🎹I Love the Piano! Happy World Piano Day!


World Piano Day is celebrated on the 88th day of the year, which is the same as the number of keys on the piano

I have a passion for the piano, though I must admit I mostly enjoy playing around with the keys whenever I get the chance. To celebrate this day, I want to highlight a special type of piano featured in several classic films: the player piano, also known as the pianola. My first encounter with one was in Irving Berlin's 1948 movie, Easter Parade.

Fred Astaire & Judy Garland performing 'I Love the Piano" in Easter Parade (1948).

I also recall seeing a player piano in and Harold and Maude (1971).

Well, if you want to sing out, sing out
And if you want to be free, be free
'Cause there's a million things to be
You know that there are

Maude (Ruth Gordon) plays the piano then it plays on its own as she tries to cheer up Harold (Bud Cort) in Harold & Maude (1971).

Last summer, my fiancé and I had the pleasure of visiting The Historic Pony Wagon Museum in St. Paris, Ohio, where we got to experience playing one of the pianos. The owner had a fascinating room packed with boxes of rolled paper songs (I really wish I had taken a picture of it) that you feed into the piano. I found out that you need to pump it quite energetically with your feet, which I found challenging, but my fiancé managed it with much more ease!

The player piano, captured the hearts and imaginations of people in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. This fascinating instrument operated with the aid of tiny perforations on rolls of paper or metal, which guided it to play a sequence of notes. The magic of player pianos lay in their unique mechanism, powered entirely by suction generated from foot pedals. The 'player' of the piano would control the tempo and dynamics by speeding up or slowing down the pumping of these pedals, thus adding a personal touch to each rendition.

The player piano took off in popularity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, thanks to new manufacturing techniques that made mass production possible. The height of player piano sales was in 1924, when homes all over America proudly featured these amazing instruments. Word rolls, which had lyrics printed alongside the music, became a big hit. Regular player pianos mostly played popular songs, jazz, and dance music, while reproducing pianos were made for classical pieces. Before radio and easy access to recordings, social gatherings often revolved around the player piano, with everyone joining in to sing their favorite songs. Many player pianos could even be played without the need for foot pumping.

But as recording technology advanced, families started trading in their player pianos for phonographs and radios. The ease and instant access to recorded music led to a drop in player piano popularity, especially after the stock market crash of 1929, which hit production and sales hard. Still, player pianos haven’t completely vanished. Some vintage models are still treasured in homes, and modern versions continue to inspire new generations.

Comments

🌟Star Quote: Jean Simmons

"Every actress has to face the facts there are younger, more beautiful girls right behind you. Once you've gone beyond the vanity of the business, you'll take on the tough roles."

🎥 Review: Key Largo (1948)

"When your head says one thing and your whole life says another, your head always loses." John Huston directed this film-noir masterpiece with an incredible cast which included the legendary Humphrey Bogart, Lionel Barrymore, Lauren Bacall, Edward G. Robinson, and the fabulous Claire Trevor - who won an Oscar for her outstanding performance. The movie is set in Key Largo, where a hurricane is fast approaching, adding to the already-tense atmosphere inside the hotel. The sadistic mobster Johnny Rocco storms in and takes the hotel owner, James Temple, his widowed daughter-in-law Nora, and ex-GI Frank McCloud, hostage at gunpoint. Fun fact: When Claire Trevor asked John Huston for some insight into her character, he gave her a hilarious description of "a drunken dame whose elbows are always a little too big, voice a little too loud, and a little too polite. Very sad, very resigned." And to top it off, he even showed her how to embody the character by leaning on the ...

🛣️🎥 Road Trip! & Film Review: A Christmas Story- What I Want for Christmas by Ralphie Parker

“What I want for Christmas is a Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock and this thing which tells time. I think that everybody should have a Red Ryder BB gun. They’re very good for Christmas I don't think that a football's a very good Christmas present." This is the class theme and Christmas wish of 9-year-old Ralphie from the 1983 film A Christmas Story. During the holiday season, I usually watch classic Christmas films like A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life. While I adore these movies, what I particularly love about A Christmas Story is its nostalgic portrayal of the joys and anticipation of being a child before Christmas. It gives us a glimpse into what kids really desire for Christmas from their own perspective. I just had the incredible opportunity to watch the film on the big screen surrounded by my loved ones and friends. The shared delight of experiencing this movie together truly enhanced my entire experience. When A Christma...

🎥 Review: Shoot the Moon (1982)

There have been motion pictures made about the collapse of marriages. Scenes froth with denial, anger, depression, to bitter custody battles and destructive emotions of jealousy and abuse. Some that comes to mind like Scenes from a Marriage (1974), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), An Unmarried Woman (1979), and more recently A Marriage Story (2019). But none of them in my opinion quite captured the confusion, heartbreak, and turmoil like Shoot the Moon (1982). The phrase "shoot the moon," comes from the card game hearts. It refers to taking a risk when playing your hand to achieve a higher score. Directed by Alan Parker (Bugsy Malone, Midnight Express, Fame) and written by Bo Goldman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Melvin, and Howard). The film depicts an intense look at marital disintegration from the perspective of both parents and their children. Parker and Goldman called upon their marriages to create the screenplay. The late Albert Finney and Diane Keaton are T...

🛣️ Road Trip! The Clark Gable Museum

In June of last year, I had the good fortune to take a tour of the Clark Gable Museum located in Cadiz, Ohio. The museum is an exact reconstruction of the original house where Gable was born, which sadly, had been previously demolished. The two-story home is full of Gable memorabilia from his early days in southeastern Ohio, including his prized New Port Blue 1954 Cadillac Coupe De Ville, which was my personal favorite part of the tour. Additionally, famous Gone With The Wind stars Cammie King-Bonnie Blue Butler, Ann Rutherford, and Butterfly McQueen have also left their handprints and signatures on display at the museum. Interestingly, my hand size happens to be the same as Ann Rutherford's, which was a fun fact. However, the tour also contained a somber and poignant moment with the Carole Lombard room. Unfortunately, we were not permitted to take any photographs of the personal notes or jewelry that Gable had gifted to Lombard, or any of his childhood memorabilia, including his b...

🛣️ Road Trip: Bogie & Bacall Slept Here

Nestled in the charming hills of Pleasant Valley Road in Lucas, Ohio, you'll find Malabar Farm - a lovely estate built in 1938 by Louis Bromfield. Born in Mansfield, Ohio in 1896, he was a farmer, conservationist and published 33 books of fiction and nonfiction including a Pulitzer Prize, 18 best-selling novels, and 14 major motion pictures. This picturesque farm holds a special place in Hollywood history, serving as a peaceful escape for celebrities seeking respite from the hustle and bustle of the big cities in the 1940s. One of the most memorable events to take place in the great entrance hall of the big house between the open staircases was the wedding of iconic actors Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall on this day in film history May 21, 1945. I had the incredible opportunity to visit this historic farm and follow in the footsteps of the the classic stars who stayed here and the legendary couple's marriage ceremony. Let's go back to the beginning - the farm's n...

Search This Blog