Sammy's Super T-Shirt - Original Press Notes

"SAMMY'S SUPER T-SHIRT"
(In Eastman Colour)

A Monument Production
for
THE CHILDREN'S FILM FOUNDATION LIMITED

PRESS NOTES

It could be said that we were a over-ambitious, perhaps foolish, to attempt to make our fantasy-adventure film on a typical, modest C.F.F. budget. A budget, which by feature standards, might have been adequate to cover just the cost of special effects. However, to create on film the various astonishing feats achieved by SAMMY and his Super T-Shirt was a challenge we could not resist. OK, so we could not afford elaborate optical effects, 'travelling matte' and the like, but as in the days of George Méliès, the genius-magician of the silent cinema, we could do it the hard way - by means of artfully contrived props, or through the camera.

We were fortunate to have in NORMAN JONES an extremely experienced and inventive cameraman. To the traditional tricks of over and under-cranking, he added several more sophisticated ideas. So that, for example, by the use of a special synthetic material and skillful lighting, the 'Tiger' motif on the Super T-Shirt was made to pulsate erratically - even as SAMMY hurtled around the race track.

But all these devices would have been to no avail if SAMMY himself could not convince every child in the audience that he really was a Super-boy, capable of carrying out the most astonishing feats. We were lucky enough to discover REGGIE WINCH who, with his unquenchable enthusiasm and plucky determination, was ideal for the role. But, of course, in spite of all the artifices of film-making, when SAMMY jumps, Reggie has to jump; when SAMMY slithers down a rope from a high window, Reggie actually has to do it. And, remembering that every scene takes many rehearsals and perhaps a few takes, Reggie needed all his reserves of stamina - especially in the final race, when he was obliged to run all-out for several miles. So, when you see SAMMY breasting the tape at the climax, you can be certain that his exhaustion is genuine!

After one particularly strenuous day in which SAMMY had to leap over a hedge (several times), shin down a high wall and paddle a canoe by hand at a demonic pace, Reggie was heard to mutter : "The other kids at school think film-making is a bit of a joke - but they should try it!".

The locations for the film covered a very wide range: including a dilapidated Victorian mansion, factory sites, the river Wey, Walton Athletic Club with its superb running track, and a million pound Computer complex. Our most difficult, but rewarding location site, was the interior and exterior of a launderette in the busy main road of East Molesey. The proprietor was kind enough to close the premises for the day, and during filming we were obliged to turn away several frustrated customers. One old lady, however, heedless of the warning notice, stepped over the maze of electrical cables and, tottering through the smoke and steam, was dumbfounded to find her usual machine exploding with bubbles and foam - all caused by Sammy's Super T-Shirt!

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