Larry Adler sang Gershwin tunes with an orchestra and Adler adding harmonica solos. Adler appeared in five movies, including "Sidewalks of London" (1938), in which he played a harmonica virtuoso named Constantine. His other film appearances were in "Three Daring Daughters" (February 12, 1948) playing himself; "Music for Millions" (December 8, 1944) playing Larry; "The Singing Marine" (July 3, 1937) playing Larry; and "The Big Broadcast of 1937" (October 6, 1936). He was a prolific letter writer, his correspondence with "Private Eye" becoming popular in the United Kingdom. Adler wrote an autobiography—entitled "It Ain't Necessarily So"—in 1985, and was food critic for
Geophone (musical instrument) Geophone (musical instrument) The geophone is a percussion instrument, invented by the French composer Olivier Messiaen for use in his large composition for piano and orchestra entitled "Des canyons aux étoiles…" ("From the canyons to the stars…"). It consists of a drum filled with thousands of small lead pellets, and is played by swirling it around slowly so that the noise of the pellets resembles the sound of dry shifting earth. Messiaen commissioned a Parisian instrument maker to construct one to his design, and he carried this instrument worldwide to early performances of the piece (which was given its first