MovieChat Forums > The Music Box (1932) Discussion > let's nit pick.

let's nit pick.

posted 12 years ago by rrjustron
10 replies | jump to latest

First, I would like to say that I wish I had a dollar for every laugh I got from this great team; now...If the professor's wife knew he hated the piano (She said it at the end)why would she buy one for his birthday?
Stan and Ollie are carrying the piano from upstairs in side the house, it seems that they are midway down the stairs when they, and the piano, fall out a window into the fountain, the same window from earlier upstairs and the same fountain,Ollies bathing suit top can be seen through his wet shirt, sort of like a wet tee shirt contest.
Before sending any hate mail...refer to my first sentence.

Never depend on anything and you will never be disappointed.

[–] avatar1140 12 years ago

Uh, that's a rather tiny flaw compared to the "piano" sometimes having wheels and sometimes not. You can clearly see that whenever they needed the piano to "go" down the steps, it was obviously rolling on wheels. And when they carry it up the steps and set it down, it obviously does not have wheels.
The friction of wood against concrete simply would not allow for such smooth, silent (I'm talking about the bottom of the crate rubbing against the concrete, NOT the piano's chords going haywire), fluid movement down the steps.
This is the only major flaw in an otherwise perfect comedy. Sometimes the crate rolls on wheels, sometimes it lays flat against the concrete without wheels.

[–] Grendel1950 11 years ago

What about hauling a piano to the second floor using a flimsy awning as support? However, see the first comment in this thread.

[–] wmorrow59 10 years ago

Okay, if we're going to nit pick, why is it that the very first selection on the player piano roll labeled "Medley of Patriotic Songs" is Turkey in the Straw? I mean, it's a nice tune and everything, but how is it patriotic?

[–] aasoloway 10 years ago

I think "Turkey in the Straw" also goes by "Collegiate." So the same melody has different names... Not that unusual.

What's the difference between "Make 'em Laugh" and "Be a Clown?"

[–] WinonaIsLovely 9 years ago

Another nit pick, I bought the essential collection, all of the boys shorts from the Hal Roach Library a couple of months ago. ------ In "The Music Box" there is something so annoying. ------ Stan and Ollie are half way up the stairs with the piano, then the lady comes down the stairs with a baby in a carriage. The boys get out of her way to let her pass. Then the piano gets away from them and goes all the way down to the street. ----- She starts laughing at them. ----- That pisses me off, they were polite enough to get out of her way, and she thinks it is funny they have to go and get the piano again. ----- I know it is just a comedy but that scene is so annoying. -----😊 ----- Rusty

[–] gplacher 9 years ago

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but the dance and cleanup is done to ARKANSAS TRAVELER, a famous PD fiddle tune from the late 1800's. It is captivating, memorable and my favorite part of the film. THE KING'S HORSES opens up the film in the title credits. Speaking of "picky," the perforated notes on the paper roll when it begins do not match the beginning of the dance music. Marvin Hatley did a terrific job imitating a player roll.

[–] beepstein 8 years ago

Yes! For ages, it seems,the music has been referred to, erroneously, as "Turkey In The Straw" but it indeed "Arkansas Traveller". Fans of Warner Brothers cartoons will remember the slow-witted buzzard who sang the following lyric to the same tune: "I.....wish I were a baby bumblebee....."

[–] superhet 9 years ago

"the only major flaw in an otherwise perfect comedy"

Huh? What you call a "flaw" is neither unique nor a mistake. For example, it's obvious that some sort of thread perfectly guided the professor's hat to a tragic and inevitable demise.

The fact that what we today call special effects looks fake has always accounted for why this is such a funny movie. We laugh at two idiots because they are obviously imaginary characters, and because even the material world seems determined to make them look foolish.

[–] rway-1 8 years ago

Exactly, it really is as if even inanimate objects seem to have it in for the duo and in this case, the piano crate. I think that what makes it all the more funny. As if the crate moves on its own volition.

[–] srnumber9 8 years ago

-actually, as Mrs. von Schwarzenhoffen comes into the room, while Theodore is bashing the piano with the axe, part of his rant is "I HATE pianos!!!".

It's not super intelligible, but it is there.

(Kind of like when Uncle Edgar says "Oh, $hit!!!" in "Perfect Day"!)