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Mechanical Music in the Movies and TV
By Dale F. Rowe

Greetings from The Bronx,  In 1950 a movie was released called
'A Ticket To Tomahawk', starring Dan Dailey and Ann Baxter.
Dan Dailey's character is a 'Drummer' (a traveling salesman),
who unwittingly purchases a ticket on a railroad whose tracks are
incomplete.  During the trip, other passengers (a traveling music
show), sets up to entertain the others, with Dan Dailey joining
in with song and dance.  The music is supplied by a band organ,
accompanied by several dancing girls, one of which is none other
than Marilyn Monroe!

In 1955, a movie musical was released called 'Daddy Long Legs',
starring Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron.  In the movie, the car in
which Fred Astaire's character is traveling in France, breaks down.
Fred walks down the road and comes upon an orphanage 'Jean d'Arc',
in hopes of procuring alternate transportation.  While talking with
the Matron, Fred's attention turns to an older teenaged girl (Ms.
Caron), teaching English to the younger orphans.  She directs one
of the orphans to crank the monkey organ, while she leads the others
in song.  (What is odd about the organ is that the boy is sitting
down and cranking the lower right 'side' of the organ!)  About three
years ago, this obviously faux monkey organ, was offered for sale on
eBay, as a movie prop.

In 1962, a movie musical was released called 'Jumbo'.  It was loosely
based on an earlier Broadway show of the same name, with tunes by
Rodgers & Hart.  The movie stars Doris Day, Jimmy Durante, Martha Raye,
and Stephen Boyd.  In the movie the carousel organ becomes the center
of attention.  The organ breaks down, and Stephen Boyd's character
comes to the rescue.  After the organ is repaired, it begins to play
'The Most Beautiful Girl In The World', with Stephen Boyd singing it
to Doris Day's character. (This was music arranger Conrad Salinger's
last movie, as he passed away during it's production.)

In 1972, a campy horror movie, called 'The Return of Dr. Phibes', was
released as a sequel to 'The Abominable Dr. Phibes' (1971), starring
Vincent Price as the Doctor!  On the ocean going ship headed for
Egypt, there is a life-sized automaton orchestra in the ship's hold.
It belongs to and is enjoyed by the Doctor.  (The orchestra of course
is fake, with the actor enclosed robots imitating real musicians).

In the first incarnation of Walt Disney's 'Pete's Dragon' (1977),
the ne'er-do-well character of Dr. Terminus (Jim Dale), literally blows
into town under sails, having lost his horses to settle a malpractice
suit.  He is nothing more than a 'Snake-Oil' salesman.  As he sets up
shop in this town, the side of his wagon swings open and a faux
mechanical instrument bursts into song.

More recently (1988), and probably mentioned before, is the movie
'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'.  The movie features three mechanical music
instruments, the first two are solenoid driven pianos, optically played
by Donald Duck and Daffy Duck (dueling to Liszt's 2nd Hungarian Rhapsody,
with an explosive finale!)  The third instrument is an 89-key Gavioli
fairground organ, with Bob Hoskin's character singing and juggling to
'When The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down', the theme song for Warner Bros.
'Looney-Tunes!'  (Some of the backdrop animations of 'Toon Town' are
from competitor Walt Disney's 'Silly Symphonies!')

Though technically not really automated musical instruments, a number
of Betty Boop cartoons included a 'Rube Goldberg-esque' character known
as '[Professor] Grampy'.  In a number of cartoons, Grampy would solve
numerous problems by creating mechanisms from objects and items close
at hand, including a kitchen gas stove, a whistling tea kettle, a pair
of gloves tied to an electric fan, a corrugated washboard, and a cuckoo
clock -- much of the music being supplied by 'The Hoosier Hot Shots!'

In the TV series 'Mom', starring Anna Farris and Alison Janney, there
is what appears to be a piano in the room where the two lead characters
attend 'A-A' Meetings.  The piano in question may be the upright coin-op
nickelodeon manufactured by 'Marantz'.

For your interest and enjoyment!

D. F. Rowe
Bronx, New York


(Message sent Sat 22 Sep 2018, 06:19:14 GMT, from time zone GMT.)

Key Words in Subject:  Mechanical, Movies, Music, TV

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