This film is part of Free

Twinkling Fingers

Pianists Charlie Kunz and Mark Hambourg tickle the ivories for our entertainment in this jolly musical short.

Musical 1940 11 mins

Overview

Jovial, jazzy Charlie Kunz and stern concert pianist Mark Hambourg give impeccable performances of distinctly different pieces in this marvellous musical short. Kunz is backed by his band, and Hambourg is accompanied by the bizarrely brilliant Minipiano Ensemble - fourteen gifted juveniles, each of whom has their own piano on a stupendous stratified stage that looks something like a wedding cake.

The Minipiano Ensemble: once seen, never forgotten. The gifted girls sport identical flouncy princess dresses and enormous hair bows, while the boys show off in matching public school style Eton suits. Hambourg hides throughout their first dramatic number, finally revealing himself for a solemn solo spot when a gigantic curtain is whisked back at the top of the 'cake'. His young protégés stand and observe respectfully while the maestro plays, before the cake-curtain swishes shut to conceal him from view and they return to their keyboards.