d120421
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Posts posted by d120421
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You're welcome, Julayna:
Glad I could help. I think your friend is probably right to wait until TCM runs the film again and record it. Just hope she has a box of tissues with her when she watches it, though, since she's already seen it, I'm sure she's aware of that "requirement."
PS Sorry for the belated response.
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While have never gone out of my way to watch a Durbin flick (feel she's no Temple or Garland), nevertheless really find myself enjoying them when I see them (e.g. the one with Adolphe Menjou as her musician father).
Well, with all the posting I've done on Deanna in the past, I guess it's no surprise to anyone to find that I think she was very much in Temple's and Garland's class as a child star/performer. I think it's hard to argue that she was as charismatic and charming and as natural an actress as either of them, and as gifted a vocalist as Garland., and her natural, unaffected effervescent quality is absolutely unique.
While Deanna may not have sung with the demotic zest Judy injected into her most "upbeat" numbers, she sang in a much wider variety of musical genres than her gifted "pop" MGM "rival" and managed to imbue all of them, including the usually highly stylized classical genre, with an artless ease and naturalness that, for me, is unsurpassed among classically-trained film vocalists. Very few vocalists could do what Deanna Durbin did, as well as she did it. I'm not surprised she remains so highly regarded among many film and music critics, historians, musicians and other performers.
On the other hand, I AM somewhat surprised at Robert Osborne's comment, every time he runs a Durbin film, that she has never been interviewed since retiring in 1949. I imagine he (or his staff at TCM) is aware that she has given at least one "official" interview (in 1983 to the late David Shipman) since her retirement. If not, they should be.
As for the preference for Jane Powell over Deanna (or vice versa), while Deanna is my favorite movie soprano, and in my opinion, the best singer-actress of the lot, I see no problem with preferring one performer over another. We all have our favorites. That's part of what makes this board so interesting.
I had the great pleasure of meeting and briefly chatting with Jane Powell several years ago (as it happened, we talked mostly about Deanna Durbin), and she was absolutely delightful: charming, gracious, still lovely and slim (and, if possible, even more petite than she appears onscreen), and a genuine "star" in the best sense of the word. A marvelous lady!
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An interesting bit of trivia concerning INTERRUPTED MELODY (which probably belongs on the "Ghost Voices" thread).:
In an early scene in the film, Eleanor Parker, as Marjorie Lawrence, arrives in Paris to begin her vocal studies with Mme. Cecile Gilly. Unable to get past Mme. Gilly's secretary, Lawrence starts to leave when she hears one of Mme. Gilly's students unable to reach the climactic note on the Puccini aria, "Visi d'arte." Standing defiantly under Mme. Gilly's window, Parker, as Lawrence, lets fly with the climactic phrase and note on the spot and is immediately summoned in by Mme. Gilly and her studies begin...
The student unable to reach the climactic high note in the first place, is played by Eileen Farrell in an uncredited cameo, thus, in another slightly bizzare twist that could only happen in the movies, we have Farrell "competing" with herself to get her voice teacher's attention.
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Thanks for backing me up, Bill:
Good thinking - from the "Classic Images" article link that was given a couple of days ago, on voice doubling (the most comprehensive I've EVER seen)
It is an excellent article, though the author is mistaken that Eileen Farrell received no credit for her dubbing of Eleanor Parker in Interrupted Melody. The album was one of the best selling LPs of the 1950s and Farrell's name was listed on the album as the vocalist. It was a major boost to her career.
Rudy Wissler:
The Jolson Story (Columbia, 1946) Scotty Beckett
-- and that's his only credit. Guess the inevitable happened shortly thereafter!
Well, that was his only "dubbing" credit, but who knows if he did some other work in films that weren't as noteworthy as The Jolson Story? I think you may be right, however, that a subsequent voice change put an end to his singing career.
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I enjoyed it, but didn't think it was any great shakes as a film musical/comedy. I liked the "Postage Stamp" number, but Pat O'Brien's character grated a great deal. I thought he was positively schizophrenic in his first scenes in the film when he was alternately sympathetic and tyranical with the staff of the "Garden of the Moon."
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markus, thanks for the info on Marni NIxon. I had forgotten that she sang for Natalie Wood in West Side Story--one of my favorite musicals. Her voice is very pretty and light.
