In late February of 1935, the first name of the upcoming Gaumont British Picture Corporation production of, The Tunnel (AKA: Transatlantic Tunnel or Trans-Atlantic Tunnel), was announced: Conrad Veidt.Then in early April, Richard Dix and Madge Evans were added into the mix for this odd sci-fi film. Evans was chosen to play Ruth McAllan, wife of, engineer, Richard McAllan (Dix) the brains and steely resolve behind the transatlantic tunnel; what part Veidt was to portray we may never know for sure but the character of Frederick Robbins, eventually played by Leslie Banks is a significant role and that may have originally been intended for Veidt. In addition, C. Aubrey Smith, contracted with Gaumont for the trans-Atlantic subway movie.
Richard Dix (a favorite of this reporter) sailed for London for filming of the futuristic flick on Wednesday, June 5, 1935; contrary to contemporary reports his wife Virginia did accompany him to England, even though the couple had just had twin boys on May 8.The shooting schedule was set for six-weeks, and even as Dix sailed Conrad Veidt was still listed as a member of the cast of, The Tunnel. Principal filming was finished by the middle of August, although Richard and Virginia Dix would not return to the States until near the middle of September, arriving in Canada, having sailed from France.
To continue the theme of the, Transatlantic Tunnel, Gaumont British held a screening of the movie in the newly constructed 38thstreet Midtown Hudson Tunnel, on the New Jersey Side, with Gaumont dignitaries in attendance.
Motion Picture Herald, November 16, 1935
The official release date fixed by Gaumont was October 27, 1935, and the advertisements agree with this. A print of the film was not even in the States until the week of the 13th of October, 1935; Gaumont British sent, Transatlantic Tunnel, from London to Quebec via sea by the Empress of Britain, then a Dominion of Canada mail plane picked up the print and, Transatlantic Tunnel was flown to Quebec City and from there another plane was chartered to Newark, New Jersey. Evidently the air-transport landed with little fuel in the tank, making the tarmac just in time. Once safely on the ground, the next stop was the laboratory for additional prints to be made and finally into the hands of the premiering theaters.
The Roxy was the venue for the, Tunnel, New York opening, with a vital cross-promotion with Philco Radio. The agreement included window displays in 1,500 stores which carried the Philco brand, along with cooperative newspaper adverts. Also in the Philco-Transatlantic tie-in was a special-trailer preceding each showing and a space in the Roxy lobby for a display. More than forty cities were selected by Gaumont to be part of a simultaneous opening, with Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Fresno and Stockton taking the honors for the West Coast; South Bend, Fort Wayne and Terre Haute, Indiana, Huntington, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky, Butte and Great Falls, Montana, Fort Worth and Austin, Texas, Altoona and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Buffalo, New York, Worcester, New Bedford and Springfield, Massachusetts, Portland, Maine and Racine, Wisconsin to name some of those municipalities to host the first-run of, Transatlantic Tunnel. All reports from the Film Daily of box-office receipts for Tunnel, showed success, big-time achievement, and in some cases breaking recent-history house records and being held over was the norm.
Der Tunnel, written by Roman von Bernhard Kellermann and published in 1913, was a hugely popular novel and saw five incarnations on celluloid, beginning with two silent versions, The Rail Line Under the Ocean (with Kurt Matull at the helm), Der Tunnel, in 1915 (directed by William Wauer); then the twin productions of, Der Tunnel and Le Tunnel, each directed by the same man (Curtis “Kurt” Bernhardt), utilizing the same sets, and the same crew, excepting each project had a different editor. Der Tunnel was clipped by Gottlieb Madl and Le Tunnel had the scissors applied by Rudi Fehr; Der Tunnel, premiered in October of 1933 and Le Tunnel, opened in December of ’33. The only actor to appear in both of the 1933 productions was Gustaf Gründgens as Mr. Woolf, the syndicate director.
Not long after, Le Tunnel, was seen, Gaumont British Picture Corporation announced that it too would bring the “story of tomorrow, today,” to the silver-screen. Gaumont intended to use 3,000 extras for the production and insuring that the film would be elaborate in its film-making values. Kurt Siodmach (Siodmak), and engineer was brought on to the project to add a flavor of authenticity, not only working on the story but also providing service as supervisor with director Maurice Elvey. Siodmak had begun writing for film in 1929, but this was his second pen job. He and his wife Erna (they married in 1931) were reporters in Germany, in the mid-1920s; but Kurt’s initial profession had been that of engineer, which led to his work in the fantasy, horror, and sci-fi genres, gaining him positions on projects with a technically bent plot, these mostly, thrillers or actioners. Siodmak offered his thoughts on the scientific aspects of the story, presenting logical, albeit imaginary solutions to the inherent problems with tunneling under the bed of the Atlantic Ocean. His statement shows the depth to which his preparation took him with regards to the mechanics, logistics, feasibilities and the resulting effects of the combination of the sciences needed for such a tunnel building scheme; I have provided Mr. Sidomak’s thoughts in their entirety, in the following attachment.
