Wind-up Phonographs in Movies

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Springmotor70
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Re: Wind-up Phonographs in Movies

Post by Springmotor70 »

Then There is the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby.

Nick Carroway has an upright Brunswick at his cottage where he can listen to classical piano while eating supper on the porch...

Tom Buchanan has a Victor Victrola (that seems to play post war 78s at a very slow speed ;) ) at the city apartment he keeps for "his girl" Myrtle Wilson...

and last but not least... Jay Gatsby has a small laquered art-case baby grand piano console (that sounds quite loud even with the tone chamber cover closed ;) ) in his pool house.
I do not remember this off brand but it has a supported tone arm similar to Victor and I remember seeing almost the same model console at Union a few years ago...
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wjw
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Re: Wind-up Phonographs in Movies

Post by wjw »

Just watched this week's American Horror Story installment in which a fancy Puritan bombe upright
plays swing era music with the reproducer set to play vertical records.

Schlick
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Re: Wind-up Phonographs in Movies

Post by Schlick »

This is silly (But I have to agree!):
Different_Tastes_Back_Then.mp4
(222.28 KiB) Downloaded 1976 times
https://www.facebook.com/justinmichaels ... =2&theater

(and pardon the french)

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marcapra
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Re: Wind-up Phonographs in Movies

Post by marcapra »

This is not in the movies, but in some episodes of Seinfeld, whenever they go to Elaine's apartment, which is seldom, there is a Columbia Grafonola upright with the vertical louvers.

welshfield
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Re: Wind-up Phonographs in Movies

Post by welshfield »

Check out the recent movie, Crimson Peak, which includes several appearances of cylinder phonographs. The first is an Edison playing cylinders by an attendant in a men's room. These may be the actual sounds of the cylinders on the soundtrack. Next, the heroine locates a stash of Gold Mold cylinders in a closet. Finally she plays them (only to find that they are incongruously home recorded blanks, unfortunately the one error I detected) on another cylinder machine. There was some mention of 1889 or so in the dialog at one point, which I did not follow. From the automobiles shown, it must date to after 1908 (hence a Ford Model T).

As a horror movie, this one was pretty good. The story held together, no lapses in judgement or behavior of the characters, and excellent special effects. The one non-phonograph anachronism was a jet contrail across the sky during an outdoor scene!

John

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Henry
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Re: Wind-up Phonographs in Movies

Post by Henry »

Just saw on TCM a brief snatch from a thriller-stinker, Lured (1947), with Boris Karloff, Lucille Ball (!), Charles Coburn, et al. There's a scene with Classical music playing on a Victor (?---too distant to pick out a model number) wooden horn table-top, then a close up of a tone arm with an Ultona sound box! More on this movie here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039589/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

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Re: Wind-up Phonographs in Movies

Post by phonogfp »

Henry wrote:Just saw on TCM a brief snatch from a thriller-stinker, Lured (1947), with Boris Karloff, Lucille Ball (!), Charles Coburn, et al. There's a scene with Classical music playing on a Victor (?---too distant to pick out a model number) wooden horn table-top, then a close up of a tone arm with an Ultona sound box! More on this movie here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039589/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
Yep - I'm watching it now (it is kind of a stinker...). The machine was a Victor V. The sound box was a Victor Exhibition - - I just DVR'd it to be sure. At one point, Lucille Ball was leaning with her elbow on the horn!

George P.

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Henry
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Re: Wind-up Phonographs in Movies

Post by Henry »

Coulda sworn it was an Ultona! Sorry.

At least Lucille Ball looks lovely in this one!

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Re: Wind-up Phonographs in Movies

Post by phonogfp »

I prefer the Victor V! :lol: I was never a fan of Lucy or Mickey Rooney...

George P.

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Mr Grumpy
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Re: Wind-up Phonographs in Movies

Post by Mr Grumpy »

Reviving an old thread...

In the beginning of this clip, is Wednesday's machine a Victor II or a III????


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ78TS1tHJ8[/youtube]
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