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MMD > Archives > March 1997 > 1997.03.25 > 05Prev  Next


Mechanical Music in the Movies
By Denis Anderson

I know this thread's a bit old, but I was just getting through my back
catalog of old movies on video when I came across a film called 'Pete
Kelley's Blues'.  It stars Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee amongst others,
was made in '53, but set in 1919.  Most of the action takes place in
a dance hall where Pete's band plays, and somewhere in the dialog is
the line "the band plays five days a week, and the player piano the
other two".

Anyway, in the last dying moments of the film, what looks like it could
be an Ed Link orchestral piano has a major part, playing a very spirited
number with pipes and drums and cymbals, and with a sign on it that says
"Play this in the intermission, 5c". It manages not to get damaged in the
ensuing gun-fight! There's also an upright pianola to be seen in the
background.

Denis Anderson



(Message sent Tue, 25 Mar 1997 09:00:19 +0000 , from time zone +0000.)

Key Words in Subject:  Mechanical, Movies, Music

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