Went to see "Spy" with my wife on the weekend, not bad, have some good laughs, one thing that annoyed me is the characters in the movie, when its time to threaten to shoot some one, they all thumb cock the hammers on their semi-auto pistol, how can that be? you mean before before the gun was draw, there is a round in the chamber with the hammer rest on it?
I thought these day there are out fits specialize in supplying prop guns to studios for movie shoots and they will also instruct actors on how to properly handle them, perhaps actors; director...etc just ignore them.
That reminds me a story my friend and shooting buddy John told me some times ago, a number of years back, while visiting UK, he was invited to attend a lecture given by an expert of WW 2 machine gun at a meeting of an arms collector society, lectures of these kind are quite common at arms collectors circles, usually an advance collector or expert on certain aspects of arms and armor would present a lecture in an area him/her specialized at, the topics could be anythings from Rigby double rifles to pin fire revolvers...etc.
This expert in WW 2 machine guns related a rather amusing anecdote about his run in with Lee Marvin in the mid 60s when the movie "Dirty Dozen" was shot on locations and at Pinewood studio in UK. He was working as an armorer for a company in the business of supplying guns for movie productions and was hired to supply various types of firearms and instructing actors how to handle them in the said movie. One day, he was told to see Lee Marvin and show him how to use a M-3 sub machine gun, commonly refer as "grease gun"
From early to mid 60s, Lee Marvin has a strings of box office hits, such as "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" "The Killer" "The Professionals"...and after he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in "Cat Ballou" he became a much sought after mega star resulting in he can pretty much do whatever he wants. During that period, Lee Marvin was also known for heavy drinking, he would start early and continue to drink thru the day of the movie shoot, being a huge movie star, studio bosses; producers; directors...tends turn a blind eye about it, being afraid of offending him.
Mindful about all this, the armorer isn't very sure what kind of shape Lee Marvin will be in let alone how much instruction he can absorb, he knock on his dressing room door and introduce himself saying "Good morning Mr. Marvin, today we'll be shooting scenes with a M-3 sub machine gun and I'm here to show you how to handle it." As usual, Lee Marvin with drinking glass in hand was already a bit tipsy, however without saying a word, he snatch the M-3 from the armorer's hand and proceed to have it field striped, within seconds the gun was taken aparted, barrel, bolt, receiver...neatly laid out on the dressing room table, still not saying anything, he re-assemble the gun, in no time flat he handed a properly assembled and functioning grease gun back to the very astonished armorer, saying "Is there anything else I need to know?"
Lee Marvin serve in the Marine Corp in WW 2, wounded in combat during the Pacific Island campaign, a recipient of Purple Heart, interred at Arlington National Cemetery after his death.
I thought these day there are out fits specialize in supplying prop guns to studios for movie shoots and they will also instruct actors on how to properly handle them, perhaps actors; director...etc just ignore them.
That reminds me a story my friend and shooting buddy John told me some times ago, a number of years back, while visiting UK, he was invited to attend a lecture given by an expert of WW 2 machine gun at a meeting of an arms collector society, lectures of these kind are quite common at arms collectors circles, usually an advance collector or expert on certain aspects of arms and armor would present a lecture in an area him/her specialized at, the topics could be anythings from Rigby double rifles to pin fire revolvers...etc.
This expert in WW 2 machine guns related a rather amusing anecdote about his run in with Lee Marvin in the mid 60s when the movie "Dirty Dozen" was shot on locations and at Pinewood studio in UK. He was working as an armorer for a company in the business of supplying guns for movie productions and was hired to supply various types of firearms and instructing actors how to handle them in the said movie. One day, he was told to see Lee Marvin and show him how to use a M-3 sub machine gun, commonly refer as "grease gun"
From early to mid 60s, Lee Marvin has a strings of box office hits, such as "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" "The Killer" "The Professionals"...and after he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in "Cat Ballou" he became a much sought after mega star resulting in he can pretty much do whatever he wants. During that period, Lee Marvin was also known for heavy drinking, he would start early and continue to drink thru the day of the movie shoot, being a huge movie star, studio bosses; producers; directors...tends turn a blind eye about it, being afraid of offending him.
Mindful about all this, the armorer isn't very sure what kind of shape Lee Marvin will be in let alone how much instruction he can absorb, he knock on his dressing room door and introduce himself saying "Good morning Mr. Marvin, today we'll be shooting scenes with a M-3 sub machine gun and I'm here to show you how to handle it." As usual, Lee Marvin with drinking glass in hand was already a bit tipsy, however without saying a word, he snatch the M-3 from the armorer's hand and proceed to have it field striped, within seconds the gun was taken aparted, barrel, bolt, receiver...neatly laid out on the dressing room table, still not saying anything, he re-assemble the gun, in no time flat he handed a properly assembled and functioning grease gun back to the very astonished armorer, saying "Is there anything else I need to know?"
Lee Marvin serve in the Marine Corp in WW 2, wounded in combat during the Pacific Island campaign, a recipient of Purple Heart, interred at Arlington National Cemetery after his death.
