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27-1-2018 01:35:53  #1


Which portable was used in Vietnam scenes of Spielberg's 'The Post'?

Being primarily set at the Washington Post back in the 1970's, there are many beautiful old workhorse desktop typewriters featured in Steven Spielberg's new movie, 'The Post' (not to mention the loving sequences of the old Linotype machine).

And of course, Tom Hanks had to take one of the typewriters home with him after production - - "I tested every single one of those machines and I picked out the one for me. I informed the prop department, I'm either buying it or stealing it - it's up to them."

However, for anyone here who's seen the movie, my question today is:

Which portable typewriter is seen in the early Vietnam scenes in 'The Post'?

(It made me wonder which portable typewriter would have been the first choice for a field reporter in Vietnam in 1965? Which portable of that era was considered the most reliable machine to carry into a dusty and/or damp environment where it would be expected to get bashed around enroute to remote reporting locations?)

 

27-1-2018 20:19:00  #2


Re: Which portable was used in Vietnam scenes of Spielberg's 'The Post'?

Typetype wrote:

And of course, Tom Hanks had to take one of the typewriters home with him after production

​Not cool. Hanks should know that not all props are property of the studio, and that the typewriter he stole could very well have been a rental and not for sale. If he did that to one of my machines I'd have a few choice words for him.

​Can't help with the typewriter-spotting question as I haven't seen the film yet.

Typetype wrote:

... which portable typewriter would have been the first choice for a field reporter in Vietnam ...

​I'm sure it was whatever they owned at the time. I've seen photos of all kinds of different machines in the field, and here's one of Malcolm Browne's equipment that shows a Hermes Baby/Rocket:

 


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

01-2-2018 23:56:27  #3


Re: Which portable was used in Vietnam scenes of Spielberg's 'The Post'?

I went to see the film last night (it's only in theaters in the Netherlands now) and was able to spot alot of typewriters.

The one you see in the opening scene in Vietnam (used by Daniel Ellsberg) is an Olympia SM2/3/4 (couldn't quite make out whether it was SM2 or 3 or 4) typewriter. 
The same model is seen later in the movie in Ben Bradlee's home.
The Post's newsroom is where you can spot the most typewriters (I sometimes had to force myself to stop looking at machines, and pay attention to the story). I've spotted (among others) Royal HH (Ben Bagdikian uses that later in the film), Royal FP (behind Bradlee's desk, and also in Katharine Graham's office), Olympia SG1, SG3, Hermes Ambassador, and several others.
 

 

02-2-2018 01:20:50  #4


Re: Which portable was used in Vietnam scenes of Spielberg's 'The Post'?

Thank-you for the fine reportage - - much appreciated!

     Thread Starter
 

04-2-2018 00:19:36  #5


Re: Which portable was used in Vietnam scenes of Spielberg's 'The Post'?

It was either the SM2 or 3... I didn't see the tab keys of the Sm4 on that machine, which I think was on Hank's home desk as well.

 

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