Dumont Television Test Reel (1956)

An odd 16mm reel from my collection which is a kinescope made by the Dumont Television Network in September of 1956, which depicts a test for their innovative video/film camera system, though this particular reel is not the 35mm reflex sync video that they advertised but the standard 16mm film synchronized with a CRT known as a kinescope. The video switching in this reel show that this video feed is from the master video console, rather than the autonomous system depicted in the advert. Anyway, an interesting piece of history none the less. Enjoy!
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[@alecwilliams7111]

The DuMont Network was one of the great "might have beens" of the Golden Age of Television.

[@vestibulate]

The first actor shown is Carl Betz, later to feature in The Donna Reed Show and Judd for the Defense. Not sure about the actress playing his wife. She's familiar but I can't place her (Nancy Gates?). In addition to showing us something of the technical process, the reel gives us a chance to appreciate the professionalism of a cast working under less than ideal conditions. Still, there'll always be a special place in our hearts for the Dumont network.

[@nbntelevision1]

OMG! As a kinescope restorer, anything DuMont is just gold!!!!

[@nbntelevision1]

Fran, if you have a 24 FPS copy of this, I can restore it back to the original live NTSC TV frame rate. Might be fun to see how it came off the monitor in its original frame rate.

[@vwestlife]

@@nbntelevision1 Aren't kinescopes 30 fps, to match NTSC's 60 Hz refresh rate? Stepping through this video frame-by-frame (pause it and use the comma and period keys), I don't see any repeated frames.

[@FranLab]

@VWestlife - Kinescopes are 24fps and typically are recorded on 16mm from a CRT, often on a monitor that has been frame synched to 24fps. My telecine is designed to sync to 30fps NTSC, so that's what you're seeing.

[@nbntelevision1]

@@vwestlife Fran is correct. There is a 2:3 pulldown in kinescopes, so that they could be captured at 24FPS, so you aren’t seeing a kinescope at the video frame rate of 30 FPS. Fran’s telecine up-converts the same 2:3 pulldown, so that a video source can capture it without flicker. Unfortunately, it is still at 24FPS. With motion restoration an original 24 FPS kinescope can be restored to the video frame rate as it would have been viewed live from a video source.

[@dr.detroit1514]

One of the sad stories of the Dumont network, was the dumping of thousands of reels of its kinescope film archives into a New York bay or river.

[@MarkPalmer1000]

True. All but 24 of the estimated 1500+ Captain Video episodes that were filmed live by Dumont along with a lot of other programs were thrown in the bay in the 1970's.

[@gsnfan]

All because to make space. If they were saved a few more years they could have been digitally transferred. But yes, who knew at the time. Live and learn. But it's still disgraceful.

[@josephposavac3767]

Yes darn shame!😢

[@htmagic]

Fran, quite an interesting bit of history. Apparently Dumont Television shut down 4 days before I was born. I never even knew of Dumont Television until I came here. Thanks for sharing a piece of history!

[@goodun2974]

Dumont having developed the "magic eye") tuning tube was well on their way to developing CRT's for television but they sold the patent to RCA and thereby screwed themselves out of a lot of future revenue.

[@roadstercm6]

What a great film I wish I could see the entire show.

[@robertheckman9813]

I remember the DuMont network. Channel 6 in Philadelphia carried it as well as programs from ABC. This definitely was a kinescope recording filmed from a crt. The electronicam system was used on the Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason which was a live show so filming it at the same time the quality was better than a kinescope and the film could be duplicated and the show could be syndicated or shown in other time zones or on stations that weren't affiliated with DuMont. The DuMont company made very good television sets for that era. Some of the best but expensive.

[@KalOrtPor]

On Gleason's variety show the sketches were broadcast live, but the half hour Honeymooners series was edited from the film elements and were shown at future dates. The advantage was using the Electronicam kinescopes to work off of for easier and faster editing of the film, techniques that soon became widely adopted using videotape. Otherwise there was no real need for the cameras and would have been just as well served with standard 35mm, but they wanted a quicker turnaround time and Electronicams were staples in DuMont studios.

[@gsnfan]

Lots of stations had the ABC/Dumont affiliations since both networks offered limited programming. After Dumont folded, it gave ABC the opportunity to expand.

[@donristuccia7425]

Hello Fran, I fondly remember the Dumont Network (channel 5 in NYC). "Captain Video" and "Tom Corbet Space Cadet" were my favorite shows. Thanks for the memories.

[@RoySATX]

Never even heard of Dumont Television before today. I kept forgetting I was watching a test reel and kept being surprised when they cut the action. Good stuff, this, on so many levels.

[@fromthesidelines]

DuMont continued to schedule just ONE weekly series on its five owned and operated stations from September 1956 through August 1958: "THE MONDAY NIGHT FIGHTS", with Chris Schenkel at ringside. When it ended, *that* was the end of "DuMont Television", as Metropolitan Broadcasting (later known as "Metromedia") bought DuMont's stations.

