If you have a story to tell then send it to my email, and a photo or two would be nice.
This chapter is written by a regular Derann customer and one that I always had the pleasure to deal with. Graham isn’t a member but we keep in touch on the phone. [He was a big fan of Chimp-Mates which was a series of 19 comedy adventures produced by the CFF and 315 was his Derann number].
Some of my early Derann Memories from Graham Smith (Chimp-Mate Agent 315).
Picture this: It’s the tail endof 1975, and I’ve just graduated from my very first silent Eumig, to a whole new pride and joy – an all singing, all dancing Eumig 810D Sound projector! Just one problem: Aside from a very short reel of clear (but Striped) test footage supplied with the machine, I don’t happen to have any sound films to run through on my new piece of kit!
So I’m leafing through the December edition of ‘Movie Maker’ magazine, looking for a potential filmic purchase within the reach of my very limited caterer’s budget at the the time, and it’s here that I stumbled across an impressive double page advert for – ‘Derann Film Services’! This was my first encounter with ‘DFS’ and was the beginning of a liason that was to endure for some 35 years, during which time this motley individual became friends with most of the motley crew who worked there!
What cuaght my eye in that ‘Movie Maker’ ad was Derann’s impressive listing of Technofilm Warner Brothers cartoons at bargain prices, and it wasn’t long before my first such acquistion , ‘Cat’s Paw’ was weaving its way around my 810D’s sprockets! Needless to say I was hooked, and very soon 2-way traffic was set up between myself and Derann! Outwardly from my home town of Swanage I would despatch my handy order form (we didn’t have a telephone in those ancient times!), then, efficient as I always found them to be, within a couple of days, our trusty local Postie would knock the door at around 7am and hand me the latest jiffy padded bag, (this always sported the famous address label emblazoned with the exciting words: ‘Film – Useless if Delayed’!!). In addition, each package also usually included a plethora of Derann’s latest sales lists, both new and used, 8mm & 16mm, guarenteeing I would be tempted by many further celluloid treasures. Yes, the folk at Derann really did think of everything and often I wondered what their workplace might be like….
Fast forward a year or so: And during a family holiday to Ludow I made myself very unpopular with my long-suffering Dad by constantly reminding him how much closer we were to Derann HQ and badgering him about the possibility of actually visiting my favourite retailer! Finally relenting in order to get some peace (how did anyone ever put up with me?), the four of us (Mum, brother, Dad driving and me as navigator) set off, all crammed into our little Robin Reliant car on the adventure of a lifetime! 171 Stourbridge Road, here we come!
I must admit here that I was very young and naive back then (these days I’m just not so young) and I’d long built up an image in my mind of the DFS HQ being a hugely towering skyscraper, easily rivalling the Empire State Building and almost certainly crowned by the name by the ‘Derann’ name in giant brilliantly lit neon letters. So perhaps it wasn’t too surprising that with my sights raised a little too highly, we managed to drive right past the object of our search, and it was only on the second attempt that we found the place of my filmic dreams: A small semi detached house!
I felt very proud to meet the team as they were then and came away with a prise addition to my collection; The Avengers episode ‘Return of the Cybernauts’, which I treasure to this day!
With fond memories and thanks to all the Derann folk over the years – I wouldn’t have those Chimp Mates without you!
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