Phonographs in the Movies

Movies with phonograph scenes and machines.

 

By Doug Boilesen 2006*

Each movie in Phonographia's list of Phonographs in the Movies has at least one phonograph in its story.

Recorded sound has an early connection with movies beginning with the experiments of W. K. L. Dickson in the early 1890's at Edison's Menlo Park laboratory where sound and moving pictures were combined by using Edison's Phonograph and Kinetograph.

Some of Phonographia's movie examples include phonographs playing music. Some simply show an iconic Victrola or open horn 'talking machine' as part of the scene or set design which help define a time period. A phonograph reference in a movie's dialogue also is in scope as a phonograph connected movie.

For Friends of the Phonograph a movie with a phonograph connection is another example of how the phonograph has been part of popular culture since the phonograph first talked (although it had to wait for 'talking pictures" before the phonograph would be heard in a movie).

Scroll or search through the movie list, view the PhonoMovieEphemera scrapbook (movie stills, lobby cards, screenshots) or watch one of the available Movie Clips and Cartoons.

231: The current number of phonograph connected movies.

The following list is a work in progress. (Titles with * are currently counted even though they are TV shows).

Title  

Description

     

The Addams Family (TV, 1966)*

  Wednesday Addams (Lisa Loring) puts needle on Victor III and then dances with Lurch. See original clip Season 2, Episode 29 on MGM Presents (© 1964-1965 Orion Pictures Corporation). April 1, 1966 on ABC-TV. See Screenshot of Wednesday Addams with Victor Talking Machine.
     

All the Light We Cannot See (2023)

 

  Portable phonograph plays bird songs in museum; open horn Gramophone in attic plays Debussy's "Clair de lune." Maria, a blind girl, broadcasts stories and secret messages in St. Malo, France in World War II from a radio broadcasting system in an attic. Based on 2014 novel by Anthony Doerr in 2023 Netflix four-part series. See Phonographia's All the Light for screenshots and more details about "Clair de lune."
     
Almost Famous (2001)   Portable phonograph playing record in bedroom - See Screenshots listing to The Who's Tommy - Columbia Pictures 2000
     

Amelie (2001)

 

 

(33 1/3 portable) - Blind man in subway on bench plays phonograph record on his lap, Amelia drops coins into his tin cup. Also, when Amelie is 6 years old she learns "In this world LP's are made like pancakes." The film is set in Montmartre.

   
A Nous la Liberte (1931)  

Cylinder and disc machines played, "PHONO" factory, assembly line of mechanism, etc. - See Movie Promo.

   

Always Leave Them Laughing (1949)

 

Record player and disc record - In a hotel room a record is put on (for mood), drinks are poured and the woman says "Now everything is perfect" and plays the record (close-up to read label "Embraceable You."

   
Amarcord (Fellini) (1973)  

Open horn machine plays socialist anthem in Church bell tower-Italian fascists come out and shoot at it with pistols - hit it and it falls to the ground…final shot shows brass horn on ground after it has fallen.

   
Anna Christie (1930)   Open horn gramophone - Greta Garbo with her father and girlfriend listening and winding up open horn machine.
   
Australia (2008)   Open horn gramophone in the living room.
   
Baby Boom (1987)   Talking Toy (non-Phono Teddy Ruxpin) - Diane Keaton is given a Teddy Ruxpin as a baby gift.
   
Back to School (1986)   Open Horn Phonograph - Rodney Dangerfield plays an obnoxious businessman who goes back to college. In an opening scene there is a flashback to his youth with his father playing opera on an open horn phonograph.
   
Bad and the Beautiful (1952)  

Record Player - Kirk Douglas plays a movie director. Plays Lana Turner father’s record, a Shakespearean record of Macbeth(?).

   

Beethoven and Mr. Peabody

 

 

 

 

 

Gramophone wound-up while Beethoven plays song. See Screenshots and Movie Clip.

   
Belles on Their Toes (1952)   Pathe Cabinet - Gilbreath ("Cheaper by the Dozen" type family) Thanksgiving dance – Mother changes record on cabinet model Pathe – “Let’s do a Paul Jones," i.e., change partners when the music stops; Charleston later done in chorus line.
   

Betty Boop's Crazy Invention (1933)

 

 

 

 

 

Max Fleischer's cartoon featuring a "Voice Recorder." Betty Boop sings "Keep a little song handy." Watch Betty Boop 's Crazy Invention.

   
Bicentennial Man (1999)   Electric 1940’s phonograph - Robin Williams sits in the basement of his family's home listening to opera on an old phonograph.
     
BlueBeard's Ten Honeymoons (1960)   Console Phonograph - George Sanders, Monogram Productions 1960. See Screenshot.
     

Booby Dupes (1945)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Record player scenes, Columbia Pictures, 1945. - A Three Stooges short-subject featuring the fish-peddling stooges trading their truck for a boat so that they can catch their own fish. In the first PhonoMovie connection Curly had installed his 'radio' invention under its hood. See Screenshots and Movie Clip for Curly's "Radio" in the Fish Truck.

 

For the second Booby Dupes PhonoMovie connection see Screenshots and Movie Clip The Victrola Saves the Three Stooges.

 

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) LP and quote from Mickey Rooney: "If you don't stop that Phonograph right this minute I'm going to call the police." Also scene where Audrey Hepburn plays LP on portable phonograph.
     

Busy Bodies (1933)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zon-O-Phone Record Player - Laurel & Hardy, MGM. Oliver asks Stan to turn on the radio as they drive down the street. Stan pulls a string and they listen to a song. When the song ends they stop the car, Stan opens the hood and there is a record player inside supplying their 'radio' music. Stan changes the record, gets back in the car and they listen to more music. See Screenshots and Movie Clip.

   
The Bribe (1949)   "Your Master’s Voice” quote referring to Bugs Bunny with open horn phonograph behind waterfall.
   
Bright Young Things (2003)   Open horn gramophone - Last scene of movie features gramophone being played with a candle placed on the record, with the candle revolving as the couple dance to the music.
   
Bullwinkle (ca. 1962)  

Open horn gramophone - Boris winds a gramophone to make it sound like a foghorn (moo) of a whale – “Maybe Dick,“ his great whale for swallowing boats.

   
Cadillac Records (2008)   "In this tale of sex, violence, race, and rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, "Cadillac Records" follows the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America's musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James and Chuck Berry." (Source: Moviecard) - See MoviePromo
   
Capt. January (1995)   Open horn gramophone - Shirley Temple dances to a phonograph. Has a record in her hand but Capt. Doesn't want to hear it. Victor machine in the background.
     
Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)   Open-horn gramophone - An American action film based on the life of Colonel Mickey Marcus and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Batjac Productions released by United Artists. See Movie Still.
   
Cat Ballou (1965)   Cylinder Phonograph - Sir Harry Percival attempts to seduce Jane Fonda in his railroad car, calls the phonograph "A nineteenth century wonder"
   

The City of Lost Children (1995)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phonograph scene including the bumping of the needle and the resulting repetition of the groove created by the scratch. La Cité des enfants perdus) - StudioCanal and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment ©1995 (Sony Picture Classics).

