My Fair Lady Sp Ed (1 Viewer)

[Mark Edward Heuck]

I think there is still the minor complication that Warner is really not involved with any of the work done on MY FAIR LADY. The movie is a CBS property, and it was them that bankrolled Robert Harris and all the restoration work he did on the film. The brief 70mm (and 35mm reduction) reissue in the '90's was released by 20th Century-Fox, who at the time were partnered with CBS for VHS and laserdisc, so they essentially used the reissue as advertising for their homevideo release. WB apparently made a deal with CBS to release MY FAIR LADY on DVD during the period when CBS ended their deal with Fox but had not yet set up shop for their titles elsewhere; the merger with Viacom/Paramount had not yet taken effect, and Paramount was still not quite ready to commit to DVD at the time anyway. You can still find Paramount VHS editions of MY FAIR LADY from the dying days of the format, released after the WB DVD came out, so the WB deal is only for DVD. And to the best of my knowledge, WB did not put any work of their own into the release beyond, say, formatting menus or packaging layouts.
As such, I don't know how long WB's rights to handle the movie on DVD last - I have the sneaky feeling CBS might be holding out on them, hoping to reissue their own "re-remastered" edition through sister company Paramount when the deal does lapse.

 

[Joe Caps]

Cine Karine is quite right about the srange world of dubbing.

the strangest to me is when an actor, who normally does their own singing is dubbed for just one song or one part.

June Allyson sang for herself but shes dubbed in only one song in the film The Women - she sings "A Perfect Love" dubbed by Jo ann Greer.

Marge and Gower Champion, to me are two pretty bad singers, but Gower is dubbed in one song in the film Give a Girl a Break. the song "It Happens every Time" is dubbed by Bill Lee.

Gene Nelson, often sang for himself in films like Oklahoma and Tea for Two, In other Warner films her partially dubbed by Hal Derwin. In films like Shew Working er way through college, Gene sometimes sings for himself and other songs are dubbed by Hal. When I met Gene Nelson at a party, I asked him about his and he was still mystified as to why it was done this way.

In some Warner films, Its all Hal singing for gene like in Lullaby of broadway, Gene did with Doris Day.

Theres the equally mistyfiying example of ONE LINE shirley Jones sings in Carousel, is dubbed by Marni Nixon.

Deborah Kerr is dubbed in two films by Marni Nixon- The king and I and An Affair to remember.

However there is one song with the kids in AFFAIR that Deborah has two lines to sing and that is Deborah herself. She sounds like an untrained Marni Nixon.

 

[Rob_Ray]

the strangest to me is when an actor, who normally does their own singing is dubbed for just one song or one part.
June Allyson sang for herself but shes dubbed in only one song in the film The Women - she sings "A Perfect Love" dubbed by Jo ann Greer.

June had that uniquely throaty voice which was well-suited to brassy numbers but I suppose the producers wanted a softer, more tender voice for the ballad.
Likewise, Angela Lansbury has a perfectly fine voice as she has proved countless times on stage and screen, but the producers of "The Harvey Girls" wanted something more sultry that a 19-year-old Angela could deliver in that film.
As for Shirley Jones in "Carousel" -- could it be that Miss Jones was simply no longer available for looping and since Miss Nixon was on the lot doing "King and I" it was just expedient to get her for one line? As everyone probably said at the time -- Who would know?
My two candidates for best dubbing are Marni Nixon for Deborah Kerr -- a near perfect match -- and Arthur Freed for Leon Ames in "Meet Me in St. Louis." If I hadn't heard Arthur Freed's singing voice in "The Songwriter's Revue" I'd never believe that wasn't Leon Ames singing in "St. Louis."
As for dubbing in general -- anyone with a good ear knew that certain actors were being dubbed. But anyone with a good eye knew when they were watching actors against a blue-screen. It was all just part of the artifice of the magical world of the movies which seldom attempted to show the real world, but rather the brighter world of "the movies."

 

[Joe Lugoff]

What's the one line in CAROUSEL where Jones is dubbed by Nixon?
I'll add to the "singers being dubbed" list Diahann Carroll, in both "Carmen Jones" and "Porgy and Bess."

 

[Rob_Ray]

IIRC, it's "And I always say two heads are better than one to figger it out!" -- not a difficult line by any means. Audrey could have handled it!

 

[Charles Ellis]

Marni Nixon also doubled for Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, though Marilyn did most of her own singing, Marni did all of the high notes (e.g: the operatic solo opening to "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend"). When it came to Some Like It Hot, it was all Marilyn, and she had a close friend who served as an unofficial vocal coach. Perhaps you've heard of her: Judy Garland.......

 

[MatthewA]

I think there is still the minor complication that Warner is really not involved with any of the work done on MY FAIR LADY. The movie is a CBS property, and it was them that bankrolled Robert Harris and all the restoration work he did on the film. The brief 70mm (and 35mm reduction) reissue in the '90's was released by 20th Century-Fox, who at the time were partnered with CBS for VHS and laserdisc, so they essentially used the reissue as advertising for their homevideo release. WB apparently made a deal with CBS to release MY FAIR LADY on DVD during the period when CBS ended their deal with Fox but had not yet set up shop for their titles elsewhere; the merger with Viacom/Paramount had not yet taken effect, and Paramount was still not quite ready to commit to DVD at the time anyway. You can still find Paramount VHS editions of MY FAIR LADY from the dying days of the format, released after the WB DVD came out, so the WB deal is only for DVD. And to the best of my knowledge, WB did not put any work of their own into the release beyond, say, formatting menus or packaging layouts.
As such, I don't know how long WB's rights to handle the movie on DVD last - I have the sneaky feeling CBS might be holding out on them, hoping to reissue their own "re-remastered" edition through sister company Paramount when the deal does lapse.

