pinballspotting: UK

29 Dec 2016

Alfie (UK 1966 & USA 2004)

Alfie (UK, 1966)

Director: Lewis Gilbert. Stars: Michael Caine, Shelley Winters, Denholm Elliot, Jane Asher...

Caine hit it big in this role of a womanizing cad, treating most women with disrespect and referring to them as “it”. Certain events force him to learn a bit of a lesson.

As he enters a truckstop diner, we spot an Alpine Club (Williams, 1965)...

Then he plays a game of Sky-Line (Gottlieb, 1965), just to be able to chat up a “bird” (Jane Asher)...

Later in a bar fight scene, we spot a glimpse of a Flying Chariots (Gottlieb, 1963)...

Alfie (USA, 2004)
Director: Charles Shyer. Stars: Jude Law, Sienna Miller, Susan Sarandon, Marisa Tomei...

This pointless remake modernises the women, making them much less the victims that they were in the 60s. So basically it’s a bunch of pretty people having casual sexual relationships, and the lesson Alfie learns is much less harsh.

In a scene where Alfie’s chatting up the bartendress, he’s sitting on a Mata-Hari (Bally, 1977) next to a PIN-BOT (Williams, 1986)...

Thanks to M.L. for reminding me that the remake also had a couple of pins in it.

The Shadow Man (UK, 1953)

The Shadow Man A.K.A. Street of Shadows (UK, 1953). Director: Richard Vernon. Stars: Cesar Romero, Kay Kendall, Victor Maddern, Simone Silva...

First British pinballspotting. This is a so-so crime/drama/noir movie wherein the owner of a pin-table saloon in Soho gets caught up in the murder of an ex-girl friend.

There are plenty of scenes in the pin-table saloon where there are all manner of coin-operated amusement and gambling machines... Konki the animated singing clown, the animated laughing sailor, roulette wheels, a jukebox and 9 identifiable pinball machines. The movie was released in 1953 but all of the tables are from 1938 or 1939.

On the left is a Snappy (Chicago Coin Co., 1938), and the one on the right I believe is Odd Ball (Daval, 1938)...