[@gsnfan]

Somehow the stations managed to do well as independents before Fox came along.

[@dustinsmous5413]

This is AWESOME! I worked at a station from 2005 to 2011, and they made their broadcast debut back in the 50s as a Dumont affiliate!

[@pgh45rpms]

The actor is Carl Betz, who played doctor-husband Alex Stone on "The Donna Reed Show."

[@robertpettus1436]

Here's the way I heard it. It had to to with Union Rules. A guy (and it was all men back then) who was using a television camera was a technician, and they came cheap. A guy using a film camera was a cinematographer (even in a TV studio), and they were very expensive. Obviously film was better quality than Kinescopes. But it turns out that a guy using a television camera with a film camera bolted onto its side was still a technician, so long as he only looked through the TV viewfinder. The TV show was switched live for the audience and for the lower quality Kinescope, and the film was marked somehow to know when it had the tally-light. After the show, they would take the film back and edit it to match the live performance. There's more details, but you get the gist.

[@caroltenge5147]

I remember Ed Sullivan Toast of the town, and Jackie Gleason on the Cavalcade of Stars show on Dumont. Must have been 1949-50. Remember the Dumont slogan? "It's the finest set that an ordinary guy or a millionaire can get".

[@Avatar610]

Cameraman Hal Mohr was an Oscar winning cinematographer- surprising that he’s doing a TV test here!

[@boballmendinger3799]

Carl Betz was a great actor; loved him in the Donna Reed Show. It's a crime what happened to the Dumont archive.

[@frankowalker4662]

I'd like to see the full production. Good acting and intriguing plot.

[@toyfreaks]

A few years ago I found a Dumont RA 170 Teleset at an estate sale. I hemmed and hawed at the $30 price, but came back on last day and got it for $15! Here it is, playing a program of its era on VHS [knew was saving that Radio Shack VHF adapter for something]: kzbin.info/www/bejne/opuQfamhfLxlbLs Pretty impressive for a 50+ year old applaince.I'm lucky the capacitor didn't burn my garage down, that thing was already a tinderbox of hot tubes, cardboard and old dry wood. This led down the rabbit hole of discovering how many broadcasting networks there were in the 1950's. I had no idea television was so regional and "family owned" in a lot of cases. I also got obsessed the RCA Orthicon tube, especially its idiosyncratic black lens flare

[@KenHoranUniversal]

This DuMont test film is a kinescope recording made during production as an editing guide for the film being shot by the 35mm Mitchell camera on the Electronicam setup.

[@FranLab]

Yep.

[@dawnofclarity]

A slice of the time - but... what happened next?

[@douglasmann8110]

This is great stuff! Thank you Fran!👍

[@LaptopLarry330]

Someone here posted that this Dumont Television Test was done to help train Electronicam operators and directors on how to edit programs recorded on the camera system, using conventional cameras and kinescope equipment. During this test, Dumont may have used the training as an opportunity to make a pilot for a possible TV series. Dumont may have ended national network broadcasting when this television test was done, but they were still contractually obligated to show weekly boxing broadcasts from New York City until 1957. Dumont had to do whatever they could to earn money at this time, and this gave their veteran camera crews some badly-needed work, training other cameramen and directors.

[@ScottGrammer]

Wow, Fran. I love the films you post. Fine job.

[@bauertime]

I'll never forget Carl Betz in Judd for the Defense back in the 60's.

[@Robert08010]

High drama at its finest! Thanks for this.

[@2015Zoe]

better plot here than whats on tv now..

[@ruthandjoebarrett]

My grandparents had a Dumont TV in the 1950's. It had a circular dial to change the stations. We could pick up FM stations between Channels 5 and 6 I think. It could have been 6 and 7.

[@dhpbear2]

It's between 6 and 7. I remember 'discovering' this in the early 70s when I would record Star Trek episodes of of Ch 6 in Providence, RI onto open reel tape. I sounded SO much better that the same show recorded off the TV!

[@gsnfan]

Dumont sets were around a lot longer than the network. They were advertised well on the Dumont stations as a way to promote them. A list of TV dealers were seen at the top of the hour with the station ID.

[@johnwsimpson3153]

I remember the Dumont network. We could only get two channels, one out of Pittsburgh and one out of Johnstown. I forget which one was Dumont. The Honeymooners was a short sketch in Jackie Gleason’s hour-long variety show for the first few years, then a 30 minute series. When you watch kinescopes on your film projector, do you see the scan lines of the TV picture? When I watch them on my computer monitor or flat screen TV, I don’t see the lines. Maybe that’s the monitor filling in the blank spaces with estimates of what “should” be there?

[@someguy23475]

Pittsburgh. DuMont had an O&O until 1954.

