🎹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.

Easter Parade (1948)

“Fred put me completely at ease. He’s a gentleman – and lots of fun to work with.”- Garland on Astaire

"She wasn’t primarily a dancer, but she could do what you asked her to do. And she had great charm, and she was a very big star. She was in good form – we had a very good time. Our numbers together remain as high spots of enjoyment in my career. Her uncanny knowledge of showmanship impressed me more than ever as I worked with her.”- Astaire on Garland 

 

 

Back in 1948, MGM came out with a fun, colorful musical film called Easter Parade. One of my favorite musicals, I've watch it every Easter since I was little. The film was shot in ten weeks in order to be released in time for Easter. Originally, they had planned to have Gene Kelly play the role of Don Hewes, alongside Cyd Charisse and Frank Sinatra. However, due to Kelly breaking his ankle and Charisse's torn ligament, the cast ended up getting completely switched around. In the end, we get to watch a couple of swells, Fred Astaire & Judy Garland mesh so beautifully, a fast-tapping Ann Miller as Nadine, and the boyish debonair Peter Lawford rounding out the cast as Jonathan. 

 

 

Film Synopsis: Set in New York, in 1912, about a successful Broadway dancer named Don Hewes (played by Fred Astaire). When his current dance partner, Nadine Hale (played by Ann Miller), decides to leave him for a Ziegfeld production, Don is pretty angry. But he's convinced he can work with anyone and turn her into amazing dancer. Enter Hannah Brown (played by Judy Garland), a cheap diner performer who doesn't have much dance experience. But with Don's guidance and training, they become a huge sensation on stage and also fall in love. It's such a heartwarming and entertaining film - you'll love it! 

 

 

Trivia: Garland's husband Vincente Minnelli was originally slated to direct, but Garland's psychiatrist advised them not to work together. She had just been released from a sanitarium where she was treated for mental distress and drug dependency. Due to his two-year absence from the screen, Astaire wasn't sure if he could return. But after getting in shape and being reassured by Gene Kelly, he took the part. Garland had never met Astaire before and was afraid to speak to him until they were properly introduced. The shedding feathered gown worn by Garland in one number is an in-joke reference to Ginger Rogers' problematic gown in Top Hat (1935). A Garland solo number, "Mr. Monotony", was cut from the film.

 

'A couple of swells'

 

Keep your eyes peeled for Jules Munshin's funny scene in which he plays a waiter making an elaborate salad. You might think it's just for laughs, but it was actually part of MGM's clever way of screen testing out how audiences would react to him on screen. 

 

“I was pleased to be responsible for getting Fred back to work, but every time I see him and Judy singing A Couple of Swells, I do get a twinge of regret.”- Gene Kelly 

 

 

Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford & Judy Garland

 

 

Did you know that Ann Miller had to dance through the pain of pinched nerves in her back? She even had to wear a back brace during her delightful performance "Shakin' the Blues Away". In a candid interview with Robert Osborne, she also opened up about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her ex-husband Reese Milner. While pregnant and in agony, Ann was thrown down the stairs. She was also taller than Astaire, so she wore ballet slippers instead of heels so that they could be better matched during their dance routines. 

 

Ann Miller is 'Shakin the Blues Away

 

More than half of the songs performed in the Easter Parade were written by Berlin in the four decades prior to the film, and many of the songs were performed in various stage and film musicals. The songs that Berlin wrote especially for Easter Parade were: "It Only Happens When I Dance with You," "Better Luck Next Time," "Drum Crazy," "Stepping Out with My Baby," "A Couple of Swells," "A Fella With An Umbrella" and "Happy Easter." Another song, "Mr. Monotony," which was also written especially for the film, was not used. Berlin wrote the melody for the film's title song in 1917 and originally used it for a song entitled "Smile and Show Your Dimple." The song "Easter Parade" grew out of Berlin's reworking of "Smile and Show Your Dimple" for the 1933 revue As Thousands Cheer.

 

 

Irving Berlin (piano) Fred Astaire, Ann Miller and Peter Lawford

 

 

 

It was MGM's top-grossing picture of the year, taking in about $6,800,000 at the box office in its initial release. Easter Parade marked the first and final time Fred Astaire would work with Judy Garland. They were supposed to star in The Barkley's of Broadway together the next year, but unfortunately, Judy fell ill and the production plans got canceled. Fred wrote in his autobiography that the studio wanted to wait and see if she would make a quick recovery, but unfortunately, that never happened. He was deeply disappointed that Judy couldn't join the production, but he was also grateful when he found out that Ginger Rogers would be his new co-star. 

 

 

Directed by Charles Walter. Story by Frances Goodrich Albert Hackett. The script was revised by Sidney Sheldon, a young writer who would later make his name as one of the most successful crime novelists of all time. Roger Edens and Johnny Green took home the statuette for “Best Musical Score.”