Synopsis: Nominated for Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival, this sci-fi fairy tale features stunning visuals from directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro. With mad scientist Krank kidnapping children to steal their dreams, only brave young Miette and a kindhearted circus strongman can save them. See Movie Still. Watch Movie Clip.

     
Chicago (2002) 1920's Jazz age in Chicago with Pathe Phonograph in scene (Miramax)
     
Colette (2018)   Gramophone with with green horn - Eleanor Tomlinson as Georgie Raoul-Duval and Keira Knightley as Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette sit in living room with French gramophone behind them. Machine is played in another scene. See Movie Still.
   
The Color Purple (1985)   Victor III with wooden or brass horn.
   
The Cooler (2003)   33 1/3 turntable - William Massey who plays a character with the worst luck in the world (hired by a Casino to sit next to hotstreak gamblers and cool them down) has a record player in his run-down motel room. Alec Baldwin hires a working girl to become his lover. He puts a Frank Sinatra record on the player before she seduces him and nervously sends the needle scratching across the record.
   

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

 

  Open horn machine - A resident of the house Benjamin grows up in is a lover of opera and sings to her opera records in her room. When she dies the open horned machine is put next to her grave at the cemetery playing her records. Machine has round case and open horn with scalloped petals. Unfortunately, the machine is a potential 'Crap-o-phone', a modern pseudo-reproduction made in India and China with shiny brass horns.
   
Crosscreek (1999)   Victor II - Mary picks up record, takes it out of sleeve, walks to Victor, black open horn machine.
   
Crumb (1994)   50's record player - Harry Crumb listening to 78's on his portable record player.
   

Daffy Duck

 

 

  Gramophone open horn - Daffy Duck, Foggy Leghorn and the dog - Daffy is a salesman for the Ace Novelty Co. and supplies tricks and practical jokes to Leghorn and the dog in their running battle of bombs and revenge. One of the things Daffy supplies Leghorn with is a gramophone with a sound effects record which he plays, setting the machine next to the dog's doghouse. It is the sound of a train and Leghorn puts a cutout train in front of the dog and pretends that he is an approaching train, ready to smash into the doghouse. Nice image of the machine and a close-up of the record (Ace Novelty Co. Sound Effects).
   
Dark Passage (1947)   Phonograph quote - Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart - The Wizard of Oz witch says (talking about a telephone conversation), "But I heard a phonograph in the background." To which Lauren says, "Yes, a phonograph was playing."
   
Days of Heaven (1978)   Edison Opera - Outside house an Edison Opera sits on the porch which they dance to; Victor VI in gazebo; 3 other phono scenes, same machines.
   
Dear Ruth (1947)   Record player - Photo shows Edward Arnold, Irving Bacon who is holding a record player, and Mary Philips. See Movie Still.
   
Dersu Uzula (1975)   Cylinder phonograph - Dersu records on cylinder for Captain's son - "What did Dersu say about it?" "He said he didn't think I'd missed a word."
   

Diner (1982)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Record playing on turntable and LPs on shelves - Ellen Barkin has played an LP and puts it back in the wrong place and her husband Daniel Stern goes ballistic when he discovers her mistake. It's a painful scene to watch and includes his angry question "you never ask me what's on the flip side!"

See Movie Still and Watch Movie Clip on YouTube (Courtesy of Warner Bros.)

     
Donald at the Wheel (1961)   Gramophone - Donald and the Wheel (starring Donald Duck) - The Gramophone is used to help explain the importance of the wheel's invention. (Walt Disney Productions, 1961) - See Movie Stills.
     
Dr. No (1962)   Record player - James Bond in a hotel room picks up the stylus and plays some tropical island music on the record player.
   
Donovan's Reef (1963)   Victor Talking Machine - Lee Marvin announcing in bar; Marvin carries Victor as one of the Three Wise Men in the Christmas pageant.
   

Duck Soup (1933)

 

 

  Phonograph quote - Groucho Marx as Rufus T. Firefly: Well, that covers a lot of ground. Say, you cover a lot of ground yourself. You better beat it -- I hear they're going to tear you down and put up an office building where you're standing. You can leave in a taxi. If you can't get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff. You know, you haven't stopped talking since I came here? You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle.
   
Duck Soup (1933)   Phonograph quote - "Did you get his record?" (record thrown like skeet trap shooting, Harpo shoots it).
     
Durrells in Corfu, The (2016)   Open horn gramophone - Phonograph in the room while the Durrell family (Louisa Durrell, widow, and her three children) still living in Bournemouth, England in 1935. Series 1, Episode 1. See Series Still (Masterpiece PBS - Four Series (Seasons) with 26 total episodes). Originally aired on ITV from 3 April 2016 to 12 May 2019.
   

Edison ,The Man (1940)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tin-foil phonograph - Spencer Tracy as Edison inventing the phonograph at Menlo Park Lab. See Movie Still, movie poster and WATCH Movie Clip (Courtesy The Victrolaguy).

   
Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)  

Brunswick - Joanne Woodward dancing in an antique store to a Brunswick or Victrola cabinet model.

 

   
The Emperor Waltz (1948)   Victor Gramophone - Poster printed in Cleveland, Ohio, 27" by 41" color, pictures Bing Crosby holding Victor and Joan Fontaine. This movie is set in 1901 Vienna. The pre-1900 Trade mark Berliner is shown with a post-1900, vertical tone-arm. See Movie Poster and Movie Still.
   
Empire Records (1995)   Record Store - Joe's (LaPaglia) the manager of an independent record store about to be taken over by a faceless conglomerate unless he and his young-and-crisis-prone staff can come up with the cash to buy the place within 24 hours.
   

The Eternal Columbine (1918)

 

  Columbia Grafonola - A film starring Miss Mae Murray and produced by Universal Film Mfg. Co. was reported in The Talking Machine World, February 15, 1918 as soon to be released. A Columbia Grafonola "plays quite an important part in this new picture..." See TMW article and picture of Mae Murray and the Columbia Grafonola occupying "the center of the stage."
     
L'Etoile du Nord (1982)   Portable phonograph - Noiret plays a 30's portable gramophone (black case) in Simone Signoret's rooming house (his Indian patroness' music).
     
Everybody Sing (1938)   Portable phonograph - Lynne Carver listens to record player. See Movie Still. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
     
Exposed (1983)   Phonograph - Nastassja Kinski, 80's scenes, plays 50's rock and roll on her phonograph in her apartment.
   
Fanny and Alexander (1982)   Edison Fireside with red horn - Carl touches phonographt but does not play it - 4 minute Edison Amberol records in front of machine (Green and red boxes).
   
The FBI Story (1959)   Columbia Grafonola - James Stewart decorates Christmas tree while Columbia Grafonola? wooden case small cabinet model plays Christmas record - supposed to be scene from the 30's. (Kim Novak co-stars).
   
Five Easy Pieces (1970)   LP playing "Stand by Your Man" on portable phonograph as Jack Nicholson enters living room and sits on the couch. Karen Black enters and says she's going to play it one more time. Nicholson responds: "You play that thing one more time and I'm going to melt it down into hair spray." (Movie Still).
     
