A handful of full or partial episodes of the series on 16mm film are known to exist.
Four of these episodes were in Denzil Howson’s collection.
Work was proceeding on preparing these four episodes for digital scanning and restoration.
These four episodes have now been scanned at Cameraquip in South Melbourne on a Digital Vision Golden Eye scanner at 2K resolution. In addition the scans have been digitally processed to stabilise the image (i.e. to minimise the “jitter” characteristic of film) and to reduce somewhat the visible dust marks.
The results are very satisfactory.
Pieces of the “The Mystery of Muzzletwerp Manor” episode had been removed by Denzil for his “Magic Box” presentations about the history of early Melbourne television, so this episode required careful preparation of material from two reels. I decided not to attempt a difficult re-construction of that episode on film, which would have risked further damage to the film and loss of frames, but to have the pieces scanned separately and then re-connect them in the digital domain.
The scans need minor repairs, grading (adjusting tonal levels) and repairs to the soundtracks, after which they should look and sound very good. Better in fact than when they were originally broadcast on black and white television around 60 years ago.
A Sneek Peek at the Scans
Here are a some sample frames from the scans.
The Mystery of Muzzletwerp Manor Episode 1
Gerry and Elaine are snooping around outside Muzzletwerp Manor.Ron and Gerry wave at Susan, who they believe is being held captive inside Muzzletwerp Manor.Susan writes a help note and uses a sling shot to propel the note through the air to Ron and Gerry who are outside in the street.Ron and Gerry read Susan’s plea for help.Ron decides to knock on the door of Muzzletwerp Manor to enquire about the girl in the upstairs room. The owner (Denzil Howson) briskly turns him away.
Tarzan Gerry Episode 4
In the tradition of Tarzan, Gerry Gee is living in the jungle with the animals.Denzil Howson is the District Officer. Here he talks with Ron about the rumour of a “jungle boy”. Ron wonders: could it be Gerry?Penny is missing in the jungle and there are rumours of a tiger on the prowl. The men decide to launch a search party to find Penny.To everyone’s surprise, Gerry the jungle boy, has rescued Penny.
The Voice from Nowhere Episode 4
Gerry and Elaine have been on the trail of a series of bank robberies. Using Gerry’s amazing “Gee Direction Finder” machine, they have tracked down Mr Sharkey, a neighbour, as the prime suspect. Now the newspaper reports that another robbery has occurred.Mr Sharkey (Alf Gertler, aka Bernard the Magician) has angrily discovered that Gerry and his friends are following him in another car.Happy Hammond and Elaine are shocked when they see Mr Sharkey has evaded them.Confident that he has eluded his pursuers, Mr Sharkey has a rendezvous with his conspirators in crime (Denzil Howson and Ernie Carroll).Happy, Ron, Elaine and Gerry surprise the crooks and after a short scuffle take them prisoner.All’s well that ends well. The criminals are captured and Elaine, Gerry, Happy and Ron feel pleased with themselves when they read the newspaper report of their escapades.
Big Top
Ken Warne is the baddie in the story “Big Top”. He is plotting the demise of The Great Gardini by arranging for the trapeze artist’s ropes to be cut.One of the clowns in the circus is up to no good, working at the behest of Ken Warne to cut The Great Gardini’s trapese ropes.And the deed is done!
Gerry’s Big Show
Frank Rich and Earl Francis have Penny Loveday held captive in the cellar of the warehouse which the mysterious Mr Williams has offered Gerry and Penny to use for their “Big Show”. Here Frank Rich plays harmonica (more likely it was virtuoso harmonica player Horrie Dargie who was on staff at GTV9 at the time).Penny sings “Don’t Fence Me In” for her captors.Earl Francis nods approval of Penny’s talent as a singer.
