Movie Trains Big-Game Anglers (Dec, 1938)
This looks like the grandpappy of all those fishing video games that are so popular right now.
Movie Trains Big-Game Anglers
ALL the thrills of deep-sea fishing, from hooking a giant swordfish to fighting it in toward a boat, are provided for the entertainment of sportsmen on land by an ingenious amusement device. Seated before a translucent motion-picture screen, the angler grasps an actual big-game fishing rod and reel fitted with a line that runs to a revolving drum placed just below the screen. A movie of an actual deep-sea fishing battle flashes on the screen, and the fight is on. As the giant fish darts, leaps, and thrashes about on the screen, a cam-and-gear mechanism operates the motor-driven drum to reproduce the exact tugs that the angler would feel on his line if the film fish were real. Matching his wits against the mechanical fish, the angler strives to play the fighting giant toward his “boat,” as though landing a real deep-sea fighter on the open water.
One thing that keeps coming through in many of these old articles is the overblown hyperbole. This looks like a pretty good idea for its time, but “All the thrills of deep-sea fishing?”. I think articles these days are usually written with more skepticism, and I wonder when the change came about?
Wii fishin’ 1938 style
Then some joker puts in a film about Moby Dick. “Let’s see Mr. Deep sea angler wanna be handle this!”
(chuckle)
Bendarr: Cue the applause
Awwww, C’mon Firebrand38! It wasn’t that bad was it? Gotta get my humor dosage from somewhere. Least I didn’t tell you people to google “Rockfish” in Youtube for some nutso fising.
Bendarr: Rockfish?
“Rockfish” is a CG animated SF short showing a guy doing a very unusual type of fishing on an alien world. A full length production of it is in the words starring Vin Diesel.
http://www.youtube.com/…
While I was reading the above article Rockfish popped into my mind. Hope you enjoy it.
I thought “Rockfish” was what Isaac Hayes kept calling James Garner in those episodes of the Rockford Files
Bendarr: Now THAT was funny! I’d never heard of that before. Thanks for posting. I wouldn’t have cast Vin Diesel, the fisherman is more the John Cena type. Thanks again.
Cue applause.
Firebrand38, apparently according to a post on the IDMB the character in the CG animated “Rockfish” was apparently based on him.
http://www.imdb.com/tit…
General film description here.
http://www.imdb.com/tit…
Neil, I believe you were correct about the Rockford files. It’s been so long since I’ve seen them but I do remember it being a running gag with Isaac Hayes in that series.