Flintstones (unknown)   Cave-o-phonic sound - Barney and Fred build stereo together - cave-o-phonic sound, bird beak for needle, Fred plays it.
   

Flip the Frog (1932)

 

 

 

 

 

Upright phonograph - cartoon by Ub Iwerks, MGM, Released July 16, 1932 (See Cartoon Still and Movie Clip).

   
Foreign Correspondent (1940)   Portable Phonograph - WWII torture - lights and portable phonograph (suitcase model) - "What is clause 27 of the Treaty?"
   
Funny Lady (1975)  
Upright Phonograph - Fanny Brice, scratches record, then says "Oh, Shut Up!" Upright phonograph in dressing room. (Movie Still)
   
Gallipoli (1981)   Gramophone - Portable gramophone listened to in the trenches of WWI .
   
The General Gramophone (1978)   General Gramophone, The 1978 Columbia Grafonola Gjeneral gramofoni, Albania, black and white. (Reference courtesy of imdb.com)
   

Gents without Cents (1944)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portable phonograph - Columbia Pictures short subject (19 min.) directed by Jules White starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). The title is a play on "without sense." Curly gets dizzy trying to read the title of the record while its playing on the phonograph. Sound recored using Western Electric Mirrorphonic Recording system. See Screenshot and Movie Excerpt).

This was the "first Stooge film to employ a syncopated, jazzy version of "Three Blind Mice" as the Stooges' theme song. The new version is in the key of F, while the key of G was previously utilized." Wikipedia

   
Getting Wisdom (1978)  

Columbia and Cylinder Edison (Columbia?) boxes. Cylinder machine

   
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)
 

Record player - Don Knotts spends the night in a haunted house and a record player starts playing on its own when he enters the house.

   
Gigot (1962)   Victor - Jackie Gleason with open horn gramophone. See Lobby Card.
   

Ghost World (2001)

 

 

 

 

 

78 records & turntable - "The 18-year-old Enid picks up the arm on her turntable, drops the needle in the groove, and plays a song yet another time. She can’t get over the emotional power of bluesman Skip James’ 1931 recording of “Devil Got My Woman.” If you know anything about 78 records, it only makes sense that a nerdy 40-something 78 collector named Seymour would have introduced her to this tune. As played by Steve Buscemi, Seymour is an awkward, introverted sadsack based on the film’s director, Terry Zwigoff, who—along with his comic-artist pal, Robert Crumb—is an avid collector of 78s, a medium whose most haunting and rarest tracks are the blues songs recorded in the 1920s and ’30s." - (Aug 8, 2014, Collectorsweekly.com) (Produced by Advanced Medien, Granada Film, Jersey Shore & Mr. Mudd; Distributed by United Artists 2001) See Screenshot of phonograph playing "Devil Got My Woman."

     

Go Go Amigo - Speedy Gonzales (1965)

 

 

 

 

 

Merrie Melodies - Daffy Duck runs a TV, Radio and Phonograph Store and Speedy Gonzales wants to watch TV for free in the store and listen to phonograph records. ©Warner Brothers 1965. See Screenshot and Watch Movie Trailer Clip.

     
Good Morning, Vietnam (1988)   Turntable for radio station DJ - Adam Faith's record "It's All Right!" played by Robin Williams as the Armed Forces Radio Service deejay Adrian Cronauer. Touchstone Pictures. See Screenshot.
   

Gramophone Singer (1938)

 

 

Portable Phonograph - This musical tells of a love triangle involving the famous gramaphone singer Sundardas (Surendra) who is happily married to Mohini (Prabha), and the even more popular singer Tilottama (Bibbo). Tilottama falls in love with Sundardas' voice and wants them to sing a duet and have an affair. Ghosh Babu (Advani) is the manager of the record label. Movie summary written by written by Sujit R. Varma. (Courtesy imdb.com)

   
The Great Gatsby (1974)  

Victrola - Upright Victrola next to swimming pool, ornately painted.

   
The Grey Fox (1983)   Victor - Outside in field photography wagon and woman playing Caruso record on Victor.
   
Hachiko: A Dog's Story (aka) Hachi - A dog's tale (2009)   Edison and Sousa - During a university lecture on music, Professor Parker WIlson (Richard Gere) discusses John Philip Sousa's dislike of recorded music and Thomas Edison's secret recording of a Sousa band marching down the street.
   
Happy Accidents (2002)   33 1/3 record player - Vincent d'onofrio back travels from the future to save Marisa Tomei from an accident. On their first date, Vincent brings over albums to play but does not know how to operate the phonograph.
   
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)   Open Horn Gramophone Victor-like phonograph with very long horn.
   
Hidalgo (2004)   Edison Standard - An Englishwoman (Louise Lombard) who wants to win the horse race, attempts to seduce Frank T. Hopkins in her tent in Arabia by creating the perfect mood - turning down the lamplight and turning on the Edison cylinder record player.
   

High Fidelity (2000)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Record Store of the 90's and many LP related scenes - Record Store in the 90's with record albums galore and nicely done stereotypes of classic record store and record collectors. In one movie clip Barry (Jack Black) explains to a customer "another cool trick played on all the dumb asses who got rid of their turntables"... See Movie Still and Watch Movie Trailer Clip.

Organizing Record Albums - Autobiographically - Scene from High Fidelity - 2000 * (Courtesy Touchstone Pictures)

   
High Road to China (1983)   Victor VI - Phonograph on outside deck.
   
His Double Life (1933)   Phono quote - "I don't want you to valet or sell gramophones on commission."
   
His Master's Voice (c.1909)   Victor - Made before 1909 by Chicago Projecting Co. (Possibly earliest film with phonograph?)
   
Humoresque (1946)   Phonograph Needle quote - "When I get wound up I just go on and on until someone changes the needle." John Garfield as Paul Boyar.
     

The Immortal Voice (1923)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Columbia Phonograph - This promotional short was primarily based on a tour of the Columbia Phonograph Company's Bridgeport, Connecticut factory. This silent film starts with a recording session of Rosa Ponselle and orchestra. Phonograph is played inside a home. Bray Studios, 1923. See Movie Screenshot and Movie courtesy of The Library of Congress.

   
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)   Portable gramophone c. 1938 - Portable gramophone (leather case) Fraulein listening to portable gramophone (leather case) in the bathroom while her room is ransacked. Takes the needle off the record when Jones comes in. See Movie Screenshot.
     
An Inspector Calls (1954)   Unknown - TBD
   
I Went to the Dance (1989)   Zydeco music, records.
   

It's a Wonderful Life (1947)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gramophone and Victrola - Gramophone in classic scene for honeymoon dinner with fireplace and Donna Reed cooking chicken on the spit powered by gramophone playing mood music. Prior to their marriage there is an earlier scene in Donna Reed's home where she puts a record on when Jimmy Stewart came courting, they have an argument, Stewart leaves and Reed smashes the record. See Movie Screenshots and Movie Review. Watch Movie Clip.

   
Julia (1977)   Portable disc machine - Vanessa and Jane, as little girls, wind up a disc portable phonograph and dance (good close-up of playing the record) when scene cuts to dancing it is lit differently.
   

