An amateur comedy produced by Ronald Padgett in which an unluck amateur filmmakers’ efforts to win a trophy are thwarted by poor filmmaking technicians. He tries all sorts of subjects – holidays, animation, single-frame – but all in vain. Charlie almost succeeds by producing a film of a woman performing a striptease, but is thwarted again when the film is lost down a drain. Credit: R.W.P. Title: Charlie’s Winner Credit: Syd Weston as Charlie Sprocket Credit: With Sylvia Weston, Lesley...

An amateur comedy produced by Ronald Padgett in which an unluck amateur filmmakers’ efforts to win a trophy are thwarted by poor filmmaking technicians. He tries all sorts of subjects – holidays, animation, single-frame – but all in vain. Charlie almost succeeds by producing a film of a woman performing a striptease, but is thwarted again when the film is lost down a drain. Credit: R.W.P. Title: Charlie’s Winner Credit: Syd Weston as Charlie Sprocket Credit: With Sylvia Weston, Lesley Padgett, Brenda Hardcastle, Jack Weston, Malcolm Padgett Credit: A Bracken Edge film In his living room Charlie sits in a lounge chair reading a newspaper. The camera pans to the mantlepiece where a trophy suddenly appears and quickly disappears again. Charlie sits in his chair daydreaming. A reel of film comes through the letterbox and Charlie picks it up triumphantly showing it to his family who all come running. Leading them into the living room Charlie sets up a film projector and screen with the help of his son while his wife closes the curtains. With the film ready the lights are turn off and the projector switched on. On the screen shots of a yacht, but with another ghost image superimposed over it. Charlie looking despondent turns the lights back on, his family offer him their support. Back in the living room Charlie sits with his son, they are both reading newspapers. The boy points out an advertisement for model airplanes. Charlie is handed a model plane sitting in a set of draws by his son, he begins to play with it happily. In the dining room the son sits at the table making a model aeroplane while Charlie sets up a cinecamera. Charlies begins filming but becomes bored as it takes long and longer for his son to finish making the model. Once again, a cine reel comes through the letterbox and is collected by the son who shows it proudly to his father. The family gathers for a screening of the film, but all the shots are not in frame. Again, the screening ends in disappointment. Charlie’s daughter comes into the room where her father is sitting and takes him outside to a stable. Charlie sets up his camera on a tripod in the yard and begins filming some of the horses and people working there. He takes the camera from the tripod and begins filming handheld but is knocked over into an old bath by one of the horses with the film in the camera falling out onto the ground. Back at home Charlie sit with his feet in a bowl of warm water with a blanket wrapped around his shoulder. He blows his nose while reading a book about animation. Being inspired, he gets up and sits at a table where he begins creating an animation. In the living room Charlie sets up the camera over a table and begins animating his drawings, sitting nearby is his daughter drying his hair with a hairdryer. Her mother comes into the room and calls her away, but as she leaves the daughter places the dryer on the table causing all animation drawing to blow onto the floor or, worse, into the coal fire. Charlie tries to save some of them. Next, Charlies sets up a time-lapse camera to record a potted plant sitting on a table over a period of time. Charlie also sets an alarm clock. Sitting in the living room the alarm clock goes off and Charlie jumps to his feet returning to the room with the camera and checks it over before heading to bed. During the night the alarm clock goes off again with Charlies gets up, disturbing his wife, and heading back to check on the camera before returning to bed. The next morning Charlie gets up while downstairs in the kitchen his wife is cooking. She goes into the room with the camera and removes the alarm clock there taking it around the house as she does the housework. She returns it to the camera and re-attaches it to the camera. Charlie comes into the room and checks over the camera; the film intercuts him and his wife checking over the camera and timer. Finally, his recording over Charlie begins to take down the film equipment only to realise he had forgotten to take the lens cap of the camera. He bangs his head in frustration. Charlie and his wife sit in their living room reading, Charlies points out a picture in a magazine of a fashion model. His wife gets to her feet and poses like a model but dismissed her husband’s idea. Following Charlie makes some notes a woman arriving at the house and is greeting by Charlie and his wife. In the living room, with the curtains drawn, the woman lifts her skit to show a little more of her leg. Charlie puts on some music and with his wife sitting in a chair knitting they both watch as the woman begins to remove her clothes. Charlie leans over his camera with a smile and wonders around the room filming the woman from various angles. As the striptease continues Charlie’s wife becomes more and more angry. Finally, with her underwear dropping to the ground the film quickly cuts to the model now wearing a dressing gown. As Charlies comes over to thank the woman, his wife comes over and pushes him away. The reel of films comes through the letterbox again, but this time rather that call his family to watch it he does so on a small hand-viewer. The film over he rubs his hands together in glee. Parked outside a building Charlie takes out the projector and reel of film from the boot of his car. As he makes his way into the building the reel falls out of his hand and rolls into the street. Charlie chases after it but isn’t quick enough to stop it falling down a drain. The film ends back at home with Charlie sitting in a chair imagining the trophy he could have won sitting in the mantelpiece A yellow film box sits on the mantlepiece with writing on it. End title: The end