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Twinkling Fingers (1940) | BFI National Archive

556 views · Published 12 December 2017 · 11:14 · Indexed 22 September 2026

Channel: BFI · 2017 · Film & Animation

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.

This video is part of the Orphan Works collection. When the rights-holder for a film cannot be found, that film is classified as an Orphan Work. Find out more about Orphan Works: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/c.... This is in line with the EU Orphan Works Directive of 2012. The results of our search for the rights holder of this film can be found in the EU Orphan Works Database: https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en...

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Twinkling Fingers (1940) | BFI National Archive

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