Juliet, Naked (2018)

 

 

Vinyl records, turntable, headphones, CD - Cultural arts professor Duncan (Chris O'Dowd) runs a web forum dedicated to an obscure American alternative musician named Tucker Crowe, whose 1993 album Juliet Duncan considers a masterpiece. Juliet is a vinyl album that the obsessed Duncan repeatedly listens to on his turntable with headphones. See Movie Poster.

   
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)  

Upright phonograph - Snub Pollard, upright phonograph.

 

     

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shellac Caruso record is snapped in half by private eye Mike Hammer. The owner of the record collection quickly becomes ready to answer any question: "Please, what do you want to know. I will tell you..." See Movie Screenshot and Watch Movie Clip.

     
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950)  

Phonograph - A phonograph record that has captured incriminating evidence against a police detective (Ward Bond) is used as blackmail by James Cagney to force him to join his team of criminals. See Movie Poster and Movie Still.

     
Ladies Courageous (1944)   Portable Phonograph - Loretta Young laying on bed listening to portable phonograph. Movie about a Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron formed in the United States during World War II. See Movie Still.
     
The Last Metro (1980)   Phonograph - Phonograph used to conceal bomb (WWII); scene where case opens; later he works on it to rig it for explosion.
   
Letter to Three Wives (1949)   A Console phono/radio - Douglas makes a speech about the greatness of the phonograph (anti-radio ads, etc.) stands in front of a late 40's console phonograph/radio.
   
Lonely Wives (1931)   Phonograph - Edward Everett Horton dancing to the phonograph.
   
Love with the Proper Stranger (1963)   33 1/3 Record albums - Natalie Wood in her NY apartment waiting for Steve McQueen to come to dinner, picking out "mood music".
   
Lord Jim (1965)   Victor and cylinder short-horned machine - Short-horn machine in Claudia's home; bigger Victor machine in Stern's office (short scenes); O'Toole holds cylinder but doesn't play it.
   
Little House on the Prairie (2012) - TV*   Tin-foil Phonograph - TV series episode where storekeepers daughter gets an Edison tinfoil and demonstrates it at school.
   

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

 

  Portable phonograph - (Also talking toy wind-up portable phonograph (on train), cranked and plays language lesson, French/English "Hello." "I am going home", etc. Record had been used by children as part of a "Radio antenna" set. "Come in, Over, etc. Capt. Walker"; another child survivor has a toy (Mattel type) Bugs Bunny in his cave which he pulls and it talks.
     

Maestro (2023)

 

  Console Stereo system/phonograph and 45 RPM The Clapping Game Ellis - An American biographical romantic drama film that centers on the relationship between American composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. The family has a dance scene to the Shirley Ellis 45 rpm record "The Clapping Song." See Screenshots and 45 rpm record.
     

Man on the Moon (1999)

 

  Portable RCA Record Player playing the "Mighty Mouse Theme Song" record - Biographical comedy-drama film about the late American entertainer Andy Kaufman, starring Jim Carrey as Kaufman. "Man on the Moon" was named after the song by R.E.M., which was used as the film's theme. See Screenshots. (1999 Mutual Film Company, et al.).
   
Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1934)   Portable phonograph - Claud, his little daughter (who asks for her father to play a record) and the butler who sings a little opera before Claude puts on Wagner Man with a Horn Breaks a stack of records.
   

Mars Attacks (1996)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GE record player with headphone input is playing Slim Whitman record - Florence is listening through her headphones as Martians prepare to zap her. The headphones input plug is pulled out when Florence turns her head. The speakers are now playing and when the Martians hear Slim Whitman singing Indian Love Call their heads explode and Earth is ultimately saved. See Screenshots. Watch Movie Clip; Tim Burton Productions, Warner Bros. ©1996.

   
Meatballs (1979)   Phonograph - Turns on phonograph for morning playing of Star Spangled Banner at summer camp. Plays Scottish tune instead.
     

The Mechanic (2011)

 

  Turntable and System - Hitman Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop owns high-end stereo system and is a vinyl lover (with strick instructions for no one to touch his turntable). According to Wikipedia, Franz Schubert's 1827 Trio No. 2 in E-flat major for piano, violin, and violoncello, D. 929, is played when Bishop returns from a mission. Produced by Millenium Films. See Screenshot.
 
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)   Edison phonograph - Allen, Mia and gang posing in front of Edison (ambient light-yellow from his machine on the table-would make a good still but would be quick on film).
   

Mile-a-Minute Kendall (1918)

 

 

  American silent drama film directed by William Desmond Taylor and released by Paramount Pictures. Jack Pickford plays the title role, a wealthy, rakish young man who falls for a gold digger (Wikipedia). Film has been lost but Photoplay Magazine (May 1918) has a story which "narrates" the photoplay by permission of Paramount. The transcript includes a scene of winding a Victrola and dancing to: Beth, who had gone on ahead, started the Victrola. "Time for a spin before dinner" she cried. "Come on, Jack." Grabbing Rose, Jack began capering to the music...
     
The Miracle at Morgan Creek (1944)   Portable phonograph 78 rpm played on portable - In this Preston Sturges comedy, a small town girl listens to a portable phonograph record and sings along with the record.
   
Modern Times (1936)   Listening to a Phonograph record.
     
Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990)  

Portable phonograph. Joanne Woodword as Mrs. Bridge playing a record on a portable wind-up phonograph. See Movie Still.

     

Mr. Peabody's Improbable History (1960)

 

 

 

 

 

Gramophone, cartoon, c. 1960 - Time travel by Sherman and Mr. Peabody back to help Ludwig Von Beethoven. Watch Mr. Peabody's Improbable History

 

The Music Man (1962)

 

 

  Edison Phonograph and records - Shirley Jones is outside her house (River City, Iowa, 1912) trying to keep the anvil salesman from delivering letters that would get Robert Preston in trouble. Inside the house, behind lace curtains, her mom puts on a record and Shirley dances outside. Edison cylinder records on table, flowered horn machine but curtains make it hard to identify - quick scene.
   

My Fair Lady (1964)

 

 

 

 

  Open horned phonographs and quote: "I've got all the records I want of the Lisson Grove lingo. I'm not gonna waste another cylinder on that." In Higgins' study (Rex Harrison) at his residence on Wimpole Street, the professor and his houseguest are studying vowel sounds produced from a vibrating tuning fork taken from a rack full of tuning forks. They also listen to a phonograph playing recorded phonetic sounds when Eliza (Audrey Hepburn) appears at the Higgins front door. The maid Mrs. Pearce (Mona Washbourne) admits her into the study, thinking she is one of Higgins' subjects of "business" study: "Well, she's quite a common girl, sir. Very common indeed. I should have sent her away only I thought perhaps you wanted her to talk into your machine." But when Eliza makes her entrance, Higgins brusquely dismisses her: "Oh, no, no, no. This is the girl I jotted down last night. She's no use. I've got all the records I want of the Lisson Grove lingo. I'm not gonna waste another cylinder on that. Now be off with you, I don't want you." (Review by Tim Dirks, Filmsite.org). See Movie Stills.
   
My Favorite Brunette (1947)   Audograph Dictation Machine - Bob Hope records Peter Lorre's murder confession while hiding behind desk, record switched, plays a record that is a world wide conspiracy. Listen to this record, says Bob.
 