You're welcome, Sandy:
Nixon was/is a very talented and versatile vocalist, though, personally, I think her light, thin soprano was too refined and moochromatic to be really believable as the singing voice of the Cockney flower girl "Eliza Doolittle" in the first half of the film version of My Fair Lady. She seems more appropriate after Eliza's transformation into the "Lady" in the latter half.
PS Not wishing to shatter any other illusions you may have concerning the film version of WSS, but not only was Natalie dubbed, but Richard Beymer and Rita Moreno were also. Moreno was dubbed by Betty Wand, who also dubbed Leslie Caron's vocals in Gigi. Her dubbing by Wand was yet another case of Hollywood preferring the voice of a "ghost singer" for a role played by someone who possessed some innate singing talent.
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So, what did viewers think of this movie after they saw it?
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Excellent choices, Charlie:
Another Jane Powell moment I find particularly memorable is her heartfelt crooning of "When You're In Love" to clueless bridegroom Howard Keel in SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS. Long before the two have their inevitable "falling out" (over those kidnapped brides), Jane's delicate and genuine vocal makes viewers understand why her smart, resourceful and spirited "Milly" agreed to marry Keel's mountain man/trapper on first sight.
Another Deanna musical moment that I think is especially noteworthy (but doesn't get mentioned often) is her gorgeous rendition of the lovely ballad "It's Dreamtime" from I'LL BE YOURS. Sung to new boyfriend Tom Drake as the two enjoy a canoe ride on Central Park Lake, Deanna's potent yet subtle sensual quality is never better displayed than in the scene when Drake gently leans over to nuzzle her as she's singing, while her naturally effervescent candor is amply displayed in the close-ups in which she is singing directly to Drake of "those in love."
And since someone mentioned Kathryn Grayson earlier, two of Kathryn's musical moments that I find especially entertaining are her ebullient chirping of Strauss's "Voices of Spring" to cheer up worried screen Dad Ian Hunter as she packs his suitcase in her debut film, ANDY HARDY'S PRIVATE SECRETARY, and, from the same film, her crooning of Cole Porter's "I've Got My Eyes on You" to Mickey Rooney's mugging "Andy Hardy," to the increasing comic fury of Ann Rutherford, playing the perpetually put-out "Polly Benedict."
To answer you question, no, I don't think the otherwise talented Scotty Beckett did his own singing in THE JOLSON STORY. I can't recall the name of the performer who did, but I think it was something like "Rudy Wissler." I agree that his vocals as the young Jolson are very impressive. I've always enjoyed that part of the movie, and he was a good match for Beckett's speaking voice, too.
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Nice response, CC:
This raises an interesting question of other examples in which favorite movie sopranos were particularly "radiant."
One that comes to mind for me is Jane Powell's lovely performance of "Magic Is The Moonlight" in Nancy Goes To Rio. Jane looks particularly fetching in what I call her "Carribean Swiss Miss Look" (blonde braids, a simple and colorful native dress, etc.), but it's her deeply committed and understated performance of this lovely song that makes it for me. Interestingly, Jane's performance of the song in the film convinces the producers of the a forthcoming play that Jane has the singing and acting talent to play the lead (originally assigned to her screen Mom, Ann Sothern). Every time I watch this scene, Jane convinces me (and I'm sure many other viewers) as well. It's not usually mentioned as one of her best performances, but I think it is.
Anyone care to suggest any others?
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I know that Marni Nixon dubbed Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, but could someone list her other dubbing jobs?
Hi Sandy:
Marni Nixon also dubbed Margaret O'Brien's singing in The Secret Garden (1949) and (I think) Big City {1948).
She also dubbed Deborah Kerr's vocals twice: in both The King and I (1956) and An Affair To Remember (1957), and Natalie Wood's in West Side Story. She actually appeared onscreen as one of the nuns ("Sister Sophia") in the film version of The Sound of Music, and, I imagine, dubbed some of the other performers in that film as well.
Her autobiography has recently been published, but I haven't seen it, so I don't know what other dubbing jobs she might list on her resume.
