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Laurel & Hardy Movie Music on Piano Rolls
By Mark Singleton

In response to your query, Clark, I personally have no idea, but no
doubt you are aware of the movie short, 'The Music Box', where they
deliver a player piano to the home of Billy Gilbert, smashing the piece
in the process.

However, in the feature length film, "Way Out West", there is a scene
where James 'Fin' Finlayson is chasing Stan around a bedroom trying to
get his hands on the deed to a gold mine.  The eagle-eyed observer will
spot what I reckon to be a Symphonion table-top musical box on the
sideboard.  Stan rushes past and the lid is shown closed, but two
seconds later it's open.  Early in the film what looks like a Mills
Dewey can be seen in the saloon.

Not exactly mechanical music, though one of the many piquant gems of
this film lies in a wonderful dance routine the boys do to the sublime
harmonies of The Avalon Boys.  They also performed comic operettas of
Michael Balfe's 'The Bohemian Girl' and Auber's 'Fra Diavlo', the music
from which was available for most disc boxes.

Mark Singleton
Lancashire, UK


(Message sent Thu 11 Jan 2007, 21:43:42 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.)

Key Words in Subject:  Hardy, Laurel, Movie, Music, Piano, Rolls

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