I am very pleased to hear the story of Rex and the piano and what must
have been a delightful visit. The insight into Dundee's being happy to
be in the "pink" doubling Moscow is intriguing.

Guy Burgess certainly had the time to develop his skills at the
pianola.  It's interesting that in the movie he has a line saying that
his flatmate plays the balaliaka and he plays the pianola...  I wonder
if Rex picked the Moszkowski since it appears to be son-of-Moskow in
Polish, a political/geographic pun even.

Too bad Alan Bates wasn't adept at the pianola.  His abilities,
interests and reputation had a very wide range and this short film was
said to be one of his best.

I did read the "Schiedmayer" directly from the fallboard in the movie
shot, and think a Gotha Steck might have been too nice a piano for the
grubby environment they were portraying. I wonder if this piano is still
around.

All the best,
Karl Petersen
Washington, Illinois, but in Washington, DC next weekend.