John Noel was an entrepreneur of considerable invention, and absolutely dedicated to the 'conquest' of Everest (as he and most other people put it in those days). He was encouraged by the modest success of his film and the progress of the climbers, who he felt sure would crack the problem at their next attempt. As preparations for the 1924 expedition were being made and finance solicited, John Noel approached the Mount Everest Committee with an astonishing proposal. He would pay $8000 for complete photographic rights to the expedition—an enormous sum for the time. Somewhat bemused, the Committee wasted no time in accepting the generous offer, which solved all their financial problems at a stroke.
In 1922, Noel had been operating on a shoestring budget, developing his own film at Base Camp in tanks lined with nickel-silver inside a specially designed tent, which he kept heated with a yak-dung stove. This time he built a permanently-manned laboratory-hut in Darjeeling to which a team of mail runners delivered all still and movie film from the expedition. His camera was a clockwork Newton-Sinclair, adapted as much as possible to cold temperatures. At Advanced Base Camp he scaled a little hill, his "Eagle's Nest,"which afforded a good view of the route the climbers intended to attempt. With his 20-inch telephoto lens ('resembling a baby Lewis gun'), he was confident of being able to follow all the mountaineering action at long-distance whenever not physically with the climbers. The heavy camera was also taken as high as the North Col.
Unfortunately, the lack of summit success meant Noel's film "Epic of Everest" was not the commercial success he had hoped for. He had captured poignant footage of the blanket signals sent up and down the mountain after the loss of Mallory and Irvine on their summit attempt, but he had insufficient footage of the right personal material, and perhaps lacked the inclination, to make the film a full blown tribute to the missing heroes. Ultimately his company, Explorer Films, folded. Nonetheless, today, this archive footage is in great demand with Everest film makers.
In 1922, Noel had been operating on a shoestring budget, developing his own film at Base Camp in tanks lined with nickel-silver inside a specially designed tent, which he kept heated with a yak-dung stove. This time he built a permanently-manned laboratory-hut in Darjeeling to which a team of mail runners delivered all still and movie film from the expedition. His camera was a clockwork Newton-Sinclair, adapted as much as possible to cold temperatures. At Advanced Base Camp he scaled a little hill, his "Eagle's Nest,"which afforded a good view of the route the climbers intended to attempt. With his 20-inch telephoto lens ('resembling a baby Lewis gun'), he was confident of being able to follow all the mountaineering action at long-distance whenever not physically with the climbers. The heavy camera was also taken as high as the North Col.
Unfortunately, the lack of summit success meant Noel's film "Epic of Everest" was not the commercial success he had hoped for. He had captured poignant footage of the blanket signals sent up and down the mountain after the loss of Mallory and Irvine on their summit attempt, but he had insufficient footage of the right personal material, and perhaps lacked the inclination, to make the film a full blown tribute to the missing heroes. Ultimately his company, Explorer Films, folded. Nonetheless, today, this archive footage is in great demand with Everest film makers.
