Its an archway, not the yellow and white Triumphal arch, a simple archway in a wall! Even if the scene in which the Prisoner speaks to the telephone operator had to be filmed later, there is no excuse for not using the orignal location for the telephone kiosk. What was Doris Martin doing? Doris was responsible for continuity at the time, and for 11 out of the 17 episodes. Other than that it was Josie Fulford, Anne Basselman, and Phillis Townsend.
Be seeing you.
We never again see the public phone after Episode One do we?
ReplyDeleteHello Moor,
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact we do...in aerial views of the Village, where the public phone kiosk stands in open places. But in close-up, in 'Checkmate' from which the Rook steals a telephone. And then in 'Hammer Into Anvil,' when No.6 phones the head of psychiatrics at the hospital from a public telephone kiosk.
As ever
David
BCNU
Aha.... I knew you would know.... :-)) I wouldn't have thought of the aerial shots, but the other two are obvious once I am reminded of them.. :-D
ReplyDeleteNow to check the appearances of that Information Board... ;-D
Hello Moor,
ReplyDeleteI'm only too pleased to have been of service. I'll come to the 'Free Information Board' in a moment, but going back to the telehopone kiosk for a moment. I forgot to say about being able to see it in 'Checkmate' as No.8 drives off in a taxi to follow No.6. The Telephone kiosk has been positioned next to the back of the Gloriette opposite the shop. And can also be seen in that same place when No.6 is with No.8 in the taxi as she drives aound the Village. Also as a matter of interest, that filmed drive with No.8 and No.6 in 'Checkmate', at times it's un-used film footage from 'arrival,' when the Prisoner is being driven around the Village by the Oriental taxi driver.
Now the 'Free Information Board. It of course appears in 'Arrival', and in 'Free For All' as No.6 is looking on the map of the Village for the Town Hall. It does not appear in any other episode. I did check out 'Hammer Into Anvil,' as No.6 {Patrick McGoohan} drops a note in the blue Post Box, and as No.6 {Frank Maher} walks away from the Blue Post Box as part of the same scene, but the Information Board is not by the tree, as it is in 'Arrival' and 'Free For All.'
I bet you know this already, but the number '7' does not appear amongst the numbered buttons on the panel of the 'Free Information Board, nor does the digit '7' appear in any other number. Numbers such as 67 is 6h, 87 is 8c. There is no 27, no 47, and no 77. What's more, there are two 8c's, and there are two number 1 buttons.
Observers of life should never get involved. I might have made an excellent Observer!
As ever
David
Be seeing you
An incredible amount of work. I wonder how many viewers on 625 lines in 1967 even noticed... :-D
ReplyDeleteI like to think the absence of 7 was some oblique 'james bond is not here' reference - but man... how oblique....!!.... :-D
There was a seven in 73 wasn't there - I wonder how she slipped through the net..... or do I mean fell out the window....... :-D
Hello Moor,
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't think that anyone on 625 lines in 1967 noticed at all, I certainly didn't. I sometimes find myself wondering what Patrick McGoohan would have made of his series being looked at so closely with the aid of computers and DVD discs!
So the story goes, the number 7 was omitted from the Village because it is a lucky number. And so went to the extremes of having the digit 7 removed from all numbers, very strange and obliique the detail that was put into some of the episodes, and the thinking that went into it all.
As you say 73 must have slipped through the net, as so much does, continuity wise in 'the Prisoner.'
Regards
David
BCNU
McGoohan must have expected it to be noticed, otherwise why go to all the trouble of making the numbers so oddly. I think because he was working in 35mm colour film and watching it on a big screen that he forgot sometimes that the audience would be watching it on small, low definition, monochrome TV sets.
ReplyDeleteIn that sense I would think he would be pleased that such details were finally being picked up on by video-watchers. But *what* he intended by such detail is the devils own puzzle sometimes.
Hello Moor,
ReplyDeleteYou are probably right, perhaps McGoohan did expect people to see such detail, especially when viewed on the BIG screen. Because 'Arrival' we produced like a film, for the Big screen. In fact each days film rushes of the filming at Portmeirion were screened each night at the Coleseum Cinema in Portmadog. And incidentally that is where I myself have actually seen a number of episodes of 'the Prisoner' on the BIG screen, and were even projected by the same projectionist who showed the film rushes to Patrick McGoohan and members of the production crew.
Television doesn't really do 'the Prisoner' justice, no matter how big the screen.
As for details, they certainly put a great deal of detail into 'the Prisoner' series, details which sometimes only appears very breifly on the screen, the devils own puzzle sometimes, I could not have put it better myself.
Regards
David
BCNU
"The Prisoner? Well that was an experimental kind of thing for
ReplyDeletetelevision. Originally,I wanted to do only seven episodes,but CBS
wouldn't buy it. I stopped at 17. I had had enough.
