Interesting machine in one of the Harry Potter movies

[Blimpy]

While re-watching a couple of the older Harry Potter movies, I noticed some rather interesting gramophones in the 3rd & 4th films.

For starters, in the 3rd movie, a "C. Gilbert & Co." "Geisha" gramophone with a morning glory type horn makes some appearances:

Then, there's a gramophone (possibly the same one from the previous film) with a massive Cygnet style horn (again, similar to the horn from the gramo. from the previous film) in the 4th movie:

Screen shot 2011-07-30 at 10.31.39 PM.png (119.52 KiB) Viewed 2204 times

Screen shot 2011-07-30 at 10.31.45 PM.png (132.2 KiB) Viewed 2204 times

Now, there was a C. Gilbert and Co. gramophone company making gramophones in the UK in the '20s/'30s, but all of these were portables or internal horn machines. Again, the only clue to the brand name is the reproducer, which may have been changed by some previous owner before the Warner prop department acquired it, but then again the machine might be a frankenphone made from random parts for the film. The cygnet horn's obviously a fake, but one wonders how such a horn would sound on a machine in real life

[estott]

They both appear to be frankenphone / fantasy machines, though in the context of the movie they don't bother me as much as usual.

[gramophoneshane]

the only clue to the brand name is the reproducer, which may have been changed by some previous owner before the Warner prop department acquired it,

Geisha was Gilberts budge brand machine & to my knowledge, they were all internal horn machines.
The big horned model I believe is a cheap(er) Swiss made machine, & the horn was made especially for the movie.
Both machines were "rented" by the studio from the infamous UK dealer Howard Hope.
Im not sure who has the horn now, but if it's in the hands of Mr Hope, it will probably eventually turn up on his website with some huge price tag due to the provenence of the machine.

[Blimpy]

How was this Howard Hope guy infamous? I visited his website, and it seems to be fairly respectable. Everything seemed priced fairly, and there was a decent selection of machines.

[estott]

According to some of the UK posters (whom I take with a great deal of salt) Hope and some other dealers engage in price fixing and similarly shady dealing. I do not have details, neither do I care. Heated discussions on the topic have gotten the UK gramophone board shut down twice.

[gramophoneshane]

How was this Howard Hope guy infamous? I visited his website, and it seems to be fairly respectable. Everything seemed priced fairly, and there was a decent selection of machines.

Are you familiar with the songs of HMS Pinafore by Gilbert & Sullivan?

Buttercup.
Things are seldom what they seem,
Skim milk masquerades as cream;
Highlows pass as patent leathers;
Jackdaws strut in peacock's feathers.

Captain. (puzzled)
Very true,
So they do.

Buttercup.
Black sheep dwell in every fold;
All that glitters is not gold;
Storks turn out to be but logs;
Bulls are but inflated frogs.

Captain. (puzzled)
So they be,
Frequentlee.

[beaumonde]

I can say "seldom what he seems" with regards to a well-known US dealer as well. Some who know me know who I mean, but I will not mention it here.

[syncopeter]

I advise reading Bart1927s story about this HMV model 130 that he bought from a Dutch dealer (who bought it off me). That Dutch dealer is 10 times as trustworthy as Mr. Hope. Mr. Hope buys wrecks, builds Frankenphones and sells them as 'rare Continental' machines.