And who did the dubbing for Rita Hayworth in Cover Girl? I always thought that was one of the best dubbing jobs. The singer sounds as though she could be Hayworth, if Rita had a trained voice.
I think it was Martha Mears. She dubbed many stars around that time, including Lucille Ball, Veronica Lake and Hedy Lamarr, among others. I think she may also have dubbed Rita in Tonight and Every Night, so Columbia probably considered her a good match for Rita's singing voice.
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I disagree. For my money, Gordon Scott was the best screen Tarzan, and his last two films in the series (Tarzan's Greatest Adventure and Tarzan The Magnificent) the best films in the series. For me, Scott, who unlike Weismuller, was trained in martial arts, hand-to-hand combat, bareback riding and trapeze work and thus did almost all of his own stunts, simply had an authority and naturalness chasing down the jungle fauna while running through its' flora that Weissmuller and the others couldn't match.
I do like the Weissmuller films quite a lot, and I think he played the role well, but that very high,flat, nasal voice of his was a real turn-off for me, and the constant use of a stunt double in the fast-motion vine swinging scenes (with the trapeze bar clearly visible) made Tarzan's "travellin' scenes" seem a little ludicrious to me.
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In Bachelor Mother (1939), David Niven takes Ginger Rogers to a New Year's Eve party as a "last minute" date. After their arrival, he tells his many male friends and associates that Rogers is recently arrived from "Sweden" and doesn't speak a word of English. This set-up makes Rogers's neat put-down of Niven's original date for the bash (after the woman makes a catty comment about Rogers assuming she can't understand her) even more memorable.
The same scene is repeated, almost verbatim, in the film's musical remake: Bundle of Joy (1956) starring Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, though, like most remakes, it's not as good a film as the original.
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For the curious, Deanna Durbin sings "Un Bel Di" (in an English translation) in the charming Cinderella retelling, First Love. I had to look up when she sang [the seemingly odd choice of] the tenor's aria* from Turandot, and discovered it was in Frank Borzage's His Butler's Sister. I'd never heard of this one, and am curious to hear more about it.
Hi Jack:
**SPOILER ALERT**
The staging of Deanna's performance of "Nessun Dorma" in HBS could almost be called First Love, Redux. As in the earlier film, Deanna sings at someone else's urging (in this case, older half-brother Pat O'Brien who wants agent Walter Catlett to hear her), at a Butler's Ball after Deanna's romance with Broadway composer Franchot Tone has (seemingly) gone South, largely due to O'Brien's interference.
Unknown to Deanna, Tone has been trying to crash the Butler's Ball in hopes of patching things up with Deanna but has been prevented from entering by O'Brien and Catlett, who claim not to know him. Tone does manage to enter the hall just as Deanna's name and the piece of music she is to sing are announced.
Deanna enters (beautifully gowned in a black dress designed by Adrian) and begins the aria and Tone soon realizes that this is the remarkable voice he's heard on a couple of prior occasions without being able to discover the identity of the vocalist. As Deanna sings, Tone squares things with O'Brien and begins to move closer to the stage. Deanna spots him in the crowd about half-way through her song and, as she concludes the number (with tears of joy streaming down her face) she literally runs the gauntlet of thunderously applauding admirers right into Tone's arms. The film concludes with a shot of Deanna's rapturously happy face as the two embrace.
I know how all of this sounds, but it is, I think, a tremendous credit to Deanna's singularly powerful charm, and presence, and considerable talent as a singer/actress that she DOES manage to make the performance a moving and memorable one. I think it's one of the most memorable musical performances she ever committed to film.
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I think Deanna's performances of arias like "One Fine Day" from MADAME BUTTERFLY and the "Nessun Dorma" aria from TURANDOT are stunning. It's normally a baritone aria, but I recently saw FOR THE LOVE OF MARY and thought Deanna's performance of the "Figaro" aria from THE BARBER OF SEVILLE was brilliant, capped off by a first-class pratfall into a reflecting pool that demonstrated her flair for physical comedy.
