British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Discuss the latest news and rumors in the magic world.
User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27055
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby Richard Kaufman » August 12th, 2009, 10:32 am

The amazing archive of British Pathe is now online and you really should pay a visit.
http://www.britishpathe.com/

You can find Alan Alan in what appears to be the mid 1950s demonstrating some simple tricks here:
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=903

And here is Alan doing his upside-down straitjacket escape from a burning rope in 1959:
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=9

And here he is in 1949 almost dieing doing Buried Alive:
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=27181

Found the website after a tip from David Britland.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

User avatar
NCMarsh
Posts: 1223
Joined: February 16th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Devant, Wonder, Richiardi, Benson, DeKolta, Teller, Harbin, Durham, Caveney, Ben, Hoy, Berglas, Marceau
Location: Orlando, FL
Contact:

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby NCMarsh » August 12th, 2009, 10:36 am

Arnold DeBiere's egg bag, which Max Holden called "undoubtedly the best of all routines," can be seen on the site (in a silent short that appears to have been made to show at movie theaters -- so I don't know how close it is to the routine he did on stage)

N.

Levent
Posts: 13
Joined: April 30th, 2008, 2:30 pm

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby Levent » August 12th, 2009, 11:01 am

I love the Pathe site! When I last looked at it three years ago, I found Howard Decourcy, Jimmy Rogers, June McComb, Ed Morrell, Ali Bongo, Alan Shaxon and many others. Some whom I can't quite identify such as a man named "Pablo" doing the cards & cigarettes and a person who I think is called "Halima" doing the human volcano and water bowls.

Thank you Richard for reminding me of this great resource. I would guess that new videos have been uploaded since the last time I looked there.

Levent

Andy Galloway
Posts: 52
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Ayr, Scotland

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby Andy Galloway » August 12th, 2009, 6:50 pm

Levent,
There is a brief description of Pablo`s act on page 38 of Max Holden`s Programmes Of Famous Magicians. According to Peter Warlock`s book, Pseudonyms, his name was Juan J.Pablo and was also known as the Great Pablo and Chang.
Do hope I have spelled the names correctly.

Andy.

Andy Galloway
Posts: 52
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Ayr, Scotland

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby Andy Galloway » August 12th, 2009, 7:50 pm

Levent,
Have just checked Chang in Bert Whaley`s Who`s Who In Magic and his name was Juan Pablo Jesorum who also worked under the name of The Great Pablo. He was of course famous as an illusionist and does not seem to be the Pablo of the Pathe newsreel or Holden`s Programmes. Whaley has no record of a Pablo.

Andy.

David Alexander
Posts: 1549
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Aurora IL

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby David Alexander » August 12th, 2009, 9:56 pm

British Pathe has improved their site from what I looked at several years ago. They used to require that you "check out" films for download. It was cumbersome and time consuming, but worth searching for magicians. Howard de Courcy has several appearances and is worth watching. Dr. Giovanni, a VERY young Dr Giovanni can be found as well...and a few seconds of Frakson around 1932.

Levent
Posts: 13
Joined: April 30th, 2008, 2:30 pm

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby Levent » August 14th, 2009, 3:51 pm

Andrew:

Thank you for looking up Pablo. In that period of time there was a huge amount of magicians working in vaudeville/music hall which can make it hard to do the research. Perhaps we could find the ellusive Pablo in old periodicals such as Stanyon's Magic or The Magic Wand. I have digital copies of these and when I get a chance I'll try a PDF search for that name.

Best regards,
Levent
www.LeventMagic.com

amp
Posts: 227
Joined: March 20th, 2008, 3:43 pm
Location: Toledo
Contact:

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby amp » August 14th, 2009, 5:12 pm

Who was the Birthday party magician ??
That was the first time I saw a magician used a well.

Bill Mullins
Posts: 5913
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Huntsville, AL
Contact:

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby Bill Mullins » July 22nd, 2015, 11:01 pm

Now British Movietone has posted thousands of clips to youtube. Go here and search for magicians, magic, tricks, etc.

Or go here and search newly-uploaded AP clips.

I think I spot Jay Marshall in this one, but don't recognize the others.

User avatar
Brad Jeffers
Posts: 1221
Joined: April 11th, 2008, 5:52 pm
Location: Savannah, GA

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby Brad Jeffers » July 22nd, 2015, 11:25 pm

Bill Mullins wrote:I think I spot Jay Marshall in this one, but don't recognize the others.

The first magician looks like Milbourne Christopher and the second one, I believe, is George Jason.

Richard Hatch
Posts: 2095
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Providence, Utah
Contact:

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby Richard Hatch » July 22nd, 2015, 11:42 pm

Think that is Johnny Paul stacking dice and Joe Berg stringing beads to finish. Likely an SAM convention in Chicago.

User avatar
Joe Pecore
Posts: 1914
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Paul Harris
Location: Northern Virginia

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby Joe Pecore » July 23rd, 2015, 5:15 am

Richard Hatch wrote:Think that is Johnny Paul stacking dice and Joe Berg stringing beads to finish. Likely an SAM convention in Chicago.

The voice over said it was a "New York convention".
Share your knowledge on the MagicPedia wiki.

Richard Hatch
Posts: 2095
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Providence, Utah
Contact:

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby Richard Hatch » July 23rd, 2015, 5:17 am

Joe Pecore wrote:
Richard Hatch wrote:Think that is Johnny Paul stacking dice and Joe Berg stringing beads to finish. Likely an SAM convention in Chicago.

The voice over said it was a "New York convention".

I stand corrected! Anyone know the date?

User avatar
Joe Pecore
Posts: 1914
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Paul Harris
Location: Northern Virginia

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby Joe Pecore » July 23rd, 2015, 1:34 pm

Richard Hatch wrote:
Joe Pecore wrote:
Richard Hatch wrote:Think that is Johnny Paul stacking dice and Joe Berg stringing beads to finish. Likely an SAM convention in Chicago.

The voice over said it was a "New York convention".

I stand corrected! Anyone know the date?

The metadata for the clip says 1951.
Share your knowledge on the MagicPedia wiki.

OneMoreTime
Posts: 6
Joined: July 23rd, 2015, 1:34 am

Re: British Pathe Footage of Magicians Free Online

Postby OneMoreTime » July 23rd, 2015, 3:47 pm

That footage of Alan Alan failing to escape is the most terrifying thing I've seen since that guy that failed to escape from a clear box under poured concrete :(. When I saw that guy standing on the 'grave' and stomping on the tamped dirt, I cringed.

Robert


Return to “Buzz”