Silent Cinema

CH. 2: DAVE HARTMAN, MENTOR

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By Joe Rinaudo
Edited by Wendy Greene

Continued: The story of my best friend and mentor, Dave Hartman (who has been ill), which brings to mind all of the wonderful things that I have learned from him over our forty-eight year friendship…

Dave Hartman

CHAPTER 1

Chapter 2

So now the big moment arrives, with Dick Carty running all over, making sure everything  and everyone is in place. Mr. J.B. Nethercutt arrives with his entourage. A very nervous and stressed Dick Carty greets them. There were about eight people with a very handsome and well dressed man who resembles Caesar Romero. This must be J.B. Nethercutt! (J.B. was the founder and CEO of Merle Norman Cosmetics. He aquired one of the finest antique automobile collections in the world and was an enthusiast of automated musical instruments. Visit NethercuttCollection.org.)

Dave is asked to show Mr. Nethercutt the Photoplayer. Now with his Pendelton flapping and his new Van’s tennis shoes gleaming, Dave proceeds to take off all of the front and rear covers of the Photoplayer. A very polite and quiet Mr. Nethercutt follows Dave around the Photoplayer, looking at all of Dave’s beautiful work. Now I see Carty watching Dave’s every move with the hope that some of those famous nuggets of wisdom and humor from Dave might not be misunderstood. As it turns out if there were any nuggets they were well received by Mr. Nethercutt.

Dave working on The Popper orchestrion

Dave Hartman inspecting the “Popper,” one of the largest Orchestrions in the Nethercutt Collection.

Instead of going over to talk to Carty I see Mr. Nethercutt coming over to the projector to talk to me! I now notice the continued panic on Carty’s face. Mr. Nethercutt asked what type of projector I was using. I told him that it was an R.C.A. He then asked where did I get my film. I now notice a very worried-looking Carty making hand jesters to me which seemed like “cut it short!” Ignoring poor Carty, I told Mr. Nethercutt that I buy my 16mm prints from Blackhawk Films. I asked how he was going to use the Photoplayer. Now Carty is waving his hands wildly! Mr. Nethercutt said that he was building a Museum and it will have a silent movie theater in it and would I like to come and see it when it opens? I said “YES!” I then suggested that Mr. Carty was wanting to talk to him. With that he left to talk to a very relieved Carty. 

As it turned out. I did go to the Museum and got a regular guided tour by Roger Morrison, the new curator of the Nethercutt Museum. I asked Roger if we will get to see the silent film theater and the Photoplayer.  Roger told me no, that the theater was not on the tour, as it was not to be seen by the general public. Roger then made an announcement that Mr. Nethercutt will be greeting us from that door across the room. The door opens and out steps Mr. Nethercutt and waves to a thankful applause from my fellow tourists. Roger said that Mr. Nethercutt is a very busy man and had to get back to a meeting. As he was turning to leave (being young and stupid) I ran across the room to him and introduced myself as the projectionist from the Photoplayer demonstration a few years back at Carty Piano. I asked if we might see the Photoplayer.  Mr. Nethercutt just smiled and bowed. As Roger ran up to us I realized that I might not have followed the correct procedure. Rather embarrassed, I took my place back across the room with the other tourists. Roger then made an announcement. As per Mr. Nethercutt’s special request  we would be seeing the silent movie theater and get a demonstration of the newly restored Photoplayer—something that the other tours will never see!   I said (under my breath) “Thank you Mr. Nethercutt!”  

Later we got to see all of the beautiful mechanical musical instruments that Dave Hartman and the gang at Carty piano had restored so wonderfully. What a legacy Dave Hartman and Carty piano have left behind! 

Little did I know that this guy Dave would eventually come back into my life and change it in a way that I could have never imagined.

To be continued…


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— ANNOUNCEMENT —

Joe Rinaudo, founder of Silent Cinema Society, is currently forming a non-profit which he calls SCAT —Silent Cinema Art and Technology — to fund the restoration and preservation of the actual machines and media of the silent era.

