Comments on: Movie Urban Legends Revealed #3

By: Ted Watson

Ted Watson — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:16:35 +0000

The real problem with “Singin’ in the Rain” is that all the dubbing in the storyline was simply not technologically possible in the early talkie days. Alfred Hitchcock’s (and Britain’s) first talkie, “Blackmail” (1929), had the voice performer standing in front of a microphone just out of camera range while the heavily accented actress (a film completed as a silent was being reworked for sound release) merely mouthed the lines!

Also, Debbie Reynolds’ voice is easily recognizable in the scenes where her character has dubbed Jean Hagen’s character. Maybe Hagen recorded tracks for those scenes, but Reynolds’ were what were used in the end. Other examples of this sort of thing: Andy Williams recorded Lauren Bacall’s songs for “To Have and Have Not” (1944) but Bacall’s own voice is heard in the finished film. It was reported that Michael Horse’s performance as Tonto was redubbed for the atrocious “Legend of the Lone Ranger” feature (1981) along with Klinton “Ranger” Splisbury’s (he by James Keach), but Horse insisted that his own track is what was used here.

By: Lon +

Lon + — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:06:20 +0000

Re: Singing in Paint Your Wagon. It’s my understanding that all Hollywood musicals were pre-recorded in the studio whether they were filmed outside or not. That way the singer’s voice could be recorded until it was perfect without wasting all that film. Only then did the actor lip-synch to his or someone else’s voice as the scene was filmed.

By: Basara549

Basara549 — Sun, 10 May 2009 07:37:01 +0000

Speaking of Voiceovers, did Snopes cover “Paint Your Wagon”, or are you free to do so?

A musical that allowed Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood to sing THEIR parts (with studio versions dubbed over the movie scenes, since the exterior set, built out in the middle of a National Park, was not conducive to recording a musical), but reportedly, the female lead’s voice was so bad that, instead of dubbign her singing parts with the actress singing, they used another singer altogether!

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Sun, 10 May 2009 05:48:42 +0000

Ha! Thanks, Mark – silly typo there!

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 09 May 2009 03:42:25 +0000

Small typo – Fred Astaire is not in Singin’ In the Rain. Love the new site though!

By: Vinnie Bartilucci

Vinnie Bartilucci — Fri, 08 May 2009 20:01:25 +0000

“The sound effect originates from a series of sound effects recorded for the 1951 film Distant Drums. In a scene from the film, soldiers are wading through a swamp in the everglades and one of them is bitten and dragged underwater by an alligator. The scream for that scene was recorded later in a single take along with five other short pained screams, which were slated as “man getting bit by an alligator, and he screams.” The fifth scream was used for the soldier in the alligator scene—but the 4th, 5th, and 6th screams recorded in the session were also used earlier in the film—when three Indians are shot during a raid on a fort. Although takes 4 through 6 are the most recognizable, all of the screams are referred to as “Wilhelm” by those in the sound community.”

“Although the identity of the individual who recorded the scream (or more correctly, the entire series of screams) is unknown, Burtt uncovered documentation suggesting the scream might have been recorded by singer-actor Sheb Wooley.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream

By: Teebore

Teebore — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:58:26 +0000

Ah, yes, the “Wilhelm” scream. I heard somewhere along the way it was first used in a Western, back in the day. I forget offhand which one, but I imagine it’s probably attributable to an actor from there.

By: Porkspam

Porkspam — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:25:24 +0000

Has that lucasarts/spielberg scream that is used in so many many movies ever been linked to a specific actor?