I had a vague notion that there would be an Edison phonograph involved since one of the trailers shows Clooney looking over its bell.
I don't have screen grabs, but it looks to be some sort of Edison Standard Phonograph, but the model was unclear.
Gustave Eiffel does have an apartment on top of the Eiffel Tower, but it seems to only have wax figures of himself and Thomas Edison. No Tesla or Verne (though the restaurant in the tower is called the Jules Verne)
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gustav-eiffel-s-secret-apartment
The link says that Edison did give one of his phonographs to Eiffel.
On a side note, people today interchange phonograph and gramophone (and victrola) with disc-playing machines.
However, during the turn of the century, phonograph still referred to Edison's cylinder-playing machine, forcing Emile Berliner to create the "gramophone" name for his flat disc machine.
It's a little odd that the characters called the phonograph cylinder as the "Edison tube". Cylinders were known as "records" before the invention of the flat-disc. These flat discs were then called "records" to contrast with "cylinder". Then the term "78" evolved to contrast with vinyl LPs and 45s.
Confusingly, Edison would later market an Edison gramophone that would play his Edison Diamond Discs which were more durable and nearly unbreakable compared to 78s. However, his vertical-cut grooves arguably gave better sound, but were incompatible with other players.
I already had some cylinders that I've been collecting featuring the music of BioShock Infinite.
I only caught a quick glimpse, but I think I could make out "Echo All Over the World" which means it's a slightly older cylinder design, not to be confused with the ones that say only "Edison Record"
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/history-goldmoulded.php
It's an Edison Gold Molded Record. These are rather common to find if you're prop hunting; they were produced from 1902-1912.
Clooney actually correctly handled the cylinder (two fingers inside). The cylinder was black which was accurate to the case. The technology was by then sufficiently advanced enough to avoid have one performer sing multiple times to make enough copies into wax blanks. Later developments actually used celluloid plastic in the Blue Amberols for better durability.
Did they actually find a cylinder that played "La Marseillaise"? The Edison record would indicate an American release as opposed to a French Pathe recording.
It's a little difficult to find "discographies" for cylinders (most books being out of print). The UCSB Cylinder Archive has some possibilities.
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?query=la+marseillaise&queryType=@attr+1=1016