Advice and suggestions in the area of non-profits are most welcome. Contact Joe Rinaudo here.

Through Silent Cinema Society, which is comprised of you, the fans and supporters of silent cinema, Joe will continue to enlighten and entertain with The Newsreel newsletter;  this Silent Cinema Society website; and hopefully soon, live shows where audiences are once again able to wear big hats that block the screen.

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Silent Cinema

DAVE HARTMAN, MENTOR

9 Comments

By Joe Rinaudo
Edited by Wendy Greene

Dave Hartman

I recently found out that my best friend and mentor, Dave Hartman, has been ill, which brings to mind all of the wonderful things that I have learned from him over our forty-eight year friendship.

Chapter 1

I first met Dave in the late 1960’s when he was working for Dick Carty at the Carty Piano Company. Carty Piano was responsible for the rebuilding of over three thousand player pianos over the years.

At the time I first met Dave, he and the team at Carty Piano were in the midst of rebuilding many of the fantastic mechanical musical instruments for the famed Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar, California. I remember that Dave was very kind to me, and as a shy teenager I was very intimidated by this gentle giant they called Dave! When I told him I was there to buy piano rolls for my parents’ player piano he asked if it needed any thing done to it. When I told him that it was missing a small brass plate that protected the wooden spool box when the roll is rewound, he took me upstairs and pulled out a box of them and said “like this?” He then took it over to a polishing wheel and after polishing it he clear coated it for me with lacquer. He said “consider this a gift from me and Carty Piano but don’t tell Dick!” It amazed me to see how simple he made this process look. Little did I know that a few years later, when we would meet again, he would teach me all about polishing and clear coating!

Carty Staff 1962
Carty Piano team, 1962, l to r: John Murera, Dave Hartman, Ramsey Carter, Jim Braun, Dick Carty.

He took me into another room and showed me a huge pile of parts and a piano with no strings. He said that this belongs to Mr. J.B. Nethercutt and it is something called a Photoplayer! Dick Carty put Dave in charge of figuring out what all the jumble of parts did and how they went together. What a puzzle! When I asked Dave what a Photoplayer is, he told me that it was a mechanical piano-organ with sound effects used as the music for silent films! I told Dave that I love and collect silent films and I would like to come back to hear it play. Dave said to ask Dick Carty (but there would be no problem).  

Later when I was paying Dick Carty for the piano rolls that I had purchased, I asked if I might hear the Photoplayer when finished, as I collect silent films and have never heard of such a machine. Dick said how would you like to show one of your silent films when we demonstrate it for Mr. Nethercutt? When Dick asked how much I might charge for my services (still feeling guilty for the reroll plate in my pocket) I said that I would love to do it. No charge!

Well, the big day came. I had an older friend drive me down as I was too young to drive by myself. When I was setting up the projector Dick Carty told me not to speak to Mr. Nethercutt as he was their biggest client and didn’t want anything to go wrong. I saw Dave setting up the Photoplayer. Dressed in, what I would later come to find out, his finest attire: tennis shoes, blue jeans and an un. tucked Pendelton shirt. They brought in a man from a neighboring music store to play the Photoplayer. Dave said queue up the film and let’s give it a run through! When I started the 16mm projector with a short but very wild Mack Sennett comedy, this thing called a Photoplayer burst forth with powerful music like I have never heard before! I was swept away to another world and had a greater appreciation for the Sennett film. 

To be continued…

Press to leave a comment.

— ANNOUNCEMENT —

Joe Rinaudo, founder of Silent Cinema Society, is currently forming a non-profit which he calls SCAT —Silent Cinema Art and Technology — to fund the restoration and preservation of the actual machines and media of the silent era.

Advice and suggestions in the area of non-profits are most welcome. Contact Joe Rinaudo here.

Through Silent Cinema Society, which is comprised of you, the fans and supporters of silent cinema, Joe will continue to enlighten and entertain with The Newsreel newsletter; this Silent Cinema Society website; and hopefully soon, live shows where audiences are once again able to wear big hats that block the screen.

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Preserving Silent Cinema Art and Technology