Good point. But one thing I don't get is how Jack Warner, who paid a fortune for the movie rights, would allow all copyrights related to the film to lapse back to CBS seven years after its release.

 

[CineKarine]

Patricia Morison who went on to star in Kiss Me Kate on Broadway was dubbed in her early films of the 40s.....singer Gale Storm was dubbed much to her chagrin in the upcoming-on-DVD It Happened on Fifth Avenue (47)....In B movies like this one, songs were often pre-recorded by ghost-singers even before any actors were assigned to the films!

 

[Greg_M]

Good point. But one thing I don't get is how Jack Warner, who paid a fortune for the movie rights, would allow all copyrights related to the film to lapse back to CBS seven years after its release.

Jack Warner could only lease the rights to "My Fair Lady" for seven years - that was the deal, after that the rights went back to CBS (who backed the stage show) When Home Video came along FOX had partnered with CBS so they originally released "MY Fair Lady", but CBS Owns the rights - Warner may own their own negative, but I heard everything was sent to CBS when the rights expired. (Same thing happened to "Annie Get Your Gun" which is why it took so long to come to Video Berlin leased the rights and didn't renew in the 70's. - "Porgy and Bess" also is not owned by the studios but the writers estates.)
Marni Nixon sang the Shirley Jones line in "Carousel" becuase she was dubbing "The King and I" at the time and Jones was on to another project, they needed to fix that one line so the had Marni do it - Of course Jones didn't require any dubbing, it was just a cost savings thing
I am not saying these actors should NOT have been dubbed - they should have! But, it's nice to have the choice while at home to watch the films with the actors original voice - many people won't mind since todays musicals don't require trained operatic voices like they did 70 years ago, those that don't like don't have to watch with the alternate track

 

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

...it was them that bankrolled Robert Harris and all the restoration work he did on the film.

And them as pinched it done her in.
But seriously, how does the Laserdisc SE audio compare to the DVD?

 

[marknyc]

Hey, I'm glad you all found my YouTube channel of restored vocals!
YouTube - marknyc5's Channel
Feel free to leave comments on the clip pages - they were a lot of work to make...
Audrey used her own track while filming "Loverly" but the track I used for "Danced" was just a rehearsal test, and was never used. It was very hard to make it match, and mine is the only married version that exists (as with the other clips on my channel).
Leslie Caron's track for "I Don't Understand the Parisians" was also tough to synch. Some of Rosalind Russell's tracks for "Gypsy" fit quite easily (Some People), others didn't fit al all.
Can anyone point me to other lost vocals that I can restore?
Thanks,
Mark

 

[Joe Caps]

mark, you can email me a [email protected]
I have some real goodies for you from West Side story, lost Horizon, etc.
Thanks !!
Joe C

 

[Richard M S]

Ava Gardner, IMO, should not have had her vocals replaced on SHOWBOAT. They were lovely. Interestingly enough at least MGM knew they were good enough for the film's original oundtrack album.

Ava Gardner was at the height of her popularity and they indeed sold more records because her name was on the jacket cover.

She was dubbed in ONE TOUCH OF VENUS, I do not think she recorded anything for that film's too abbreviated score.

 

[Ockeghem]

My Fair Lady is truly a gem. I may need to pick this one up, as well as Oliver! and a few others one day. The (eventual) polyphony in Who Will Buy is to die for.

I appreciate the special features included in Annie Get Your Gun (esp. those including Judy Garland and the versions of some of the tunes sung by the cast of kids before they were changed). Doin' What Comes Naturally and so many others from that one are real treats.

Additional to those listed thus far, The Fantastiks, Fiddler On the Roof, The Sound of Music, and State Fair (1945 version with Jeanne Crain) are among my favorite musicals.

Is there a musicals thread on HTF?

 

[Parnian Mk]

Is there anyway that we can ask Dr.Harris to restore his voice?

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by Richard M S
Ava Gardner, IMO, should not have had her vocals replaced on SHOWBOAT. They were lovely. Interestingly enough at least MGM knew they were good enough for the film's original oundtrack album.
Ava Gardner was at the height of her popularity and they indeed sold more records because her name was on the jacket cover.
She was dubbed in ONE TOUCH OF VENUS, I do not think she recorded anything for that film's too abbreviated score.

She was dubbed in The Hucksters, too, as well as One Touch of Venus. Both of those times it was by Eileen Wilson, I believe.
The laserdisc of the 1951 Show Boat included in the boxed set of three films allowed the user to choose which singer he wanted for Julie, and that was a feature I greatly missed when I got the DVD of Show Boat.

 

[Robin9]

Eileen Wilson also dubbed for Ava in The Bribe. Ava's own singing was used in The Killers. I agree with those who prefer Ava's versions of the songs from Showboat. Ava was good friends with Lena Horne who "coached" her in singing those songs.