Playing the Harp in Movies

[David Ice]

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for the kind words about HOORAY FOR HARPYWOOD.

[c-k]

There is an episode of “Dark Angel” where Jessica Alba’s character is attending a wedding and there is a harpist playing the wedding march. It was quite lovely.

[barbara-brundage]

>What about the wonderful “David Copperfield” by BBC? Rosa Dartle plays the harp for Steerforth.

>Seemed to me she was actually playing

If you mean the version that starred Daniel Radcliffe as little David and Maggie Smith as Betsy Trotwood, you made me curious so I went and watched it. The actress (can’t remember who she is, but fairly well known BBC actress) obviously spent a lot of time working on the playing bits and she was very well coached, but there are several places where the left hand comes unsynchronized from the soundtrack. and while she’s always playing something in the right place in the right hand (really good for an actress) the patterns are not always the same as the notes that are heard. For instance she plays a scale with the notes coming exactly on the right beats, but what is heard is a broken arpeggio pattern.

Still, it’s about the best fake harp playing I’ve seen, and I doff my chapeau to the work it must have taken.

[David Ice]

I just received a DVD from a gentleman in Hawaii who is related to actress Anita Louise.

[sherry-lenox]

I believe she played the mother in the ’50’s series based on “My Friend Flicka”.

[David Ice]

You’re right!

[sherry-lenox]

I just googled her, because I always loved her. She did play the mother in the ’50’s series based on the book “My Friend Flicka”, and her first marriage was to Buddy Adler, by whose death she became widowed.

She retired quite young following a second marriage, and died in 1970. I just loved her when I was a little kid. She was SO pretty.

Interestingly, she served as an occasional substitute for Loretta Young, whom she resembled slightly.

[David Ice]

Well, if somebody can help post the pictures here on this site, you’ll see and/or

[sherry-lenox]

http://www.brokenwheelranch.com/anitalouise for the reference to Loretta Young! I think you may have to cut/paste the url.

[David Ice]

I tried both direct clicking and cut/paste….alas, it didn’t work.

[barbara-brundage]

Sherry, your link gives me a 404 error. I think you left something off the end, but I’ve tried all the suffixes I cant think of and none of them work (the search on their site is crashy).

[sherry-lenox]

Ok here I go- http://brokenwheelranch.com/anita.htm

[sherry-lenox]

That’s it! I’m such a pro at all this electronic stuff. Would someone pass me the candle snuffer please?

[David Ice]

Thanks for doing the research!

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

That reminds me of the episode of Gilligan’s Island where Tina Louise plays a harp the professor built out of reeds, coconut shells and fishing line. What does she serenade them with? “I’d Like to Get You on a Slow Boat to China”. (just kidding)

[Author]

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