The British Pathe newsreel film archive was digitised and put on the
web with cash from the British National Lottery.  As the grant had
a public-benefit clause, for a limited period British residents will
be given free access to low-quality versions of the films; I think
the period was four years, so there's about a year to go now.  Get
downloading while you have the chance! I don't know if the site
actually restricts who can get at the free films.

ITN (Independent Television News) manage the Pathe archive on behalf of
its owners, and the ITN Stills site has the same pictures as the Pathe
site itself, www.britishpathe.com.

In March 2003 I printed a series of stills from this film in the Player
Piano Group Bulletin, together with a transcription of the commentary.
Both ITN and Pathe web sites are quite astoundingly bad in design and
performance, and I've never managed to get an enlarged still to
complete, so I got the free low-res version of the film itself and took
stills from that, then edited out the copyright captions splashed
across the middle of the image!  I'm too mean to pay UKP30 for the
higher-quality version, rather steep for three minutes.

The words of the Iles film are as follows.  All Pathe newsreels used
a somewhat jocular commentary rather than letting their subjects speak
for themselves, hence the term "natural sound" in the catalogue entry
for the film when you hear Gordon's piano, if not the man himself.

  "Pianos that play by themselves are nothing to get excited about
these days.  It was not always so, however.  In the '20s this Ramsgate
music factory was hard put to it producing sufficient pianola rolls
to keep pace with the enormous demand.  Now the last surviving
manufacturer of music rolls in this country, Mr. Gordon Iles dreams of
those days and yet is firmly convinced that the Pianola will come back
into its own.

  "The Pianola, or player piano, is operated by a system of air
pressure.  The holes, which are punched mechanically, correspond with
the piano's hammers.  As air from the bellows is forced through these
holes the corresponding hammers are depressed and strike the notes.
The resultant music, believes Mr. Iles, is often a greater work of art
than the original because this method allows the pianist to perfect his
record by editing out a false note, altering the tempo or changing the
dynamics.

  "One thing that Mr. Iles does stress is that the truly successful
operator of the Pianola must appreciate a piece of music, as its
interpretation is entirely dependant on him.  One doesn't just listen
to a Pianola, he avers, one plays it - without the bother of having to
learn the notes.

  "If you have a pianola in the front parlour, you'd appreciate the
devotion of Gordon Iles, awaiting the revival of the mechanical
pianist.  It's happening in America, he says, but with flesh and blood
pianists out of work it seems he's in for a long wait.

  "Despite the fact that the Warsaw Concerto is still classed as the
best-selling roll, the roll that rocks would seem to satisfy present-day
musical values.  And, who knows, through jazz the Pianola man's dreams
might come true."

Julian Dyer