My Girl Friday (1940)   Phonograph quote Quote argument in the newsroom - "Oh, you sound just like a phonograph."
     
The Mysterious Mr. Valentine (1946)   Phonograph that records - Scene with Linda Stirling recording on a phonograph with William Henry. Republic Pictures, 1946. See Movie Still.
     
The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969)  

Gramophone - Katherine Hepburn, See Lobby Still.

   
The Nanny (1965)   Portable Phonograph - William Dix pictured with a portable phonograph ready to play a record.
     
Never On Sunday (1960)   Portable Phonograph - Listening and yawning to record. Melina Film, Lopert Pictures. See Movie Still.
     
Never Say Goodbye   Radio/ phonograph - Mood Soft lights, music, romance - turns on radio/phonograph.
 
Next Stop Greenwich Village (1976)  

RCA portable 50's portable RCA in apartment; father reading paper, son and mother (moved to tears by Caruso) "Listen to the high note" she says (Shelly Winters is the mother).

 
A Night at the Opera (1935)   Phonograph quote: "You're willing to pay him a thousand dollars a night just for singing? Why, you can get a phonograph record of Minnie the Moocher for 75 cents. And for a buck and a quarter, you can get Minnie.
 

The Night of the Iguana (1964)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victor II (Seven Arts Productions) - Phonograph plays music on a beach outside Puerto Vallarta at a thatched roofed bar. Bartender changes records when a fight breaks out. See Movie Stills.

Watch Movie Clip

     

Nipper Runs Amok! (1900)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Berliner Gramophone and Nipper-like dog. A 'Mutoscope' was commissioned by the German branch of the Gramophone Company, and sent to the London branch in October 1900. Said to be Theodore Birnbaum on the left (then Manager of the Berlin Sales Branch) and Sinkler Darby, one of the Gramophone Company's recording experts based in Germany. A Nipper-like dog is placed on the table and chaos ensues. Text and film courtesy of EMI Archive Trust 1997. See Movie Stills and Movie.

 
North to Alaska (1960)   Edison Home - John Wayne in love with the girl he has brought from Seattle for his partner, Stewart Granger. But the Duke doesn't acknowledge his feelings. In the honeymoon cabin, Granger and woman try to make the Duke jealous by playing music on an Edison Morninglory machine and dancing to it.
 
Office Space (1999)   Record quote - Referencing the promiscuity of Jennifer Anniston, a friend says to her new boyfriend: "She gets around…like a record." See Movie Still.
 
Of Human Bondage (1934)   Phonograph - Leslie Howard, Betty Davis, phonograph scene
 
On Moonlight Bay (1951)   Victrola - Day and Macrae sitting on porch (wicker couch), play a Victrola, Macrae starts singing love song.
 
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)   Open horn Victor - With Elizabeth dancing naked around it while peeping "Tom" watches
 

Out of Africa (1985)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Columbia portable - First line of movie, something about "He even took his gramophone." Other scenes with Columbia portable, dancing by the campfire in Kenya. Denys (Robert Redford) takes a phonograph on safari and plays it in a clearing for some apes to hear. The apes like the music and Redford says to Meryl Streep, "Imagine that. Never a human sound, and then Mozart." Also a Victrola tabletop being played on the porch. See Screenshot.

 
Oh You Beautiful Doll (1929)  

Phonograph - This Max Fleischer cartoon from 1929 is a screen song that starts in a music store operated by a clone/copy of Felix the Cat with a Mickey Mouse-like character also in the cartoon. The phonograph is a Victrola style machine seen in the left hand corner of the store. See Movie Still.

   

One Last Fling (1949)

 

 

Record albums in music store - A 1949 American comedy starring Alexis Smith and Zachary Scott, released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1949. Plot: Olivia Pearce ran her husband Larry's music store in New York while he was off to war. Now he's home and needs someone to head his sales department, but decides to hire his uncle's secretary, Gaye Winston, instead of his wife. This promotional still takes place in the music store. See Lobby Card.

 
Pat and Mike (1952)   Record player quote - Katharine Hepburn is on the golf course and makes reference to a needle skipping on a record - need actual quote.
 
Pay as you Exit (1936)   Victor - An Our Gang (The Little Rascals) comedy short where a Victor with small horn is used for sound for play, Romeo and Juliet. See Movie Still. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1936.
 
Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985)   TBD
   
Pennies from Heaven (1981)
 

Record Store in the 30's - Steve Martin sells sheet music, buys a record store just before the popularity of the radio and the depression make it a difficult business. See Movie Still.

 

Penny Serenade (1941)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victrola - Irene Dunne and Gary Grant meet in a Phonograph store and the rest of the movie features scenes where phonograph records "symbolize the peaks and valleys of their marriage. The record she plays, the film suggests, is the same one that first brought the couple together in the music shop — the record skips at the same place in the cinematic present as it does in the flashback."

In George Stevens’ Penny Serenade (1941), a couple’s phonograph records symbolize the peaks and valleys of their marriage, which at the start of the film, seems to be over. As Julie Adams (Irene Dunne) is packing to leave, she picks up an old album of 78-rpm records, each holding a special memory. In fact, Penny Serenade’s narrative vignettes are built around the phonograph records in that album. With each new record played, a new flashback recounts Julie’s relationship with Roger Adams (Cary Grant). In Penny Serenade, the phonograph is a memory machine--each record a means of time travel. Later in the film, the couple’s friend Apple Jack (Edgar Buchanan) says to Julie, “Those fool songs kind of take you back, don’t they?” From a mediaCommons project Machine Memories: Recorded Sound and Memory by Kyle Barnett — Bellarmine University October 03, 2007 See Lobby Card.

     
Le Phonographe (The Phonograph) (1961)   An old phonograph assembles itself, plays songs on wax drums before self destructing. Six minute animation by Walerian Borowczyk. Pantalèon Films.
     
Pimple's Wonderful Gramophone (1913)   Gramophone - Fred Evans, Comedy
     

Pink Panther (1963)

  Record player - David Niven opens up an armoire to get some drinks, and the armoire also has a record player in it. The scene is that he's trying to seduce the "Princess" (played by Capucine), so he's trying to set the mood. Classic scene of Phonograph as mood maker machine.
     

Places in the Heart (1984)

 

 

 

  "Diana" portable - Set in Waxahachie, Texas, 1935. Mr. Will (blind) is a boarder at Sally Field's. He has a portable record player in his room. Her children go into his room while he is gone. Winds it and plays "Recordings for the Blind presents Trent's Last Case by E.C. Bentley, Chapter One, Bad News. "Between what matters and what seems to matter, how should the world we know judge wisely… Later Mr. Will plays it and discovers it has been scratched by her "Hooligan children." Later in the field Mr. Will plays the record while everyone is picking cotton at night. Several radio scenes in the movie. At one point Mr. Will comes into the kitchen, changes the station from music to farm prices - cotton at 3 ½ cents (cathedral radio).
     
