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Moonshine

1938 , Dorking (Surrey)

Cat no. 9521

A boy invents a disappearing device in a science fiction comedy.

Amateur filmmaker and cinema historian H.A.V. Bulleid makes ample use of trick photography in this farcical science fiction comedy about a boy and his latest invention. After being knocked unconscious by his brother on a moonlit night, a boy sits in a barn surrounded by Heath Robinson-esque gadgets and working on his latest invention, a 'Molecular Condensation Apparatus' that will vapourise anything set before it. Testing the device on the family cook, who disappears before their very eyes, he continues to experiment on bushes, garden implements, a carload of cousins, a young lady named Kitty and even his own father, before broadening his scope to cinemas, milk bars and his whole family. But did they really disappear? And did it actually happen? Or was it all just a dream?

Featured Buildings

Boxhurst Estate, Surrey

Keywords

Cinema-going; Dreams; Inventors; Trick Photography

Intertitles

"I propose to test this invention on Amelia..." "Amelia's molecules have condensed into roughly half a cubic millimetre." "By reversing the rays, I reproduce our Amelia." "The process would appear to be irreversible." "You know how scarce cooks are." Valerie Moggeridge. So rural, she thinks pansy means a flower. "Hey -- Beat it!" "...cousins are due quite soon..." "Anyway, what a beastly waste of the car." "Kitty's coming at four o'clock..." "I don't want to miss her..." "My will leaves all to you, my son. But --" "Good-bye, all!!"

Other Places

Boxhurst Estate, Surrey

  • Maker : H. A. V. Bulleid

  • Production company : Wood House Pictures

  • Director : H. A. V. Bulleid

  • Hugh Bulleid

  • F. Vanderkelen

  • Gabrielle Campbell

  • Margaret Ivatt

  • Hilary Barton

Manifestations

Moonshine

Copyright restrictions apply.

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