MovieChat Forums > The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) Discussion > the organ

the organ

posted 18 years ago by nitratestock35
4 replies | jump to latest

Love Phibes' organ. It is cool - with a nice red acrylic Art Deco-ish design around the playing unit (keyboards, bass pedals and tone controls) - but it makes no sense whatsoever to someone knowing about the subject (it is part of my profession being a musician/pianist/Hammond organist).

The U-shaped rows of tonetabs (tongue shaped) make it look exactly like a 1910s/20s US (!) theatre organ (Wurlitzer style). But what we hear at the beginning is an epic, gigantic, all stops out "Volles Werk" sound, most likely that of a full sized church organ (there must be a 1000 square feet room behind the playing unit that holds all those pipes and mechanics). Later into the movie we clearly hear the recording of the more mellow tones of a Hammond organ, complete with rotating Leslie speaker cabinet - both not introduced until the 1930s.

Also: the organ can move up and down like an elevator, I am pretty sure that this would be next to impossible to do unless employing 21st Century digital technology.

Love the built-in telephone though! (Vulavia, bring me a glass of water, wouldya please, playing Bach always makes me thirsty).

I fully understand the choice of design and sounds - it's not meant to be technically accurate - but I thought I'd add my ramblings anyway.

P.S. please don't get me started on the movements of the hands.... ouch!

[–] Frodo_the_Paranoid_Gnome 18 years ago

Thanks for that. I just had to write a paper arguing both that this was and that it wasn't a camp film, and I used your thoughts about the organ for both sides.

[–] lgoldenf 18 years ago

Not to get technical, but even prior to the advent of digital, analog electrical signals were used in Wurlitzer Organs used in many "Movie Houses" (often mistaken these days for vaudeville halls) I don't know exactly when such "elevators" were first used, but the electrical relays date to the start of the 20th century.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_organ

[–] nitratestock35 16 years ago

Sorry to reply so late. I just watched the movie again. Yes you are right: the organ coming out of the pit dates back to the early 20th Century theater organs which where connected to the electro-pneumatically operated pipe and percussion chambers just by a flexible tube filled with (totalling miles of) electrical wires - they used standard telephone wire and relays at the time. So the "up and down elevating playing console" actually is accurate.

The organ (=movie mockup) itself is most likely assembled using parts from old theater organs beyond repair. Check the incomplete horseshoe shaped tonetabs: there are gaps where they don't make sense. Still: someone went to the trouble getting old manuals with the preset buttons between them (fake or not) and rows of tonetabs - and assembled something resembling a theater organ. Kudos to that person.

[–] NormaDesmond6 16 years ago

That person would have been the Art Director Brian Eatwell who was responsible for so much of the look of this wonderful film.