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Released
1936 · FILM

Calling the Tune

Written by
Runtime
80 min
Drama

Synopsis

Calling the Tune offers a fascinating look at the fledgeling gramophone industry as it tries to solve the problems of reliable recording and production methods. 'I predict that the gramophone will be the democratic entertainment of the future' states unscrupulous record label boss Mr Gordon (Sam Livesey), who finally gets his comeuppance after one dirty trick too far against his rivals. If the film's love story is perfunctory, the real interest comes with watching performers of the day, from Henry Wood and his orchestra to George Robey and Charles 'the laughing policeman' Penrose laying down their recordings direct to record. And something very like a prototype laser disc makes a crucial appearance too.

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

Principal cast & crew: 16

These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by Thorold DickinsonShot by Franz Weihmayr

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