Play it again, Sam (1962)   33 1/3 - Preparing for a date, Woody Allen has to make his apartment look cultured, to impress his date. Later plays music, trips over stack of records, chair, etc. Music is too loud for his date, Sharon, so he turns it down, scratches the record and Diane Keaton says "Gee Alan, you really have a delicate touch…"
   

Pluto's Blue Note (1947)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turntable in Music Store, Walt Disney's Pluto (1947) - Pluto listens to radio then his tail brushes against a record player and becomes a needle to play a record. See Cartoon Still. Pluto has music coming out of his mouth, dances around, and enjoys his encounter and role as part of the record player. Watch Cartoon Clip.

Porky Pig cartoon   45 rpm - The Pied Piper of Hamlin - fools the cat into thinking the rats are returning by playing a phonograph record - close-up of title "Sound effect to fool cat into thinking rats are coming," disc 45 rpm type machine, essentially a box with a record on it.
     
The Portable Phonograph (1977)  

Portable phonograph 16MM, Color, 24 Mins. - "The Portable Phonograph" By Walter Van Tilburg Clark. "Presents the short story in which 4 survivors of a devastating war gather in a dugout built by soldiers to hear the portable phonograph one of them had saved." (Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica)

   

Press Play (2022)

 

 

 

 

 

 

LP albums and Cassette Tapes - The Avenue ©2022 - "A young woman has a chance to save the love of her life, when she discovers that the mix-tape they made together can transport her back in time." - IMDB. See Screenshots.

     
Pretty in Pink (1986)   Molly Ringwald works in record store. Plays a record and her "boyfriend" lipsyncs to it.
     
Princess Tam Tam (1935)   Nobleman and entourage on expedition in Tunisia dine in outdoors with phonograph music accompanying lunch.
     
The Producers (1967)   Victrola sitting in the office - Zero Mostel as Producer and Gene Wilder as accountant in a zany theatre scam of trying to make a guaranteed flop production. Instead, the created a hit production. Also scene of secretary dancing to record on a turntable. Embassy Pictures 1967. See Screenshots.
     
Pygmalion (1938)   Cylinder record - You have my voice on a gramophone -- turn on your machine whenever you want to hear me. Response: …can't turn on your soul…you're a devil!
     
Racing with the Moon (1984)   1940's phonograph - WWII medical practice - sound effects from phonograph of bombs, etc. replaced by Penn with rock and roll.
     
Record City (1977)   Record Store. See Movie Poster.
     
Return to Oz (1985)   Tic Toc, the mechanical man with a windup speaking key
     
Rhapsody in Black and Blue (1932)   Victor open horn - Black listening to Victor? Open horn with brass/black horn. Taps sticks against different things, showing "rhythm"
     
Rio Rita (1942)   Portable phonograph - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Kathryn Grayson as Rita Winslow in this Abbot and Costello 1942 comedy. See Screenshot.
     
Risky Business (1983)   80's phonograph - Tom Cruise puts on record and dances to "Old Time Rock and Roll"
     
The Roaring Twenties (1939)   Quote - Glady George standing with James Cagney being thrown out - owner of the club says to singer "Start singing." "Get yourself a phonograph, jughead…I'm with him.
     

Rocky & Bullwinkle - Mr. Know-It All on How to Own a Hi-Fi on a Low Income and Low IQ (c.1960)

 

 

 

Open horn Gramophone -- Mr. Know-It all gives his knowledge about owning a hi-fi. See Screenshot and See Movie Clip.

     
Romanoff and Juliet (1961)   Gramophone - "Telephone communications with Concordia have been interrupted" - record played by a little boy on gramophone, needs to wind it up as it runs down; American vs. Soviet Ambassador's children.
     
Rosalie et son Phonographe (1911)   Phonograph - French movie (short) directed by Romeo Bosetti.
     
The Royal Tenenbaums (2002)   Portable Record Player - The Royal Tenenbaums, playing an LP in the tent (2002). See Screenshots.
     
Rumpole of the Bailey  

Open horn phonograph PBS Television Mystery Series (1989) - Introduction by Diana Rigg has open horn for atmosphere.

     
Running with Scissors (2006)  

Victor (repro) open horn phonograph (brass) - Annette Bening on her psychiatrist's couch in a room that includes a Victor Talking Machine as a "decoration." See Movie Still.

     
Sabrina (1954)   Portable phonograph
     
Sadie Thompson (1928)   Victor D - Gloria Swanson with the Victor D. The Type D became available in 1903 concurrent with the introduction of Victor's new 12-inch diameter records. Retailed from $55.00 to $60.00 from 1903 - 1907. See Movie Stills.
     

Safety First (1923)

 

 

 

Phonograph records and pawn ticket for Phonograph - Harold Lloyd has purchased a lavalier for his girl friend who he badly wants to impress as being successful. When Lloyd shows it to his pal and roommate 'Limpy' Bill asks "What good is a lavalier without a chain - she can't sew it on." Bill then notices that his phonograph is missing from their room and Lloyd confesses by showing him a pawn ticket for the phonograph. Lloyd further admits that "If we'd had more records I would 'a' got the chain, too." (Hal Roach Film by Pathé Exchange, Inc. 1923) (See Screenshots).

     

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

  Open horned phonograph - Phonograph in pile of war-ravaged rubble, outside on street during battle scene.
     

Shanghai Express (1932)

 

  Portable gramophone with circular nickel tube horn - Marlene Dietrich (dressed in evening wear) plays a jazzy gramophone record on her portable gramophone in her train car on board the Shanghai Express. Another passanger (elderly lady) comments on the horrible jazz gramophone and is distressed that Marlene would do such a thing.
     

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

 

 

 

  50's style, industrial (school-type) portable and record albums - Andy Dufresne, in the warden's office, goes through the Warden's record albums, selects a Mozart piece, then puts it on the turntable and turns on the microphone so that everyone in the prison can listen. He gets 2 weeks in solitary but says it was the easiest hardtime he ever did, because he had Mr. Mozart with him. "You mean then let you take the record player in there" asks a fellow inmate." No, says Andy, he had the music in here (pointing to his head and heart.) No one can take that away. See Movie Still. Produced by Castle Rock Entertainment; Distributed by Columbia Pictures, 1994.
     
Shepherd of the Hills (1941)  

Victor Junior with Brass horn - Scene in general store, open horned Victor? On the counter.

 

     
Shoot the Moon (1982)   70's stereo - Keaton and boyfriend in sitting room (after dinner) cigar, brandy; can I kiss you - No… Yes - all while they listing to Rolling Stones "Play with Fire" -classic scene
     
Showdown (1973)   Edison Opera Dancing scene with Opera playing, also great scene with washing machine - work and music.

Silk Lined Burglar, The (1919)

 

 

  Phonograph record with secret message - In this 1918 photoplay starring Priscilla Dean "the action of the crucial moment hangs upon the fact that two distinct messages are written in the grooves of a record, one being an ordinary aria from an opera, the other a secret code message of a German spy. The Talking Machine World, May 15, 1919. (Universal Film Mfg.) Based on the short story "Miss Doris, Safe-cracker" by Jack Boyle. See the Motion Picture Copyright Description for movie synopsis (Library of Congress).
     
Sleeper (1973)   Phonograph - Phonograph in the archives behind the secret panel.
     