The Transatlantic Tunnel is available for viewing online at archive.org; there is a DVD of, Transatlantic Tunnel (what the quality is I do not know) and can be found on several lesser known sites of which I at all times caution, buyer beware; one such outlet that carries the movie is, The Film Collectors Society of America. Transatlantic Tunnel seems to make an appearance on TCM about once a year, if you are willing to wait.
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIen-2765LU
Jan Jurkovič was appointed interim director of the Kopřivnice Regional Museum
On 13 December he became the director of the Regional Museum in Kopřivnice, ops Jan Jurkovič. The former director of the museum, Lumír Kaválek, finished the position.Unanimously, the board of directors of the museum, together with the representatives of the city of Kopřivnice and the TATRA TRUCKS car maker, decided to do so.
Mgr. Ing. Jan Jurkovič, head of TATRA TRUCKS’s property investment and asset management division, will hold office temporarily before a new managerial candidate is selected.
The Board of Directors on Personnel Change states: “We thank Lumír Kaválek for his work as director of the museum during his years of work. The Board of Directors, however, is quite united in the need to make this personnel change. The museum needs a man who is able to communicate with its founders and museum partners in a standard and non-confidential way and who will participate in fulfilling the vision of two technical museums that are gradually being implemented in Koprivnica, one focused on passenger cars and the other on freight and utility. “
The museum’s management board assumes that finding a suitable candidate to run the museum for a long time will last for several months.
Calendar 2018 – A Secret Garden in L.A.
I shot my first series of Tatra wrecks in 2009. On New Year’s Eve, in the final hours of the year, I published the photos online. Due to the nine-hour time difference, I am able to say that in another part of the world, i.e. the United States, in the final hours of that same year, an unknown customer got in touch we me wanting to buy a photo of a rusty Tatra for his girlfriend. The customer was Paul Greenstein, his girlfriend Dydia DeLyser. The following year, their Tatra 87 (1941) won 1st place in the prestigious New York Times competition Collectible Car of the Year 2010, while their Nash 690 (1924) was among the top ten finalists. This wonderful couple then visited me in Usti nad Labem in the north of the Czech Republic in January 2011; the world was not so big as to prevent us from meeting. As the years passed, we kept in touch. I now consider it fate that I travelled all the way to Paul and Dydia’s home in Los Angeles during my trip to the USA to shoot Tatra 77s in 2017. I was able to stay in the home of these true collectors – a home with a magical interior, just like a miniature museum. They let me photograph their collection of veteran cars, mainly Tatras and Nash cars in their original condition, freely. I don’t think that all our experiences and connections are just a coincidence. On the contrary. Fate wanted us to meet. And now I can show you their world, their garden.
Kalender 2018 – Geheimnisvoller Garten in L.A.
Im Jahr 2009 hatte ich die erste Fotoserie der Tatra-Wracks aufgenommen und am Silvester in den letzten Stunden des Jahres auf der Internetseite veröffentlicht. Dank der Zeitverschiebung von neun Stunden kann man sagen, ebenfalls in den letzten Stunden des Jahres auch anderswo auf der Welt, rief mich ein unbekannter Interessent aus Amerika an und wollte ein Foto eines verrosteten Tatraplan für seine Freundin kaufen. Es war Paul Greenstein und seine Freundin Dydia DeLyser. Ein Jahr später, im Jahr 2010, gewann ihr Tatra 87 (1941) in den USA bei einer Umfrage der New York Times – Collectible car of the year 2010 – den 1. Platz. Des weiteren kam ihr Nash 690 (1924) bei dieser Umfrage unter die besten zehn. Im Januar 2011 besuchte mich das fantastische Paar bei mir zu Hause in Ústí nad Labem in Nordböhmen. Die Welt war einfach nicht so groß, dass wir uns nicht treffen konnten. Viele Jahre sind inzwischen wie Wasser verlaufen, wir stehen stets im gelegentlichen Kontakt und ich empfinde es wahrlich schicksalshaft, dass wir im Jahr 2017 während unserer USA-Reise zu den Tatra 77-Fahrzeugen bis zu Paul und Dydia nach Los Angeles fahren konnten. Wir hielten uns im Haus der wirklichen Sammler auf, welches wahrlich wie ein kleines zauberhaftes Museum eingerichtet ist. Wir konnten frei deren Sammlung unrestaurierter Oldtimer fotografieren, vorwiegend der Marke Tatra und Nash. Ich denke mir, dass alles, was mal geschehen ist und uns verbindet, kein Zufall ist, sondern umgekehrt. Das Schicksal hat es einfach gewollt, dass wir uns begegnen und ich kann Sie nun durch deren kleine Welt, durch deren Garten führen.
