Leica Spotting

"The Candidate" (1972), starring Robert Redford, was on television last evening. Of course, there are lots of photographers with various cameras in this movie. Leica M's (undoubtably M4s) were the most prominent, appearing onscreen on at least two different occasions. Interestingly, an accessory viewfinder was mounted on the camera both times.

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Has anyone else spotted Leicas in the movies or on TV?

In Chinatown Jack Nicholson uses a Leica screwmount with a long lens

and accessory viewfinder.

In the sequel to Chinatown, "The Two Jakes" the whole opening credits

plays over Nickelson shooting and winding a screw series Leica with a

50mm sumarit lens... Good close up. In the movie "salvador" a good

close up of a M series with a 28mm lens getting a "from the hip" grap

shot of an execution, ala Eddie Addams.

In Wolfgang Petersen's 'Das Boot', one of the lead characters used a

Leica with a collapsible lens to document life on board the sub.

In the 1952 Stanley Kubrick B/W film 'Lolita', Peter Sellers, as an

art director(?), straped a Leica SM on his neck for two scenes, back

stage and hotel lobby. I know his taste for beautiful things but one

,Lolita, is definately more fatal than the another, the Lieca.

Kenny, I put "Lolita" on at your suggestion. Peter Sellers is

wonderful.

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In the hotel lobby scene, Sellers has a Nikon S hanging from his neck.

In the backstage scene, he's shooting what appears to be a black SLR.

It almost certainly has a prism dome. Its not an Exakta. At the end of

the scene, he's operating a rewind crank in the usual modern place,

left top plate. What could this have been in 1952? Its not a Leica

screw mount, thats for sure! Can anyone identify this camera?

I should correct the date of the movie, Lolita is 1962(not 1952).

Next time I should do 'pause' when the 'moment' comes. I bought the

Kubrick's DVD collections. Have good one.

Kenny, I have the Kubrick DVD collection also. I should have checked

the date myself. That solves the mystery. The backstage camera is

undoubtedly a Nikon F. The hotel lobby camera is more likely a Nikon

S4.

<a href="http://us.imdb.com/Title?0139362"><i>High Art</i></a> (1998),

a rather depressing movie about a 20-30-something art/fashion

photographer's last work. Heroin(e) addicts, etc.

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PS- I thought the camera in <a href="http://us.imdb.com/Title?0091886">

Salvador</a> was a Nikon SLR. I do remember the shooting from the hip

scene.

In "Ronin", Robert DeNiro, posing as a tourist, uses a Leica

R6.2 while photographing his quarry in a hotel lobby.

Hi Joe,

Was watching 'Addicted to Love' on HBO and saw Meg Ryan using am M6

throughout the show. The longer lens looked like a 135.

In "Under Fire" (1983) photojournalist Russel Price (Nick Nolte) has a

Leica M around his neck throughout the movie, along with some SLRs.

While covering the Sandanista revolution in Nicaragua, he shoots every

single photo with a Nikon SLR.

In one of the publicity stills for the "Eyes of Laura Mars" Faye

Dunaway was looking through a Leica R4 with 50mm Summicron and square

lens shade. In the movie itself she used Nikons.

Yes. Wolgang Petersen got it right in "Das Boot". During WWII, high

officers in the submarine fleet were given Leica cameras as well as

binoculars (presumably to use when they surfaced).

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Leitz WWII cameras delivered to the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) are

the rarest of all military cameras: the Air Force (Luftwaffen) and

Army (Heer or W.H., for Wermacht Heer) cameras are much for common.

These kriegsmarine cameras are engraved with an M, and sometimes with

a Reichsadler (eagle surmounting a swastica), as well as additional

numbers. Many of these cameras offered as German Navy are

forgeries.

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Occasionally, Kriegsmarine binoculars are offered for sale. The ones

I have seen are engraved Beh (which stood for Leica, the Leitz name

was not used), M (for Marine), and often had a Reichsadler. Some of

the binoculars belonging to a submarine captain were engraved

(appropriately enough), with a fish. The Kriegsmarine binoculars

seem to be more common than the cameras. Interestingly, any camera

or binocular from that era with a swastica cannot be sold in

Germany.