What's that thing Hoagy Carmichael keeps playing with in this film? It looks like a pencil with a propeller on the end and he keeps spinning the prop somehow.
shareI hope someone replies to this soon. I thought I was the only one so curious about it. Thanks.
shareI want to know too!
"You want to save humanity but it's people that you just can't stand". - John Lennon
It was driving me nuts what it was so I googled it and think I found the answer. Apparently it's the vibration of rubbing one stick against a ribbed stick that Carmichael is holding which causes the propellor to spin. Personally, I've never seen one in my life except in this movie Nocturne. Maybe it was big in the 1940's. Here is a video I found on youtube that explains it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6qLsl-MPOQ#t=2m49s
It's also called a Hooey stick or a Gee Haw stick. Apparently it's been around since colonial times but I've never seen one except in Nocturne.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuwrruozm-0
I was very surprised when I watched this film this morning on BBC2 to see the gadget Hoagy Carmichael was using. I am a wooden toymaker and I have been making these 'Magic Propellers' for the past 28 years and they are my best selling item. Most of which I sell to adults to use as a party trick. The art of using the magic propeller is to demonstrate it in such a way as to make it impossible for the audience to see how you make it work. I have gambled many times against somebody working it from my demonstration alone and I have never lost.Glad that you found he answer to the gadget.
shareI watched the film on BBC2 as well. I like those early morning slots they give to films from the 1940s. I was fascinated by Hoagy Carmichael and his magic propeller. He's such a scene stealer. He always seems to need a prop such as a magic propeller in this case. I think he misses having a piano in front of him. And he justs needs to have something busy to do with his fingers while he is away from a keyboard.
share
He's such a scene stealer.You've hit the nail on the head. Posters are more fascinated by the gizmo, rather than the movie. share
The grouchy old wife and I have one of these goofy gadgets in our house. But we have no idea where it came from!
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He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good... St. Matthew 5:45