Format: 48×33cm
Price for EU countries: 35, – Euro
http://www.vladimircettl.com/kalendar2018-a-secret-garden-in-la
T 603: https://www.retro-auta.com/Puzzle-c-40-TATRA-603-2-1975-1000-dilku-d292.htm
T 603 VB: https://www.retro-auta.com/Puzzle-c-47-TATRA-603-2-VB-1975-1000-dilku-d299.htm
T 613: https://www.retro-auta.com/Puzzle-c-53-TATRA-613-3-1987-1000-dilku-d305.htm
https://shop.tatramuseum.cz/
https://www.ebay.com/b/TATRA-Diecast-Toy-Cars/222/bn_5777568
Cars of the First Republic 1918 – 1938
Jan Tuček
599,00Kč including VAT
A representative publication with perfectly crafted graphics prepared by a renowned author. The content is made up of descriptions of passenger cars manufactured in Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1938, their basic technical data. In addition to the cars of large factories (Praga, Škoda, Tatra), there are also presented cars of smaller manufacturers (Aero, Jawa, Walter, Wikov, Z) and also small car brands (Disk, Enka, Gatter, Isis, Stelka, Trimobil …) 33 most important brands. In each chapter, the reader will find sales statistics for individual years, period prices and other technical information. A total of 600 exclusively contemporary photographs are used in the chapters of each brand. The last chapter contains 52 copies of the periodic brochures of the listed cars. The book novelty will be the adornment of the library, the source of many new information, the pleasure of the reader and the pleasure of the owner …
Cars of the First Republic 1918 – 1938
Jan Tuček
599,00Kč including VAT
A representative publication with perfectly crafted graphics prepared by a renowned author. The content is made up of descriptions of passenger cars manufactured in Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1938, their basic technical data. In addition to the cars of large factories (Praga, Škoda, Tatra), there are also presented cars of smaller manufacturers (Aero, Jawa, Walter, Wikov, Z) and also small car brands (Disk, Enka, Gatter, Isis, Stelka, Trimobil …) 33 most important brands. In each chapter, the reader will find sales statistics for individual years, period prices and other technical information. A total of 600 exclusively contemporary photographs are used in the chapters of each brand. The last chapter contains 52 copies of the periodic brochures of the listed cars. The book novelty will be the adornment of the library, the source of many new information, the pleasure of the reader and the pleasure of the owner …
Both military and civilian vehicles from the legendary Tatra brand will be produced and serviced in the Slovak city of Trenčín by a special branch of the Czech group.
Tha Tatra brand created a new Slovak company to produce lorrries in Trenčín.(Source: TASR)
The MSM company created the Tatra Slovakia joint venture in cooperation with the Tatra Trucks Kopřivnice group. The task of the new company is to repair, service and develop and produce Tatra vehicles for the defence industry as well as the civilian sector.
Within three to five years, the production rooms in the former Military Maintenance Company (VOP) in Trenčín are to be expanded and adapted, and 100 to 150 new employees are to be hired, head of the Trenčín division of the MSM Land System Miloslav Bobek told the TASR newswire.
“We plan to renovate the current premises and even build new ones, if necessary,” Bobek explained for TASR. “The overall strategy is planned for three to five years, but the first production possibilities will appear in our plant next year already.”
The Tatra brand is the third oldest car brand in the world, and with a hundred year tradition, the vehicles being much in demand all over the world.
“Globally, there is interest in these cars from Asia through Africa, all the way to Latin America, especially due to the high passability of this vehicle, and its performance,” Bobek said, as quoted by TASR. “In the civilian sector, they are especially used in mining companies, quarries and poorly accessible grounds. Four-wheel, six-wheel, and also eight-wheel military cars are attached to the Tatra chassis, as well as special vehicles.”
The MSM Group consists of several plants in Slovakia, with also a branch in Serbia. It focuses mostly on special technology and the defence industry: the Trenčín plant specialises in wheeled and tracked technology, the Nováky plant in ammunition and the Banská Bystrica one on the aviation industry.
The MSM Group is headquartered in Dubnica nad Váhom, where the production of small-bore and big-bore ammunition is located. Around 300 people currently work in Trenčín, while there should be up to 500 employees within five years, TASR reported.
