Phonographs in Movies...

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VintageTechnologies
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Re: Phonographs in Movies...

Post by VintageTechnologies »

I was watching a new BBC miniseries on PBS named "Arthur & George" and spotted an Edison Gem phonograph in Arthur Conan Doyle's study. The film stars Martin Clunes, well known from another BBC series as Doc Martin.
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edisonplayer
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Re: Phonographs in Movies...

Post by edisonplayer »

I also thought about the Baldwin sisters in "The Waltons.Early in the series they had a Victor VI with a mahogany horn.Later on the sisters had an L door Victrola XVI,also in mahogany.edisonplayer

Lenoirstreetguy
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Re: Phonographs in Movies...

Post by Lenoirstreetguy »

Has anyone mentioned Jean Renoir's marvelous La Regle du Jeu from 1939. This film was, I believe, the inspiration for Gosford Park. One of the characters ,the Marquis Robert de Cheyniest, collects phonographs and mechanical musical instruments. At one point a Pathé cylinder machine is prominment.
After I first posted this I did a little more digging on line and found a better image. Here's the Marquis on the left with one of his treasures which he is showing to Octave...who is rather in love with the Marguis' wife. Interesting to see a cylinder machine as a collector's piece even before WW II.
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Dave D
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Re: Phonographs in Movies...

Post by Dave D »

In the version of "A Christmas Carol" starring Henry Winkler, he is walking through a warehouse of used furniture and there are many phonos, including horn models.
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Re: Phonographs in Movies...

Post by Dave D »

edisonphonoworks wrote:I remember and episode of The Brady Bunch where the father is trying to fix a Victor machine, but the spring is weak. He is trying to play Al Jolson.
Here is a link to the scene with a wood horn Victor. Warning: A prankster has changed some of the language. Mr. Brady uses the F word ad the record is the Village People. I am not sure which of these two transgressions needed a stronger warning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVqI1FcHnYc

neilmack
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Re: Phonographs in Movies...

Post by neilmack »

The EMG Mk IX makes several appearances in Seance on a Wet Afternoon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVo2E4AqGF4 Black & White, UK, 1964. See for instance at 7:45 into the film. Chosen, presumably, because of the unnerving way EMGs stare into a room.

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pughphonos
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Re: Phonographs in Movies...

Post by pughphonos »

Spring phonographs appear in the backgrounds of several Clara Bow movies -- including "IT" (1927):

https://youtu.be/ZgBHsT1z0RI?t=159
"You must serve music, because music is so enormous and can envelop you into such a state of perpetual anxiety and torture--but it is our first and main duty"
-- Maria Callas, 1968 interview.

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De Soto Frank
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Re: Phonographs in Movies...

Post by De Soto Frank »

Did anyone mention the movie "Songcatcher" from 2000 ?

It is loosely based on musicologist Olive Dame Campbell, who embarks on a project to collect folk music that have been preserved by descendants of English/Irish/Scottish settlers in central / southern Appalachia...

In the film she is using some variety of Edison cylinder player ( Fireside? ), but they play loose with the technical details - one shot from the trailer shows a Blue Amberol being slid-onto the mandrel, and another one with a young lady preparing to sing "her song" into the morning-glory playback horn...


While the movie is not a faithful tutorial in pre-WW I field-recording, it is entertaining, and suggests that the mountain folk had a very personal attachment to the music passed down from their ancestors...

The film also features performances by the likes of Roseanne Carter Cash, and Iris De Ment, among other great artists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songcatcher
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neilmack
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Re: Phonographs in Movies...

Post by neilmack »

An episode of the Avengers TV series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfbN2dC3SSU from 1966 has a mere six machines in one scene.

And yes, that is Dr Who pretending to be a military man.

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Re: Phonographs in Movies...

Post by Victrolacollector »

edisonplayer wrote:I also thought about the Baldwin sisters in "The Waltons.Early in the series they had a Victor VI with a mahogany horn.Later on the sisters had an L door Victrola XVI,also in mahogany.edisonplayer
I think that was a nice L door Victrola. However, I thought the reproducer sounded like it needed rebuilt.

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