THE OLD PHEASANT

Series

Series Name
Mining Review 11th Year

Issue

Issue No.
9
Date Released
May 1958
Stories in this Issue:
  1. 1PROGRESS REPORT: PITHEAD BATHS
  2. 2RINK ‘N ROLL
  3. 3BYPRODUCTIVITY
  4. 4THE OLD PHEASANT

Story

Story No. within this Issue
4 / 4
Summary
BFI synopsis: the landlord of a Bedworth pub, the ‘Old Pheasant’, draws customers by setting up a film projector once a week to show old classics.
NCB Commentary - At the old Pheasant, Bedworth, many of the customers are mine workers.
Landlord Keith Denison began to find that the draw of television was cutting down the attendance figures of his regulars.
Absenteeism in a pub is no more welcome than it is in the pits!!
So Landlord Denison decided to call in the most favoured kind of popular entertainment to boost his falling attendances.
Today, a local enthusiast sets up a portable film projector in the lounge bar every Thursday night.
Business at the Old Pheasant is looking up again.
The customers have come to enjoy a friendly pint and, when the lights go out, to catch up on some of the early film classics they may have missed.
Mine workers, Jack Sanderson and Jimmy Handley, enjoy the show.
When a title comes up, or a reel comes to the end, they take time to refill at the bar.
Shadows across the screen testify to the steady trade at the Old Pheasant.
Television film cameras called in at the Old Pheasant to record the scene.
Landlord Denison’s customers will have seen themselves on their own house screens.
Some of them back in the pub will recognise other local colleagues from the recent Mining Review story of the Warwickshire Miners’ Convalescent Home.
At the Old Pheasant, Bedworth, the slogan is "Let’s go to the Pictures".
Researcher Comments
Commentary recorded 8th April 1958.
Keywords
Entertainment and leisure; Food and cooking; Cinema
Locations
England; Warwickshire
Written sources
British Film Institute Databases
Film User   Vol.13 No.147 January 1959, p27.
The National Archives COAL 32   /12 Scripts for Mining Review, 1956-1960
Credits:
Production Co.
Documentary Technicians Alliance
Sponsor
National Coal Board

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