I watched Laurel and Hardy's 'The Music Box' several times yesterday.
The piano shown at the beginning of the film in the music store scene
appears to possess some player piano features but there is no foot
treadle door, hence the conclusion it might be a reproducing piano or
at least had a suction box.

In the first shot, you hear the intro music playing on the piano in the
music store and it looks like there's a real roll in it making a slight
angle over the tracker bar.  I can't tell if the paper is moving.  In
the very next shot with a different camera angle, the spoolbox looks
entirely different.  It's all white with no tracker bar angle evident.

At the end of the film, the 'piano' reappears behind the empty crate.
An instant before Ollie yanks the tangled cord, there are a few frames
showing Stan leaning toward the spoolbox and the QRS patriotic medley
can be seen in a very real looking spoolbox.  Later, with spoolbox
clearly closed, the first swing of the axe strikes the fallboard and
the piano music restarts briefly with a patriotic salute.  All salute
and the axe handle is dropped to the floor.  Mysteriously, the spoolbox
is now open and empty and half of the music desk is hanging by a
splinter without having been struck.

Has the real piano been switched with a fake? It only takes six more
swings before the whole smash-up prop is in pieces.  I say prop because
in this scene it is clear there are no strings, hammers, plate, or
action components of any kind being smashed.  The keys looked real to
me and I have to conclude the film was shot with both a real piano and
a mock-up containing little more than a keybed.  I don't believe a real
piano was destroyed or could have been destroyed that easily but the
fallboard of the real piano might have taken one hit by the axe.

Although the film is pure comic genius, it is full of other
discontinuities such as the heel reappearing on Ollie's left shoe and
the orientation of the crate in different shots of the fountain and
while moving up and down the stairs.  Clearly this was an empty crate
being moved.  These conclusions were based upon viewing footage
restored by the Kirch Group and not the original film.

I used to get a kick out of seeing things get smashed but after making
a very large investment in the restoration of a 1926 Chickering Ampico,
it has become a guilty pleasure.  The increasing popularity of piano
destruction videos on YouTube indicates a general lack of education and
values.  If this throw-away mentality continues, we WILL eventually kill
this planet.

Most pianos are made with a certain useful life expectancy from
materials which are renewable with few exceptions.  We've learned some
lessons about which materials not to use.  The craftsmen who build
pianos usually take pride in their work and have devoted a good part of
their lives to the profession.  Unwarranted destruction of the fruits
of their labor is disrespectful to these craftsmen.  There will always
be fire, floods or other acts of nature resulting in destruction of
property but it is the willful destruction by ignorant individuals I'm
focusing on here.

It is said the cost of restoration can exceed the cost of a new piano.
That is only true as long as resources continue to be unlimited, which
will not be the case for very much longer.  By the time certain
resources become scarce, will we then regret having destroyed all those
rebuildable pianos? Who is qualified to decide what is rebuildable or
what should be rebuilt? In my humble opinion, if it shouldn't be
rebuilt, it should never have been built in the first place!  You can't
shine s***!

Maybe some of you Laurel and Hardy buffs could answer another question
I have.  In the 1932 hit titled 'Scram' there is what appears to be an
Ampico grand piano near the end of the film playing 'I Love My Baby'
but it is not any of the following rolls:

  Imperial 9687 'I Love My Baby'
  QRS 646 'I Love My Baby'
  Ampico 207091 'I Love My Baby'

Indeed it might not be a piano roll we're hearing since you don't see
a roll moving in the piano with the drawer partly closed.  Any clues?
This is another hilarious movie with the usual infectious laughter
scene.  During the blackout at the end, one wonders if the piano is
among the things being heard destroyed.

Larry Doe