PHANTOM SWAY

    • In Praise of the Hollywood Guitar.

    Hollywood is a magical place.  Not the city of Hollywood itself.  In fact, Hollywood isn’t a city at all.  It’s an ill-defined neighborhood within Los Angeles County and that neighborhood is hardly magical.

    I’m speaking of “Hollywood” where astonishing things are created for the silver screen including props that possess magical properties.  Gaze into the “Hollywood Mirror” and see your image change into an image of yourself when you were young.  Turn on the “Hollywood Television” and see the exact news report that’s relevant to your situation.

    Another prop from this magical realm is “The Hollywood Guitar.” You know it. You’ve seen and heard it. What you haven’t done is play it, but if you came across one, not only could you play it, you would play it brilliantly. The Hollywood Guitar is a special instrument in that it requires no talent. If you know which end to strum and don’t hold it backwards, the Hollywood Guitar will make you shine.

    Here it is in action.  This scene from “Gilda” has Rita Hayworth looking like a million bucks while holding the guitar, but it’s quite obvious she can’t play a lick. No problem. She simply slides her fingers along the neck while waving her hand in front of the strings and the chords and finger work magically appear.

    Unlike Rita, Audrey Hepburn makes a passing attempt to look like she’s actually playing her Hollywood Guitar in the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” As a result, she manages to unleash the other unique quality of the instrument. Wave your hand in front of it and not only will it sound beautiful, but within four to eight bars, it will sound like an entire orchestra. How about that? With the help of the Hollywood Guitar, Audrey doesn’t even need to rely on Marni Nixon’s singing voice as she did in “My Fair Lady.”

    Another actress who was vocally replaced by Marnie Nixon on film was Natalie Wood in “West Side Story.” Natalie didn’t play the Hollywood Guitar in that film, but she does play it in 1965‘s “The Great Race,” vocally replaced this time by singer Jackie Ward. Like “Moon River” it’s another Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer tune. They really knew how to write a song for the Hollywood Guitar.

    Haley Mills plays the Hollywood Guitar and its sister instrument, the Hollywood Piano, in “The Parent Trap.”  The Hollywood Piano is a somewhat trickier instrument to play. If no one can see your hands, then shrugging your shoulders in front of it will allow you to play whatever you like. Rock to and fro and you’ll really be swinging. Sway parallel to the keyboard and you’ll sound like Horowitz. However, if your hands can be seen, it’s a different story. They have to look something like what you’re playing.  Aside from that, you’ll never hit the wrong keys.  In fact you don’t need to hit the keys at all, demonstrated here by character actress Una Merkel as she seamlessly takes over for Mills on the classic Sherman Brothers tune “Let’s Get Together” without actually touching the instrument.  Note also that although the Hollywood Guitar may look like an acoustic guitar, it can sound like an electric guitar if that’s what’s called for.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1IyrZZQd0g

    You may be wondering what happens if a real guitar player picks up a Hollywood Guitar. If you’re Elvis Presley, you don’t need four to eight bars to get the band playing. The guitar obeys immediately as the King shows here in “Viva Las Vegas.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAtgAC1hUz8

    There are many appearances of the Hollywood Guitar in films.  If you know one, please share it in the comments.

    As a final example, we return to the Mancini oeuvre with Claudine Longet singing and Hollywood Guitar-ing her way through “Nothing To Lose” from the film “The Party.”

    André Dupuy
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