Agreed, CC:
And you aren't alone in considering the performances "stunning":
Several years ago, while taking a break from studying for exams, I was listening to the end of the Harvard University Radio station's "Sunday Night at the Opera" broadcast. The opera was a relatively short one, and had ended about 45 minutes early, and to fill the remaining time, the host was playing some recordings of "Opera in the Movies." Just before going to a commercial break, he announced: "When we return, we'll be playing some recordings featuring one of the finest soprano voices of the 1940s, regrettably confined almost exclusively to move soundtrack performances." The first recording was Deanna's 1939 performance of "One Fine Day," and after it concluded the host commented: "The remarkable, and vastly underrated 'American Sweetheart of Song', Deanna Durbin, in a stunning performance of the "Un bel di" aria from Puccini's MADAMA BUTTERFLY, sung in English and recorded when she was in her early 20s." (Deanna was actually 17 when she made the recording.)
In his best-selling Movie and Video Guide, film critic Leonard Maltin, described Deanna's performance of the "Nessun Dorma" aria from Turandot as both a "moving" finale to the film and a "stunning" performance by her. Although he didn't care much for the film itself, giving it only 2 stars and opining it as "a tired Durbin vehicle," he clearly loved the finale.
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Buddy died in early 1949, in a plane crash - travelling between the two coasts for radio shows (and movies, I guess) in NYC and Hollywood; two years after Grace Moore died on tour in Stockholm in a plane that never quite got airborne.
Hi Bill:
I think Buddy was returning from a football game (he was a great sports enthusiast) when he perished in that plane crash. My father was a great fan of his (understandably, because he was a brilliant vocalist) and I bought a CD of Buddy's radio performances as a Christmas gift for my Dad several years ago. In what I thought was in rather poor taste, the producers of the CD included a photo of the plane crash, including Buddy's body lying a few feet away from it, in the liner notes for the CD. I think the notes also included a contemporary article which stated that he was returning from a football game for one of his radio broadcasts when the plane went down.
Incidentally, in addition to William Holden, Buddy Clark also dubbed the vocals for Mark Stevens in I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now and for Jack Haley, playing a talented singer afflicted with "mike fright" in Wake Up and Live, a role that Haley later described as his favorite of his career. He may have dubbed some other stars, but I can't think of any at the moment.
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And now - my own, fueled by discussion in another thread. And unusual, to say the least. What deceased singer dubbed for an actor who achieved superstardom, for just a minute or so, in a movie (shown very recently) made the same year as one of his biggest hits but little known today (I never heard of it till now). I was listening and, not really expecting the actor to sing, started getting goosepimples at the voice. Who IS that? I know the voice almost as well as my own (probably 50 or so records - mostly 78s), but.... Just as it hit me, it must have hit the person who beat me to the post.
Hmmm....Great question, Bill!
The only example I can think of that might fit your criteria is Buddy Clark's dubbing of William Holden in Father Was a Bachelor?
I'm not sure if the film was shown recently, but I do know the film was produced/released around the time of Clark's tragic death in a plane crash in 1949, but I'm not sure if it was released after Clark's death or not.
Quite an accomplishment, getting a dead man to dub for you! (And not in an opera film)
Agreed. Never underestimate the "magic" of the movies!
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So here goes... I'll start off by mentioning the ironic tale of Debbie Reynolds in Singin' in the Rain, the movie about the birth of vocal dubbing. Jean Hagan's character looks beautiful, but sounds like a harridan. The film's answer? Dub her voice with the dulcet tones of Debbie Reynolds. Except that Debbie's voice in the movie is, in turn, dubbed by Betty Noyes.
The twisted tale of Reynolds' dubbing of Hagen in SITR doesn't end there, Jack. In the scene when Reynolds' "Kathy Selden" is seen dubbing Hagen's "Lina Lamont's" dialogue in the film ("Nothing will keep us apart. Our love will last 'till the stars turn cold."), it was ultimately determined that Reynolds' speaking voice was too Texas-accented to convey the refined dialogue believably. The solution: Hagen used her own naturally cultured speaking voice to dub this snippet of SPOKEN dialogue.
Thus, in perhaps the greatest of all cinematic ironies, in perhaps the most famous of all "dubbing" movies, we have Hagen dubbing Reynolds dubbing Hagen!
Just another reason to support the argument that Hagen really deserved that "Best Supporting Actress" Academy Award for which she was nominated for this film.
