1961 · Williams
Metro
Parisian boulevard with cream haussmann-style apartment buildings and blue mansard roofs, row of green trees behind the buildings, pale blue sky, small open-air stage with a red canopy in the centre, grey pavement with pedestrians and cyclists and yellow-and-green cylindrical street bin at right edge.
- Year
- 1961
- Maker
- Williams
- Type
- Electro-mechanical
- Display
- Score reels
- Players
- 2
Made by
- Design
- Steve Kordek
- Art
- George Molentin
Vision analysis
On the backglass
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- green
- red
- yellow
- blue
Fingerprint: METRO: pair of oversized white bowling-pin style score reels with red crown tops carrying numerals 1 and 2; behind them red stage poster showing showgirl in yellow bikini; red-haired woman in white sun hat and lime-green dress; magazine stand with BALL IN PLAY label
The single most memorable element is a two-player score display built as a pair of oversized white bowling pins with red crown-shaped tops, each carrying a red numeral 1 and 2 above a row of three reels (reading 260 on the left and 004 on the right), with red banners beneath reading '1st PLAYER' and '2nd PLAYER'. Behind and between them, a red stage poster of a showgirl in a yellow bikini and wide-brimmed hat under the green italic words 'LE LIDO DE PARIS'. Close behind her stands a red-haired woman in a wide white sun hat and lime-green dress, and a magazine stand of romance magazines labelled 'BALL IN PLAY' and 'PLAYERS' with round red buttons 1 and 2.
Setting
- Parisian boulevard with cream haussmann-style apartment buildings and blue mansard roofs
- Row of green trees behind the buildings
- Pale blue sky
- Small open-air stage with a red canopy in the centre
- Grey pavement with pedestrians and cyclists
- Yellow-and-green cylindrical street bin at right edge
Symbols
- Two top hats (blue and black) on the stage poster
- Playing-card suits on the magazine covers (red, black)
- Small red round buttons numbered 1 and 2
- Confetti scraps
- Street lamp
- Bicycles
- Potted greenery by the shopfront
Lettering
- Mixed: the main metro title in large yellow-green sans-serif block capitals with a red outline on a green arched banner; 'william's' in cream cursive script; the two yellow placards in red italic capitals; the player labels in white sans-serif capitals on red banners; 'le lido de paris' in slanted green italic capitals on the poster; 'theatre' in yellow script on a red marquee
Themes
- Paris
- Cinema
- Theatre
- Showgirl
- Pin-up
- Nightlife
- Two player
- Bowling alley scoring
Title on it
- Metro
Text on it
- William's
- TWO PLAYER
- METRO
- 1 or 2 CAN PLAY
- IT'S MORE FUN TO COMPETE
- LE LIDO
- DE PARIS
- 15
- Theatre Can
- 1
- 2
- 1st PLAYER
- 2nd PLAYER
- Ball In Play
- PLAYERS
- FASHIONS
- NATIONAL
- TRUE
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Woman | Red-haired, green buttoned blouse with rolled sleeves, standing behind a magazine stand at lower left, holding a magazine, face turned left in profile |
| Woman | Blonde, large wide-brimmed white sun hat, lime-green dress with puff sleeves, thin belt and a brooch, right hand raised holding a small object, centre foreground |
| Woman | Red-haired, red jacket with white collar, gripping a dark navy handbag, looking down and left, right foreground |
| Woman | On the red stage poster: black wide-brimmed hat, yellow bikini, one leg raised, holding a parasol, a showgirl pin-up |
| Man | Black hair, blue suit with waistcoat and bow tie, holding a white paper or programme, behind the magazine stand at left |
| Woman | Blonde with headband, red top, walking in the mid-ground behind the 'ball in play' sign |
| Woman | Red-haired, seated on a bicycle at right, grey top and red skirt |
| Other | Small seated and standing pedestrians in the boulevard background |
A painted backglass showing a Paris boulevard with a cinema marquee and a small stage, framed by two large white bowling-alley style score reels. Across the top a green and red curved canopy banner carries large yellow-green block letters with red outline spelling METRO, with a smaller red arched ribbon above reading in cream script 'William's' followed by 'TWO PLAYER'. Two yellow placards flank it: left '1 or 2 CAN PLAY' in red italic, right 'IT'S MORE FUN TO COMPETE' in red italic. Below the banner, a vertical red poster shows a scantily clad woman in a yellow bikini and wide-brimmed hat holding an umbrella, beside green italic lettering 'LE LIDO DE PARIS', a small price tag '15', a blue top hat and scattered confetti. A red marquee below reads 'Theatre Can' in yellow. Lower half: three large women in the foreground — a red-haired woman in a green blouse at a magazine stand, a blonde in a wide white sun hat and lime-green dress holding a small object, and a red-haired woman in a red jacket clutching a dark handbag. Background figures include a man in a blue suit and bow tie holding a paper, a blonde in a red top, cyclists, and pedestrians. Green trees, cream Haussmann buildings with blue mansard roofs, pale blue sky.