[@DIY-valvular]

That is an interesting pioneering kind of telenovela from the 50's!

[@barryfleischer6553]

Very cool.

[@PicaDelphon]

To Bad you did not have a Du Mont to display it on...But Still, CLASSIC...!!..

[@CARLiCON]

way cool..if this show was on now I'd watch it...kind of a film noir drama vibe to it, thanks for sharing

[@naysayer68]

Evidently "Grace Dawson" is a pseudonym for Donna Reed.

[@olddisneylandtickets]

This was actually mesmerizing, thanks Fran.

[@bluesmoke8714]

The wife did it.

[@olipito]

Of course she did it! the few words when she closed the door behind the cop gave it away

[@Petertronic]

@@olipito She also seemed to know that Grace lived in an apartment. The clues are there...

[@billgueltig6136]

Director John Peyser would become very busy over the years directing theatrical as well as films for TV See Wikipedia entry…

[@kenterres1164]

The Electronicam system was live through the TV cameras and simultaneously filmed on 35mm film. (there was also a 16mm version) They would make a kinescope from the monitor of the show video feed. Then they would develop the kinescope and use that as the basis for editing the 35mm film into a 30 minute program. (where to cut each scene/shot) That is why the 39 Honeymooner episodes are on 35mm film and look so good. Jackie Gleason later released the kinescopes of the Honeymooner segments that were part of his longer variety show. If you have seen them they don't look that good. This test may have been for a potential show. This may have been the kinescope for the pilot episode. ???? Having a show on film gave you a great opportunity to syndicate it to local TV stations and you get to make money for years in the future.

[@nostalgia6578]

Looks like Electronicam was a DuMont invention that was adopted by CBS TV for the Honeymooners series, a system that was to be a step up from the kinescope/kinephoto process. A big deal for the 1950s!

[@willdatsun]

Don't leave me hanging, I want to know what happened next!

[@gsnfan]

Dumont ceased as a television network by the time this was filmed. They would carry on for a couple of years as owner of TV stations, particularly in New York City and Washington DC. Plus they owned radio stations, including WNEW New York and WIP Philadelphia. They would become Metropolitan, then Metromedia. In 1986, Metromedia sold the TV stations and Dumont rose from the ashes and became the much more successful Fox network. And many companion networks would eventually sign on. Fox News, Fox Sports, Fox Movie Channel, FX, FXX, to name a few.

[@trainliker100]

I think I remember Jay Leno mentioning the Dumont Network once. I think it was some awards show that rotated between CBS, ABC, and NBC year by year and then suddenly it was going to be on the fairly new at the time Fox Network. The big 3 networks didn't think much of Fox. The humorous comment was something like, "This year the show will be on the Fox Network. And I hear that next year it will be on the Dumont Network."

[@LanceHall]

I have a copyright on the static from 12.40 to 12.42.

[@JakesOnline]

Holy geez! They didn't hold back on the drama 😂

[@MrChief101]

I am sure that leading man is Carl Betz, not as sure that the lady is Nanette Fabayere. Man, those camera shadows were everywhere. Can't say who those other jamokes were, though the cleft is familiar. And those two floozies... not a clue. In that Electronicam ad you can pretty easily see a little boxy shape over the fourth position on the lens turret of that Mitchel. Since it is in-line with the lens hood of the big ole TV camera, that is a "video tap" in front of the vidicon tube. So, not quite "bolted on." Interestingly, bounced a couple of times. So there must've been 8,000,000 foot candles on the actors! I read somewhere that when Soupy Sales shot the exteriors for his spoof of Philo Vance detective movies, called Philo Kvetch, he and Frank Nestase were running around on the rooftop of the old DuMont Studios over on 67th St and the East Side, long converted to New York City's Channel 5!

[@FranLab]

Yea - the huge issue I can see to the whole "Electronicam" setup (other than the light limiting of the reflex action) is ONE lens - in those days the turret of lenses on the video cameras was critical to blocking. I imagine this setup was a bane to the directors.

[@MrChief101]

@@FranLab Hmm... only when the two-shot camera casts a perfect shadow on Carl Betz in medium. Bane.

[@fredmorton4291]

Could the actress have been Nancy Davis (Reagan)? Most photos of her show her hair as dark, but could she have been blonde in this role?

[@drskelebone]

Can you please enable auto-caption? I sometimes don't hear right, and having words to read really helps!

[@Avatar610]

I recognize Carl Betz and Mary Anderson here!

[@N2YTA]

Is that Richard Crenna?

[@batterymakermarkii2654]

Their tvs were built like battleships

[@roadstercm6]

Who goes camping in a suit? Old school for sure.

[@anonymous.youtuber]

Hehe, he’s playing the victim 🤣🤣

[@ScottfromBaltimore]

so drama!

[@entertainmentexecuti]

It's a Dumont!