Soldier's of Fortune (1955)   40's record player Hong Kong? Gable plays Susan a record he had especially recorded, of Chicago traffic sounds, etc - says it has everything except…
     
Some like it Hot (1959)   TBD
     
Son of Paleface (1952)   Phonograph with horn - In Jane's bedroom, Jane mixes Hope a drink (a mickey) dance to the music; Roy Rogers sings on the record. (Columbia disc machine? with modern gold decorations on horn) See Screenshot.
     

Song of Surrender (1949)

 

 

 

 

In 1906 in Connecticut, Elisha Hunt, the 55-year-old curator of a small government museum, marries Abigail, the 19-year-old daughter of a local farmer. In addition to the differences in their ages in this May-to-December union, Elizha is a man of culture while Abigail is uneducated. Bruce Edridge, young, handsome and wealthy, comes into her life, and they fall in love. Abigail is now faced with two choices; the chance of wealth versus her present mediocre circumstances, or her love for Bruce versus her loyalty to Elish. (Type D Victor) See Movie Still.

 

     

Songcatcher (2000)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many phonograph scenes are wonderfully featured in this movie since an Edison Standard Phonograph is used to capture Irish-Scottish ballads in the 1907 backwoods of the Appalacians. Touchstone Pictures ©2000). See Movie Stills. Select Movie Clips.

     
The Southerner (1998)   Phonograph Quote - "When our ship comes in I want to get one of those talking machines and a lot of sacred records" -- Grandma
     
Star (1983)   70's style tabletop phonograph - LP Phonograph record played to set mood for romance
     
Stardust (2007)   Open horn - Dance scene on-board Captain Shakespeare's flying boat with Claire Danes (Yvaine) dancing with Robert De Niro (Shakespeare) and Charlie Cox (Tristan) while one of the pirates 'cranks' a Gramophone. See Movie Still.
     
The Stationmaster's Wife (1977)   Open horn - Set in the late 1920's in a small Bavarian town. See Movie Poster.
     

The Stenographer's Friend; or What was Accomplished by an Edison Business Phonograph (1910)

 

 

 

 

 

Edison Dictaphone - 8 minute movie about a busy office needing some new technology, the Edison Dictaphone. See Movie Still and Watch The Stenographer's Friend 1910 (Courtesy Library of Congress)

     
Stepmom (1999)   33 1/3 record player - 33 1/3 record player - only see record and needle being placed on record. Plays the record "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (Temptations)
     

Sweet Land (2005)

 

 

 

 

 

Open horn Victor - Great movie with great phonograph scenes. - Synopsis: Sweet Land is a poignant and lyrical celebration of land, love, and the American immigrant experience. Inge had arrived in Minnesota in 1920 to marry a young Norwegian farmer named Olaf. Her German heritage and lack of official immigration papers had made her an object of suspicion in the small town, and she and Olaf are forbidden to marry. Inge and Olaf slowly come to know each other, and against the backdrop of endless farmland and cathedral skies they fall in love, a man and woman united by the elemental forces of nature....Based on Will Weaver's short story A Gravestone Made of Wheat and shot on location in Southern Minnesota, Sweet Land is that rare independent feature that uses painterly images and understated performances to tell a universal story of love and discovery. (Excerpt from Sweet Land movie website).

See Sweet Land Movie Reviews and Movie Still.

     
Tarzan the Fearless (1933)   Portable phonograph - Cheeta looks at phonograph; takes it back to his cave and tries to play it (w/picture) That's mine and Jane plays it; final scene - Cheeta and phonograph, Cheeta dances, moonlight, elephants dance, etc. close-up of camera phonograph. See Movie Still.
     
10 (1979)   Console phonograph Dudley Moore with Bo Derek - plays Ravel's Bolero for mood music leading up to climax.
     
That Marvelous Gramophone (1909)   Reference courtesy of imdb.com Directed by Lewin Fitzhamon, comedy, b-w, UK
     
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965)   Cylinder phonograph - National anthems played for each country at the airport; German anthem is played on a cylinder phonograph instead of live band.See Movie Still
     

Thunderbirds (1952)

 

 

Tabletop phonograph - John Derek, John Barrymore, Jr., and Mona Freeman in Republic Pictures Corporation WWII movie filmed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, United States. Phonograph scene in army barracks. See Movie Still.

 

     
Thunder Island (1963)   Portable phonograph (electric) - Action movie starring Gene Nelson, Fay Spain, Brian Kelly, and Míriam Colón. Released in September 1963, by 20th Century Fox. See Movie Still.
     

Terry and the Pirates (1940)

 

 

 

  Phonograph quote - Dr. Herbert Lee: Did you get to Pat and Terry in time to warn them? Connie: Oh, no. They got there first and break phonograph record all to pieces. Dr. Herbert Lee: Good! Connie: Then they go to Fang's headquarters and blow it up. Bang! Normandie Drake: Are they all right? Big Stoop: Now they go to Fang's hideout and blow it up. Bigger bang!Phonograph quote Dr. Herbert Lee: Did you get to Pat and Terry in time to warn them? Connie: Oh, no. They got there first and break phonograph record all to pieces. Dr. Herbert Lee: Good! Connie: Then they go to Fang's headquarters and blow it up. Bang! Normandie Drake: Are they all right? Big Stoop: Now they go to Fang's hideout and blow it up. Bigger bang!
     

A Thousand Clowns (1965)

 

 

  Gramophone - Robard's apartment had a disc with horn machine next to window and 50's (small tube) TV. Scene shows it in background. Later scene close-up of Robards next to gramophone, Martin Balsom (in the old Chinese restaurant) gets up, turns on the gramophone, and leaves the room. Toy Story 2 1999 Woody and his Round-Up Gang running on the phonograph record as it turns and changes speeds is one of the great Phonographia scenes of all time. TOUCH the picture to enjoy a true classic. The 1950's style multi-speed Phonograph takes the gang for a ride.
     

Tomorrowland (2015)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edison Standard Model A Phonograph and Edison cylinder record circa 1906 - ©Disney 2015 - This Disney movie starring George Clooney provides several phonographia factolas for Friends of the Phonograph. Ultimate phonograph in the movies scene takes place in the Eiffel tower in a secret room that has wax figures of Jules Verne, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and Alexander Graham Bell. Playing the Edison cylinder (tube) allows the Eiffel tower to turn into a launching pad and blast them to an alternate dimension.

For more details see The Eiffel Tower, an Edison Record and Tomorrowland.

     
Too Young to Love (1959)   Portable 1950's tabletop phonograph - Pauline Hahn in scene with phonograph. See Movie Still. (Welbeck Films, Ltd.)
     

Toy Story 2 (1999)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Record Player Scene - Walt Disney Productions ©1999 - Woody and his Round-Up Gang running on the phonograph record as it turns and changes speeds is one of the great Phonographia scenes of all time. The 1950's style multi-speed Phonograph takes the gang for a ride. See Movie Still and Watch Movie Clip.

     
Three Comrades (1938)   Wooden horn Victor Café owner offers to play phonograph record. Has over 200 choral records. Shows closeup of record when he changes the record.
     
