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Here's a tough one for you. I ...

Question: Here's a tough one for you. I saw a movie a while ago in which a woman takes her date to a concert hall where music is being played with typewriters. I don't remember anything else about it. Maybe you can help.


Answer: This is a tough one: I know I've never seen the movie you're describing, but something tells me it might be the Jerry Lewis comedy Who's Minding the Store? (1963), which contains a famous scene involving a concert piece called "The Typewriter," for orchestra and, well, typewriter. The actual piece was composed by Leroy Anderson (1908-1975), whose niche was light classical novelty pieces, which sounds tackier than some of the works actually are — there are Anderson sound clips everywhere, and "The Syncopated Clock," "Sleigh Ride," and, for that matter, "The Typewriter" are all witty and genuinely enjoyable. That said, the scene people usually remember from Who's Minding the Store? is the one in which Lewis, playing his usual bumbling-moron character, is working at a department store demonstrating a new vacuum cleaner and manages to suck the clothes off a sexy young woman in the process. I'd love to hear from any reader who can think of another movie that might match Alexander's memory.

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