“I’m a big collector of vinyl – I have a record room in my house – and I’ve always had a huge soundtrack album collection. So what I do, as I’m writing a movie, is go through all those songs, trying to find good songs for fights, or good pieces of music to layer into the film.” Quentin Tarantino.

Music and movies, movies and music. Both are complementary. Cinema needs songs and in some cases the scriptwriter or the director pay tribute to music and introduce scenes with records, turntables and vinyl collectors. Here’s a small selection of some turntables in movies.

– High Fidelity (2000)

High Fidelity
High Fidelity

Director: Stephen Frears.
Writers: Nick Hornby (book), D.V. DeVincentis (screenplay).
Stars: John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso.

– Jackie Brown (1997)

Jackie Brown (1997)
Jackie Brown (1997)

Director: Quentin Tarantino.
Writers: Quentin Tarantino (written for the screen by), Elmore Leonard (novel).
Stars: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster.

– La La Land (2016)

La La Land

Director: Damien Chazelle.
Writer: Damien Chazelle.
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone.

– Foul Play (1978)

Foul Play (1978)
Foul Play (1978)

Director: Colin Higgins.
Writer: Colin Higgins.
Stars: Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Burgess Meredith.

– Swing Kids (1993)

Swing Kids (1993)
Swing Kids (1993)

Director: Thomas Carter.
Writer: Jonathan Marc Feldman.
Stars: Robert Sean Leonard, Christian Bale, Frank Whaley.

– E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

E. T. (1982)
E. T. (1982)

Director: Steven Spielberg.
Writer: Melissa Mathison.
Stars: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote.

– The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Director: Wes Anderson.
Writers: Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson.
Stars: Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston.

– The Virgin Suicides (1999)

Director: Sofia Coppola.
Writers: Jeffrey Eugenides (novel), Sofia Coppola.
Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, James Woods.

– American Hustle (2013)

American Hustle
American Hustle

Director: David O. Russell.
Writers: Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell.
Stars: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence.

– A Clockwork Orange (1971)

A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange

Director: Stanley Kubrick.
Writers: Stanley Kubrick (screenplay), Anthony Burgess (novel).
Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates.

– Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Director: Wes Anderson.
Writers: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola.
Stars: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis.

– Adua e le compagne (1960)

Screen Shot 2017-07-10 at 17.00.06

Director: Antonio Pietrangeli.
Writers: Ruggero Maccari (screenplay), Ruggero Maccari (story).
Stars: Simone Signoret, Marcello Mastroianni, Sandra Milo.

– Looper (2012)

Looper (2012)
Looper (2012)

Director: Rian Johnson.
Writer: Rian Johnson.
Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt.

– Dr. No (1962)

Dr. No
Dr. No

Director: Terence Young.
Writers: Richard Maibaum (screenplay), Johanna Harwood (screenplay).
Stars: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Bernard Lee.

– The Mechanic (2011)

Director: Simon West.
Writers: Richard Wenk (screenplay), Lewis John Carlino (screenplay).
Stars: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland.

– X-Men: First Class (2011)

X-Men: First Class (2011)
X-Men: First Class (2011)

Director: Matthew Vaughn.
Writers: Ashley Miller (screenplay) (as Ashley Edward Miller), Zack Stentz (screenplay).
Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence.

– Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Director: J.J. Abrams.
Writers: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman.
Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana.

– Annabelle (2014)

Annabelle (2014)
Annabelle (2014)

Director: John R. Leonetti.
Writer: Gary Dauberman
Stars: Ward Horton, Annabelle Wallis, Alfre Woodard.

– Warm Bodies (2013)

Warm Bodies (2013)
Warm Bodies (2013)

Director: Jonathan Levine.
Writers: Jonathan Levine (screenplay), Isaac Marion (novel).
Stars: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich.

– Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Director: Sydney Pollack.
Writers: James Grady (novel), Lorenzo Semple Jr. (screenplay).
Stars: Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson.

– It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Director: Frank Capra.
Writers: Frances Goodrich (screenplay), Albert Hackett (screenplay).
Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore.

– The Destructors (1974)

The Destructors (1974)
The Destructors (1974)

Director: Robert Parrish.
Writer: Judd Bernard.
Stars: Michael Caine, Anthony Quinn, James Mason.

– Equilibrium (2002)

Equilibrium (2002)
Equilibrium (2002)

Director: Kurt Wimmer.
Writer: Kurt Wimmer.
Stars: Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Emily Watson.

– The Dressmaker (2015)

 The Dressmaker (2015)
The Dressmaker (2015)

Director: Jocelyn Moorhouse.
Writers: Rosalie Ham (novel), P.J. Hogan.
Stars: Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth.

– Dirty Dancing (1987)

Screen Shot 2017-07-10 at 17.55.28

Director: Emile Ardolino.
Writer: Eleanor Bergstein.
Stars: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach.

– In This Our Life (1942)

In This Our Life (1942)
In This Our Life (1942)

Director: John Huston.
Writers: Howard Koch (screenplay), Ellen Glasgow (novel).
Stars: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, George Brent.

– The Conversation (1974)

The Conversation (1974)
The Conversation (1974)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola.
Writer: Francis Ford Coppola.
Stars: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield.

– Drinking Buddies (2013)

Drinking Buddies (2013)
Drinking Buddies (2013)

Director: Joe Swanberg.
Writer: Joe Swanberg.
Stars: Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick.

– Play Misty for Me (1971)

'Play Misty for Me'

Director: Clint Eastwood.
Writers: Jo Heims (screenplay), Dean Riesner (screenplay).
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills.

– Bedazzled (1967)

Bedazzled (1967)

Director: Stanley Donen.
Writers: Peter Cook (screenplay), Peter Cook (story).
Stars: Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Eleanor Bron.

– Play It Again, Sam (1972)

Director: Herbert Ross.
Writers: Woody Allen (based on the play by), Woody Allen (screenplay).
Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts.

– 20th Century Women (2016)

Director: Mike Mills.
Writer: Mike Mills.
Stars: Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig.

– Marriage on the Rocks (1965)

Marriage on the Rocks

Director: Jack Donohue.
Writer: Cy Howard.
Stars: Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, Dean Martin .

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  1. Facundo Rocca

    Hi! My name is Facundo and write from Argentina. I would like to know if anyone knows the name or model of the turntable used in first Rocky film. Thanks everybody and greetings from Rosario!

  2. Brenda J Williams

    I would love to know what Turntable was in the Danish film Another Round with Mads Mikelson.Won an Oscar for 2021.

  3. marcv69

    Does anyone know the make &/or model of the turntable in Bedazzled 1967?

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