Famous Five 50s Film

Discuss the television and film adaptations of Enid Blyton's stories.
Tony Summerfield
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Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Tony Summerfield »

I have just been watching a DVD of Malcolm Saville's Treasure at the Mill made by the CFT and I thought the boy who played John Adams the main character looked familiar. It was Richard Palmer, who played the part of Julian in the 1957 film of Five on a Treasure Island.
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Pippa-Stef »

Wow Awesome!
"You're so sharp you'll cut yourself one day!" Hunchy said going to the door
"So my Mother told me that when I was two years old!" said Julian and the others giggled.

http://worldofblyton.wordpress.com/
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Nearby »

Tony Summerfield wrote:I have just been watching a DVD of Malcolm Saville's Treasure at the Mill made by the CFT and I thought the boy who played John Adams the main character looked familiar. It was Richard Palmer, who played the part of Julian in the 1957 film of Five on a Treasure Island.
Is this (Treasure at the Mill) commercially available Tony? Or is it a "keep your eyes peeled on ebay" type of thing. As I've been looking and can't seem to find it.
Between the years of 1947-1959, Enid Blyton used 98% of the worlds resources of ! Fact.
Tony Summerfield
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Tony Summerfield »

I bought it from the Malcom Saville Society, Steve. It also has Trouble at Townsend on it. You should be able to buy it through this link. I have only just bought my copy and it came by return. Click on DVD on the second line and it will tell you all about it and where to buy it from.
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Nearby »

Thanks for your help Tony. I'll keep the link handy for my next payday. :)
Between the years of 1947-1959, Enid Blyton used 98% of the worlds resources of ! Fact.
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Petermax »

What is the possibility of the 1957 film of Five On a Treasure Island being available on DVD? So many C.F.F films are now available but not this one. Did I read somewhere that it was once available on VHS? It would be interesting to compare this interpretation of the Famous Five with the 1970's and 1990's versions.
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Rob Houghton »

It used to be available on VHS through the EB society, limited to about 500 copies. I was lucky enough to buy one when i first joined the society. Think they've all been bought up by now! 8)
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Petermax
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Petermax »

Robert Houghton wrote:It used to be available on VHS through the EB society, limited to about 500 copies.
I shall have to keep a very close eye on Ebay, unless the Society decide on a DVD re-release! :wink:
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Lucky Star »

Petermax wrote:I shall have to keep a very close eye on Ebay, unless the Society decide on a DVD re-release! :wink:
If I'm right it was Norman Wright who was behind that project. I also remember hearing that it took him quite a long time to sell all the videos so I would'nt, unfortunately, expect to see a DVD release any time soon.
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Eljay »

Lucky Star wrote:
Petermax wrote:I shall have to keep a very close eye on Ebay, unless the Society decide on a DVD re-release! :wink:
If I'm right it was Norman Wright who was behind that project. I also remember hearing that it took him quite a long time to sell all the videos so I would'nt, unfortunately, expect to see a DVD release any time soon.
Norman Wright privately released 500 numbered copies on VHS in 1993. Four years later, he told me he *still* hadn't shifted them all - although I presume he did, eventually - and therefore *wouldn't* be releasing the 1964 film of Five Have a Mystery to Solve. He told me it had been a costly affair (it cost him £900 just to get a BBFC certificate, which is a legal requirement!) and I got the impression that he hadn't recouped his investment.

However, times have changed - VHS is dead and DVD is now the format of choice, and DVD discs (unlike video cassettes) can be mass produced at home to a high standard, quickly, easily and cheaply - any fool with a computer can do it. But back then he would have had to pay a company in order to have 500 video cassettes professionally duplicated. So by removing that step at least, it would surely be much to cheaper to release the film on DVD now than it was on video sixteen years ago! The packaging would be a lot smaller and cheaper, too, as a simple CD sleeve would suffice, and it would be lighter and therefore cheaper to post than a bulky video tape. Perhaps the discs could even be 'made to order', or in batches of 100 with the option of doing another 100 if the first lot sell out? Then there would be no unsold stock lying around for years. Lastly, now that we have the Internet I should imagine it would not be too difficult to sell quickly!

So, I wouldn't rule out a limited release of the two CFF Famous Five films on DVD, aimed at enthusiasts, as I believe it could be less problematic than the release of the first film on video was, for the reasons I've mentioned.
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Petermax »

Eljay wrote:So, I wouldn't rule out a limited release of the two CFF Famous Five films on DVD, aimed at enthusiasts, as I believe it could be less problematic than the release of the first film on video was, for the reasons I've mentioned.
So there is hope after all? :wink: So many C.F.F films have already been released on DVD as Saturday Morning Pictures- The Best Of The Children's Film Foundation . I am not quite sure what the target market is, possibly adults who were children in the 50's 60's and 70's.

As Eljay mentions, DVDs are so much less complicated to duplicate than VHS tapes, blank discs are literally only a few pence each. The cost of a copyright licence would still be very substantial however.
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Tony Summerfield »

Petermax wrote:The cost of a copyright licence would still be very substantial however.
It certainly is substantial and add to that the cost of a certificate (albeit a 'U'), it not only means that you have to sell a lot of copies to get your money back, but you also have to ask an unfortunately high price. These wretched people who pirate the things do it for next to nothing and it is all profit for them.
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Lucky Star »

Would'nt he already have all the necessary documentation from his VHS releases? Or would he really have to go through the entire process again?
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Eljay
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Eljay »

Lucky Star wrote:Would'nt he already have all the necessary documentation from his VHS releases? Or would he really have to go through the entire process again?
Even if Norman did want to re-release it, I'm almost certain that the distribution rights would need to be re-negotiated and re-purchased, as they would have expired long ago.
Last edited by Eljay on 07 Sep 2008, 20:09, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Famous Five 50s Film

Post by Eljay »

Petermax wrote:So there is hope after all? :wink: So many C.F.F films have already been released on DVD as Saturday Morning Pictures- The Best Of The Children's Film Foundation . I am not quite sure what the target market is, possibly adults who were children in the 50's 60's and 70's.
Those CFF 'Saturday Morning Pictures' DVDs (of which there are three volumes) were released by Network DVD (http://www.networkdvd.net" target="_blank). Perhaps we should contact them to see if we can get them interested in releasing the two Blyton films? They specialise in releasing obscure and forgotten vintage films and television series and even have special 'web exclusive' releases, aimed at a niche market of collectors. These 'web exclusives' are releases for which they do not anticipate a great public demand, so they do a limited run and sell them only through their own website (not in the shops or via online retailers like Amazon) at a higher price than their regular releases.
Petermax wrote:As Eljay mentions, DVDs are so much less complicated to duplicate than VHS tapes, blank discs are literally only a few pence each. The cost of a copyright licence would still be very substantial however.
Indeed, buying a licence to distribute it would be the main cost, as well as obtaining certification from the British Board of Film Classification. I'm not too sure, however, if films and programmes need to be re-certificated when they are re-released - as long as they are identical to the previous release. But even if they do not need to be re-submitted to the Board for viewing, I bet the right to use the certificate still needs to be purchased from them.

Incidentally, I found the BBFC's entry for Five on a Treasure Island: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classifie ... enDocument

Note that they quote 'Norman Wright' as the 'company' involved! :)
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