A well-dressed wife cheats on her husband during a holiday alone in Tynemouth and plots to keep the fur coat she receives as a gift from her young lover. Her husband indulges in a little subterfuge of his own. This amateur drama was a Newcastle and District Amateur Cinematographers Association (ACA) production. It was commended by the Institute of Amateur Cinematographers (IAC) and Scottish Amateur Film Festival in 1953. Film locations include Durham railway station and the Park Hotel,...

A well-dressed wife cheats on her husband during a holiday alone in Tynemouth and plots to keep the fur coat she receives as a gift from her young lover. Her husband indulges in a little subterfuge of his own. This amateur drama was a Newcastle and District Amateur Cinematographers Association (ACA) production. It was commended by the Institute of Amateur Cinematographers (IAC) and Scottish Amateur Film Festival in 1953. Film locations include Durham railway station and the Park Hotel, Tynemouth. The first shot is a still of an Institute of Amateur Cinematographers (IAC) certificate. Title: Newcastle & District ACA Presents Title: In Pawn Credit: Photography by Dudley Muir Assisted by Geof. Richardson Credit: Continuity by Florence Richardson Credit: Directed by Joe T. Knott Credit: Our thanks to – British Railways, Tradesmen, and all who provided locations and settings. Credit: Cast Mrs Farraday – Wilma Gardiner Mr Farraday – Harry Alderson Young man – Joe A. Knott Secretary – Sylvia Noble Gypsy – Don Pritchard Taxi Driver – Archie Hancock Club members’ relations and friends Passengers wait for their train on a main line platform at Durham railway station as a steam diesel intercity train pulls in. In the background is Durham engine shed – a sub shed of 54A Sunderland. The passengers pick up their suitcases and get ready to board. Title: Mrs Farraday leaves for a week’s holiday. A station porter carries Mrs Farraday’s suitcase to her train. Her husband sees her off on her trip, Mrs Farraday leaning through an open window to say goodbye. The train guard waves off the train with his flag, and the train moves off. General view of the 1930s art deco exterior of the Park Hotel, Tynemouth. A taxi pulls up outside the hotel. A hotel porter helps Mrs Farraday with her luggage and escorts her into the hotel. In the hotel, Mrs Farraday steps into her hotel room and begins to unpack her case. She picks out a dress for the evening. In the hotel lounge, guests are drinking and chatting. Two men exchange words, the younger man glancing across the room at Mrs Farraday. She sips her drink and smiles seductively (briefly directly at camera). The two exchange glances, and Mrs Farraday inconspicuously slips off her wedding ring. The two begin a holiday romance, flirting over a drink in the hotel lounge. Close-up of two empty drinks’ glasses, fade into two teacups. Mrs Farraday and the man now share a table in a tea garden. A gypsy appears at the tables, playing his violin. The man pays off a waitress and the new couple head off arm-in-arm. An Austin car (Registration no. JX 7938) pulls off a country road and parks up. Mrs Farraday and her new lover get out. The couple walk together through a park and take a rowing boat out on a lake. They cuddle and kiss on a low tree branch beside the lake. At the Oxford Galleries dance hall (located in New Bridge Street, Newcastle), jazz bandleader George Evans and his Orchestra are billed as the Friday night performers (and were resident there from 1951 to 1957). Couples are coming out of the club at night time.  Once back at the Park Hotel in Tynemouth, Mrs Farraday and her lover head up to her room together. It’s the next day. Curtains are pulled back from a window. Mrs Farraday, still in her dressing gown, is brushing her hair at a dressing table mirror. [Note that you can see the ACA photographer filming the scene in the mirror.] There’s a knock on her door.  She shouts “Come in”. A maid hands her a large package. She unwraps the present and a small note inside reads: “Thanks for a lovely week.” She takes out a fur coat, which she tries on, admiring herself in the mirror. She is wearing the coat when she arrives at a railway station for the journey home. When the train, an LNER Class A4 steam locomotive, arrives at Durham railway station, she is once more wearing the coat she first travelled in and is carrying the fur coat. She calls over a taxi. The taxi driver opens the car door for her and lifts her suitcase onto the front seat. They drive off. Travelling shot from the back of the car heading down a high street. Mrs Farraday seeks to hide her infidelity and keep her gift by pawning the fur coat. Close-up of the three suspended golden balls symbol of a pawnbrokers. A sign reads “C.H. Porritt & Son Pawnbrokers and Jewellers". The taxi pulls up and Mrs Farraday gets out carrying her fur coat. She heads into the “Pledge Entrance” of the pawn shop. The taxi drives off again and drops Mrs Farraday back at home in a Victorian terraced street. Mr Farraday is sitting in an armchair reading when his wife returns from her holiday. They kiss and chat. Next day, Mrs Farraday kisses her husband goodbye and he heads off to work. She calls him back and hands him the pawn ticket she was given for the fur coat. Title: “John! I found a pawn ticket on the station platform. You might try to redeem it when you have a few moments to spare.” Close-up of the ticket he is handed. Later in the day, Mrs Farraday lays a table for dinner, and Mr Farraday arrives back home. He settles down to read the newspaper, whilst she pours the tea, and, with apparent innocence, asks about the pawn ticket. Title: “I wonder if you remembered to redeem that silly little pawn ticket?” He collects a manual from the hall table and hands it over to his wife. She raises her eyebrows in surprise but is unable to challenge him. The book is the 1948 edition of The British Pharmacopoeia, which he pretends to have redeemed from the pawnbrokers. Exterior shot of the Portland Building Society. Inside, Mr Farraday’s rather attractive young secretary is taking notes. He breaks for lunch. Title: “It’s time for lunch.” Mrs Farraday arrives at her husband’s work place just in time to see the secretary leaving work in the fur coat originally gifted to her. Title: The End