 'appearance' is in 'La Battaglia di Algeri' of the recently deceased Gillo Pontecorvo. Warmly recommended to those of you who haven't had the luck to see it yet, this film was at the forefront of 60's cinema with political consience and is (still) a chilling reminder of how history is a lesson never learned.
This is one of the few films that I actually spotted myself a Leica. All the more reason to like it then ;)
telenous
11-02-2006, 00:01
I saw Sofia Copolla holding a Contax G2 on the set of Marie Antoinette.
She showed great taste in P&S :D
amateriat
11-02-2006, 00:58
Patrick McGoohan and Leica - what a classic combination. I really have to watch again Danger Man, stupendous series (ditto for The Prisoner). If only McGoohan hadn't turned down the Bond role... Ah, but he might not have created The Prisoner had he taken up 007's Walther. Sometimes, things work out as they should. (Like Casino Royale done straight-up...finally.)
A little Leica addendum: I remember a video clip from someplace showing Jamie Lee Curtis rapidly (and happily) clicking away with a black M6. No RF dilettante, she.
- Barrett
wongyboi
11-02-2006, 01:19
I was browsing through a set of portraiture books in a book store and one came up with celebrity photographs.
There was one of Sofia Coppola with a canonet.
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There's this pretty well-known movie about a Russian submarine... Can't remember it's name. At a certain point they are at the north pole, posing on the ice for a group picture, taken with either a zorki or a fed I. Not a leica, but a leica clone at least.
Does this thread exhibit supressed voyeurism? If one cannot get a Leica, is just looking at those enjoying them pleasure of a preverted kind? Curious.
Johne
A tool is a tool is a a tool!
telenous
11-02-2006, 06:46
Does this thread exhibit supressed voyeurism? If one cannot get a Leica, is just looking at those enjoying them pleasure of a preverted kind? Curious.
Johne
A tool is a tool is a a tool!
Perhaps - although there are degrees of perversion and, all in all, watching Leicas is relatively benign, one should think.
But while we are at it, isn't cinema itself a form of (legitimate) voyerism? Hitchcock was keenly aware of the quasi-voyeuristic, guilty pleasure of watching a film and exploited it to great effect. Like Gyges in Plato's Republic, the viewer is in the strange position of being invisible to the characters of the story and at the same time utterly unable to intervene.
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telenous
11-02-2006, 10:43
So, here are two stills from an excellent British sci-fi movie of the fifties, "The Day the Earth Caught Fire". As much as I have tried I haven't been able to tell what make is the camera (I tend to think it's a Leica but it could be a Nikon? That would be strange for mid-fifties England).
Any clues? A jar of marmite for the one who guesses (to follow Mango's example).
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I must be old fashioned. I remember Jamie Lee Curtis. Whow! Leica M6? Perhaps.
Johne
shutterflower
11-02-2006, 12:50
She showed great taste in P&S :D
SHe gets all kinds of points. And the G2, though not a Leica, is a fine machine.
telenous
11-28-2006, 10:00
Last night I went to cinema to see The Prestige (the Christoper Nolan film based on the antagonism between two rival magicians).
Before the movie, the cinema showed a few trailers of upcoming features including Blood Diamond (Brad Pitt, Jennifer Connely). Connely is brandishing in one scene what is clearly a black Leica - from the split second that I saw it, I gather it was an M6, possibly with a Summicron 35 preasph. (it had the rectangular hood).
... Connely is brandishing in one scene what is clearly a black Leica - from the split second that I saw it, I gather it was an M6, possibly with a Summicron 35 preasph. (it had the rectangular hood).
Our good friend Magus obviously did not advise Ms. Connely on her choice of optics. :D
telenous
11-28-2006, 10:35
Our good friend Magus obviously did not advise Ms. Connely on her choice of optics. :D
Perhaps one makes an exception to ladies of arresting beauty and evident (photographic) assets :D
I wonder if she will live to regret her choice once she examines closely the bokeh in her shots :p :angel:
Those of us in the FSU ghetto can take comfort in a film of epic glory actually about a Kiev!
I commend your attention to "Notes of a War Correspondent" a North Korean masterwork from 1981 staring the lovely O Mi Ran, at that time Kim Jong-Il's girlfriend and now "Most Honoured Artist of the Republic"!
Cheers Ian!
I lovec closer, but always annoy friends when I point out that she took a picture with the leica, that when printed with sloppy borders is obvoiously medium format. :rolleyes:
Then everyone tells me to shut up :)
That bothered me too. No one understood why I was upset, that she got prints that big from a 35mm negative.
In the show "Joey", he has the luck to live next to a femal photog that is very sexy, and in her first appearence in the show she shot him with a M6
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Does artistic impression of Leica M counts? :)
http://journal.boblycat.org/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=19108&g2_serialNumber=1&g2_GALLERYSID=31735c664a933a028fd165605a1e91f5
As seen in anime series Ghost in The Shell: 2nd Gig. Episode 16, around 19 minutes. A Japanese cyborg soldier trades his weapon for the camera and wanders off to take photos in refugee camps.
It is close, but no cigar.
Isn't the embedded reporter for Rolling Stone in the HBO series "Generation Kill" shooting a Leica?
Foyle's War, PBS, Masterpiece Mystery, about 10 days ago, Leica IIIc I think, guy was snapping documents during WWII, and the camera even had film in it, yes, I slowed down the broadcast and zoomed in, just as any normal person would. Chrome was nice though. I think an F2 lens.
Details in this five year series have seemed to add to the overall look and feel of the programs, and they are just plain well done.
In Bridges, I thought I remembered some Leicas in the bag as well. Clint has big hands, maybe he could not use a Leica?
Now I know I am talking to myself, Jeopardy had two references this week to cameras, in the first, they found out no one knew what a TLR was, the second was the year of a famous Eisie shot with the name of the guy who was kissing the nurse, they all got it.
Any movie with Julia Roberts married to Ed Harris and shooting with a Blad and Leica cannot be considered a bad movie.
Dass Boot has a guy shooting a what to me looks like a M3
There's this pretty well-known movie about a Russian submarine... Can't remember it's name. At a certain point they are at the north pole, posing on the ice for a group picture, taken with either a zorki or a fed I. Not a leica, but a leica clone at least.
It's K19 The Widowmaker, with Harrison Ford (with a funny Russian accent) and Liam Neeson. I just watched it again and spotted the Barnack clone in that scene when they surface in the North Pole and take a photo of the crew playing football. I believe the camera is a Fed.
Dass Boot has a guy shooting a what to me looks like a M3
No, it is definately a Barnack leica, but I don't know which flavor for certain, most likely a IIIc.
in burn after reading, the latest coen movie, rather at the end, when clooney gets very paranoid, there is a shooter, you can just see him less than a second but i thought that it was a leica
anyone saw that?
sweathog
10-03-2008, 15:58
However, regrettably the guy is sporting a Contax G2 on the movie poster..http://stokmatik.blogia.com/upload/eurotrip.jpg
By Jove, you're right.
Spy Game with Brad Pit.
Brad Pits character goes under cover as a photo journalist shooting a chrome m3 with a powerwinder (if I'm not mistaken) for "journalistic" shots and a nikon slr for telephoto shots. Have to say, he was using both like he actually knew what he was doing.
well, http://icydk.com/2007/02/18/brad-pitt-in-interview-magazine-32007/
:)
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