Phonograph in the movies

[estott]

From "The light of western stars" (1930) Richard Arlen and Mary Bryan

[spin78's]

Looks like he's not interested in the phonograph!

[Wolfe]

Looks like he's not interested in the phonograph!

What I thought, too.

That's guy's been out on the prairie a little too long.

[gramophoneshane]

Is that a Hollywood horn? (on the machine) Or stollen from a Berliner or something??

[spin78's]

Saw this one last night on the Twilight Zone. Third season "The Gift"
The arm and horn looks like a Victor machine, but I couldn't make out the model.

[alang]

Saw this one last night on the Twilight Zone. Third season "The Gift"
The arm and horn looks like a Victor machine, but I couldn't make out the model.

I don't know, the horn may look like from a Victor, but the case with the speed control knob in the front looks more like a Columbia type to me.
Andreas

[hillndalefan]

a) The Edison Triumph---definitely looks like a Hollywood art director's horn to me. Edison's 14" horn didn't have that big a throat behind the bell.
b) The disc machine is definitely a Columbia product, that someone has hooked
a Victor horn on---both rear elbows are there, giving it that odd bend. Bob Ault

[estott]

Looking at that odd bend makes me recall that in old movies cylinder machines are often shown with the horns pointing up instead of forward- I think they wanted to get them out of the way & also not hide the machine behind them (It's there for atmosphere so it has to be seen)

BTW- what's the earliest film you've seen a phonograph in? I've seen a Pathé cylinder machine in the 1915 LES VAMPIRES serial where it is part of the plot in an episode.

[scullylathe]

Bad screen capture, but here's Fanny Brice starting a floor model in 'Be Yourself' just before singing "Cooking Breakfast For The One I Love" to Robert Armstrong. No cranking, no switch throwing, just flip over the reproducer and suddenly there's music. I guess in early talkies there had to be a reason for the sound of an orchestra...

[estott]

I guess in early talkies there had to be a reason for the sound of an orchestra...

Yep- technically it's called "Source Music"- it wasn't a hard and fast rule but they did like an identifiable source for the music. Aside from records I've seen electric player pianos and starting later people always seem to switch on the radio as soon as they enter the room.