"I was astonished that it got a sort of faithful audience--better than
I expected. We never
thought of it in terms of an audience of 25 or 30 million." (Patrick McGoohan to Kevin Thomas The Washington Post, Nov 19, 1969)
Hello David
Perhaps Mr. McGoohan was lamenting the loss of his planned 7 episode format. A format that many fans claim never existed (often claiming he was trying to take credit for the invention of the 'mini-series') and yet as can be seen from the above quote Mr. McGoohan states was the case in 1969.
I always liked the thought that the 'forbidden' 7 was linked to the idea that '7' was the number of 'God', that '6' was the number of 'man' and that The Village 'salute' formed the sign '666' the number of the 'devil'. The conclusion of which is that The Village was out to create No.6 in it's 'own image'... thus there was no room for another 'creator' as was the case in Brave New World.
Sincerely
Mr. Anonymous
Hello Mister Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI've been a fan of 'the Prisoner' for going on 45 years, but there are times when I think the series would have been better if there had been only 7 episodes. So much time, effort, and money had been ploughed into the first section of episodes, that there was little left for the later episodes of the series.
I don't know about the number '7' being the number of God, I wouldn't have thought he would have had a number, but then I'm not at all religious, nor am I that much of a Numberologist. But I do know that 7 is considered to be a lucky number, as 13 is an unlucky number. McGoohan said that the reason there is no number 7 in the Village is because it is a lucky number.
The Village salute may form the number 6, but I can assure you that it has nothing to do with the Devil or 666, the number of the beast. I have researched the origin of the Village salute used in conjunction with the phrase 'Be seeing you,' and I learned it from an old man who had never heard of 'the Prisoner,' let alone had seen any of the episodes. The salute pre-dates 'the Prisoner' by X number of decades, and at the moment I am the only fan of 'the Prisoner' to realise this origin. When my manuscript is eventually published fans who read my book will come to a real understanding of that salute, and the date of it's origin.
If the Village was out to create No.6 in 'its' own image, what about No.1? was not No.1 supposed to be the alternative ego of No.6, that according to McGoohan. McGoohan also stated in one interview, I forget which one for the moment, that there is no religion to be found in 'the Prisoner.'
And don't forget that No.6 had survived the ultimate test, and in so doing he had vindicated the right of the individual to be individual. No.6 had and I quote:
"He has revolted. Resisted. Fought. Held fast. Maintained. Destroyed resitance. Overcome coercion.....The right to be person. Someone or individual. All that remains is recognition of a man - a man of steel - A man magnificently equipped to lead us." {The President 'Fall Out'}.
And that is the point. All of the 16 episodes prior to 'Fall Out' are a series of tests. No.6 is put to the test, and survived them all. No.6 wasn't changed, he was himself, and that is what saw him given the offer of ultimate power, because he was himself. The Village didn't want to change No.6. They wanted him whole, and unchanged. Well that's how I have always seen it, and has been my particular take on 'the Prisoner,' although many might disagree with me.
Regards
David
BCNU
Hello David
ReplyDeleteI have returned to our conversation about The Village 'salute'. Without asking you to compromise your more than just private scholarship can you say that the origin you speak of had a direct connection to the series or Mr. Patrick McGoohan.
Here is an example of my own theory that The Village 'salute' is what is known as the 'Vesica Piscis' and how it is seen in direct images in the series.
The Vesica Piscis is both an architectural and religious symbol.
It was used in architecture and religion to mean the joining together of Heaven and Earth by the joining of two circles that then the mid-point forms the Vesica Piscis.
The Vesica Piscis was used as a salute by the Free Masons and as a mudra ( hand gesture) in Eastern religions.
McGoohan would have been aware of all three of these given his interest in math, architecture and religious symbols, all known parts of his personal interests and personal studies.
Now if you look at the links below you will see the Vesica Piscis used in Free For All at the top of the chairman's
chair is just where it would be placed in the inner chambers of a Masonic lodge in the form of 'The Eye of Providence' the rest of the chamber in Free For All is also laid out in Masonic tradition.
Next you can see in the alternative version of Chimes of Big Ben how the Penny Farthing symbol become images of Heaven and Earth and then eventually merge, two circles which would form the Vesica Piscis.
Finally there is a link to an image of the mudra as used in eastern religion it is similar to the hand gesture used by Free Mason's and architects. The gesture (mudra) is used in conjunction with the phrase 'I will see you.' referring to the the seeing of the inner-self.
My question is do you feel the origin, that you write of above, of The Village salute has a similar connection to Mr. McGoohan or the visuals we see in the series? Again I appreciate your need of private scholarship until publication.
Sincerely
Mr. Anonymous
Vesica Piscis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesica_piscis
Free For All
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfTpZQNqjYM&list=PL5BA382CFF95DF36D&index=3&feature=plcp
Chimes Of Big Ben
http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/prisoner/chimes2.html
Mudra
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b3/VitarkaMudra.JPG
Free Mason Lodge
http://whatisthepyramid.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/mexico.masonic.lodge.room.op.jpg
http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/freemasons-10.jpg