Three Little Pigs   Open horn - Musical Wolf (using talcum) convinces 2 of the pigs to let him inside, out of the cold; he's disguised in shawl, playing violin - Pig 3 lifts up back of shawl, discovers record player (small horn) playing sad music; turns the record over to Russian Cossack music, wolf goes into appropriate dance, kick, etc. and disguise falls off (also when wolf tries earlier to blow house down pigs pass him a bottle of LISTERINE out the door.
     
Three Strangers (1946)   Gramophone - Lorre turns off his gramophone in his prison cell.Café owner offers to play phonograph record. Has over 200 choral records. Shows closeup of record when he changes the record.
     
True Grit: A Further Adventure (1978)   Gramophone - Gramophone in the parlor - girl wants to learn how to dance, woman winds up machine, plays record and they dance.
     
True Romance (1993)   Broken record quote - Like a broken record Patricia Arquette tells Christian Slater "Like a broken record , You're so cool, You're so cool, You're so cool."
     

Two Sisters from Boston (1946)

 

  Abigail Chandler has written her stuffy Boston relatives that she's a successful opera singer in New York. In reality, she works at a burlesque house and is billed as High-C Susie. When her sister Martha comes for a visit, Abigail tries to hide the truth from her. Read the Life Magazine review of the movie to learn more about the movie's Phonograph scenes and the "inaccurate" history related to Nipper. See Movie Still and Life magazine movie review from 1946.
     
Unaccustomed As We Are (1929)   Upright Phonograph. Ollie and Stan play record but Ollie's wife doesn't like it and breaks the record on Ollie's head. See Screenshots.
     
Under the Roofs of Paris (1930)   Concert Automatique Francais - Two men "dispute" over a woman in a café to the William Tell overture. Needle sticks and bartender shuts it off - later one of the men puts another record on, stands by the machine.
     
Unknown title (circus theme)   Phonograph - Mae West Mae West entertains a man in her room phonograph plays, they dance, he tried to kiss her.
     
Unknown title (with Marilyn Monroe)   Phonograph - Monroe walks up to a portable 50's phonograph and asks someone to play the record "Kiss Me"(1953) - everyone dances-her boyfriend comes out of the room and breaks the record.
     
The Untouchables (1987)   Upright Victrola Sean Connery is cranking his Victrola just before the intruder enters his apartment to assassinate him.
     
Up (2009)   Open-horn Gramophone in living room slides around during the storm. Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures (2009). (See Screenshots).
     

A Very Long Engagement (1994)

 

 

 

 

Ornate gramophone playing record. Used as a "mood"machine for an intimate scene. See Movie Still and Movie Clip (6 second zoom-in of the gramophone).

     

Violin solo, W.K.L. Dickson Experiment (c. 1895)

 

 

 

 

 

 

This movie is the first example of synchronizing sound (an Edison wax cylinder) with a film. Watch W. K. L. Dickson Violin Solo Experiment to learn more (version is film with restored recording).

     

Voice of the Violin (1915)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edison Diamond Disc Phonograph - An Edison film made in 1915 as an advertisement for Edison's new Diamond Disc Phonograph and records. Originally included a Tone Test by Anna Case, however, the Library of Congress copy is incomplete and, unfortunately, lacks Case's performance. See Screenshots and Watch Movie courtesy Library of Congress. For details about the movie and Helen Fulton see Phonographia's Voice of the Violin.

     

A Walk on the Moon (1999)

 

 

 

 

Child's Phonograph - Set in 1969, there are two phono-sightings, one is a child’s record player. Though the record player/turntable are briefly shown, music in general plays an integral part of many scenes. In the final scene, Pearl (Diane Lane) and her husband Marty (Liev Schreiber) dance together, first to Dean Martin's "When You're Smiling" and then to Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze," after Marty changes the station.

"I need my record player!"

"You can live without it for two weeks."

 

The Wanters (1923)*

 

 

 

 

  The Swanson Portable Phonograph - said to "play an important part in this new movie by John M. Stahl production with an all-star cast, including Marie Prevost, Huntley Gordon and Louise Fazenda." See The Swanson Portable Phonograph ad. Another photo and article in The Talking Machine World, May 1923, raises some suspicion that perhaps the phonograph wasn't actually in the movie but instead was a favorite of Victor Shertzinger, the composer of Vocalian Record "Just an Old Love Song" as he is photographed at the Vitagraph studios and says he "has recommmended it (the Swanson) to many other movie folks." No surviving film print to verify the role played by the Swanson in the movie.
     
Wayne's World (1992)  

Record albums - Record-album scene between Tia Carrere and Mike Myers

     
The Whales of August (1987)   Table model Victrola Oak - Bette Davis in her home plays a light opera song on this machine.
     
We're No Angels (1955)   Edison cylinder phonograph - 3 scenes - wind it up and sing to it; also later used horn as a megaphone.
     
The Winning Team (1952)   Gramophone - Story of Grover Cleveland Alexander - in Elba, Nebraska at Doris Day's house there is a flowered white gramophone. See Lobby Card.
     

Without a Clue (1988)

 

  Gramophone - Sherlock Holmes (Michael Caine) plays the violin but it is actually the phonograph record playing. Watson then carries the brass horn gramophone across the room. Gramophone also pictured after Holmes blows up Watson's experiment then sits reading the paper as if nothing happened. (See Screenshot).
     
What Happened to Mary (1912)   Edison Phonograph - Phonograph scene in one of films reels of the play released monthly by Edison's film studio based on the twelve serialized stories for What Happened to Mary released in July 1912 by McClure's The Ladies' World magazine. See PhonoLiterature's What Happened to Mary?
     
Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? (1966)   AMI Jukebox - Elizabeth Taylor in front of AMI Jukebox. (See Screenshot).
     
Women in Love (1969)   Phonograph - Two scenes with phonograph; music playing and they dance to it. (See Movie Still).
     
Why Change Your Wife? (1920)   Victrola and 3 Victor Records - 1920 Cecil B. DeMille silent movie - Robert (Thomas Meighan) has become bored with his bland and old-fashioned wife, Beth (Gloria Swanson), while her patience is tested by his common desires and lowbrow tastes. See Screenshots, listen to records and more details.
     
You're My Everything (1949)   Phonograph in music store Dan Daily. - Phonograph in music store - sings song with record and says I love you with music to future wife whom he is romancing.
     
Young Frankenstein (1974)   Phonograph - Brief scene in lab - takes off record, plays?; also deleted scene reading of will, record player gets stuck on "up yours" "up yours"…
Young Man With Ideas (1952)   Portable Phonograph in one of the scenes - Glenn Ford and Ruth Roman, MGM 1952. (See Movie Still)
Zorba the Greek (1949)   Open Horn gramophone - Three (3) scenes with gramophone.

 

 

*Note: The Phonograph in the Movies list was started in 1978, became part of the Legacy Kiosk in 2006 and was moved to Phonographia.com in 2023. Like all Phonographia lists it's a Work in Progress. Additions, Corrections and Questions are always welcomed.

My thanks to the Friends of the Phonograph who have contributed to this list. Special thanks to Joey, Kaj, Sharon, James and Bev for their contributions over the decades.