Sign Language in Films

[plasticjock]

I watched it as well Al; I also looked up Bobby Driscoll on IMDb and he died of drug abuse in a lonely room in America 1968 I think - what a shame.

Apparently he'd been found in a New York tenement with no I.D. and was buried as a 'John Doe'. It wasn't until his family put the FBI on the case that he was identified a year later and reburied in the family plot.

http://www.geocities.com/bkohatl/BobbyDriscoll.html

[DAVID RAYNER]

Bobby Driscoll’s story is the saddest and worst in the entire film industry. Many former child stars had it rough trying to cope with not being a little boy any more and adjusting to life as a grown up, but none more so than Bobby.

As far as I know, although there is a headstone for Bobby Driscoll next to his father’s grave in a Californian cemetery, Bobby’s remains still lye in the pauper’s grave on Hart Island, New York, where he was buried without ceremony in 1968. Hart Island is the last resting place of criminals and vagrants who died penniless or with no known relatives.

Bobby’s family have been trying for years to have his remains transferred from New York to California without success. They have made a direct appeal to the Disney organisation to help with the cost of the re-burial, but Disney, despite the fact that they have made millions out of Bobby’s films, don’t want to know. Which is absolutely and totally shameful.

Bobby was fired by Walt Disney in 1953, largely because, I assume, that, as with all child stars, no studio wants you when you’re 14 and over the hill and have teenage acne, as Bobby had by that time. Bobby’s life went downhill from there on. He was a very intelligent and sensitive boy and he just couldn't cope with it. He once said that he had been carried along on a satin cushion and then dropped into the garbage can.

So, as you watch him as a happy twelve year old in Treasure Island, filmed over here in 1949, be thankful that at that age, he was blissfully unaware of the terrible future that lay in store for him in the 1950’s and 1960’s. God Bless You and Keep You, Bobby. Here’s one fan who will never forget you.

[Steve Crook]

Another thought in the Subtitle v Signing discussion ...

Have you seen many programmes with the subtitles switched on? Apart from a few major films where they take a bit more care, the subtitles aren't very good.

I've just been watching Countryfile with the subtitles on and I've watched other things like the News in the past with them on. The subtitles quite often get a long way behind the subject on screen and they often have mistakes in them. Real names (people & places) are very often wrong and they also make a lot of other mistakes. It's a noble effort, but they probably don't get very much in the way of money or time to spend on them.

But as BSL (Signing) is a true "spoken" language it can keep up with the item on screen and is less prone to error.

Now if only there was a way to make the signer appear & disappear like you can with subtitles.

Steve

[Marky B]

That was very sad about Bobby Driscoll - I watched him in a movie last year on a Thursday afternoon,The Window. Very good it was.
Ta Ta
MArky B thumbs_u

[DAVID RAYNER]

Yes, The Window was an excellent film, shot in 1947, when Bobby was 10, but not released until 1949. He won an Academy Award for his performance in it.

[Marky B]

In 1949 for Best Child Actor.
Ta Ta
MArky B thumbs_u