Another bit of dubbing irony: Although she originated the role of "Bloody Mary," in the original Broadway production of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein show South Pacific, in the film version Juanita Hall's vocals were dubbed by Muriel Smith. Why? Because Smith played the role in the London production and Rodgers and Hammerstein, who retained approval rights on the casting of the film version, decided they preferred Smith's voice to Hall's.
PS Another operatic singer who contributed to the film dubbing lexicon was Giorgio Tozzi, who dubbed Rossano Brazzi's vocals in the film version of SP.
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Very well said, NZ:
I agree that it's important to see these films as they were shown, warts and all. History is important and shouldn't be diluted simply because these routines are now (rightly) considered 'politically incorrect.'
But do you think HOLIDAY INN's blackface "Abraham" routine is what prevented TCM from including it in its' list of Holiday films this year?
Frankly, I doubt it. After all, TCM never has any qualms about scheduling such films in its' own library as SWING TIME, EVERYBODY SING, BABES IN ARMS, BABES ON BROADWAY and BORN TO SING, all of which feature prominent blackface musical routines.
Rather, I suspect you're right that Paramount simply didn''t make the film available to TCM for broadcast this year, possibly because they thought that to do so would be a detriment to customers purchasing the newly released DVD edition.
I do think HOLIDAY INN is a delightful film overall. I like WHITE CHRISTMAS too, but I prefer the original film.
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Hi filmflub:
The aria is called "Mi chiamano Mimi" as in "They call me 'Mimi' (but my name is Lucia)." It's a beautiful aria, isn't it?
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I respect your preference for Kathryn and Jane, but to be fair to Deanna Durbin I think from any obejective overview of her work it's fairly clear that she possessed considerable charm. She also, by a considerable margin, is generally the most admired singer/actress of all the Teen Sopranos. (See, e.g., Charles Affron ("Durbin's sweet voice and sound musical instincts take on particular value when compared to her 1940s counterparts, the "legit" sopranos Jane Powell and Kathryn Grayson") or Ethan Morrden ("Durbin's opera has a confidence that one finds lacking in the work of the coeval Jane Powell and Kathryn Grayson, and her 'pop' is pleasureable.") or David Shipman ("In her private life she was extremely self-assured and there are touches of wit and acerbity in her performances which place her easily in the forefront of those girls who have made a career out of playing Cinderella. She was liked everywhere and was a critic's pet. The qualities they praised in her: charm, spontaneity, naturalness her artlessness and her singing voice-were more highly then than they are now, but she was probably the most agreeable child who ever starred in moves.")
A notable exception was an alleged 'salute' to Deanna written for OPERA NEWS by Eric Myers some years back. Myers was completely dismissive of Durbin's talent, finding both her voice and her abilities as a singer/actress to be negligible and non-descript. However, even Myers acknowledged Durbin's uniquely potent personal charm as a key element of her enormous success. ("Durbin's fans watched her mature from a charismatic, gifted fourteen-year-old into a voluptuous leading lady who eventually became the highest-paid woman in the nation. The little girl with the voice of a grown woman instantly captured the public's fancy, and she remains so beloved that the fan clubs, websites and newsletters devoted to her are too numerous to count. -- It was really the ordinary attractive girlishness she projected which won hearts all around. That quality even won her a special Academy Award in 1938 for bringing to the screen 'the spirit and personfication of youth.' As Durbin matured, the attractiveness became something more. With her full lips, voluptuous physique and caressing, dreamy way of focusing on her male co-stars, she projected an eroticism that is rarely acknowledged by her fans.")
Anyway, while I obviously don't agree with Myers' dismissive opinion of Deanna, in the same issue it was nice to see Brian Kellow's admiring appraisal of the too-often overlooked Jane Powell. ("From the beginning, she was an uncommonly bright young singer: bright eyes, bright smile, bright personality, with a bright, sunny lyric soprano. She sang with tremendous energy, rhythmic crispness and deep feeling; her vocalism is distinguished by a gleaming sincerity.")
Still, as in every other source one consults on moviedom's Teen Sopranos (including the recollectoins of the ladies themselves), Kellow readily acknowledged that studio interest in Powell, et. al. was generated by Deanna's remarkable and enduring success. ("When Powell arrived at MGM, Louis B. Mayer was still smarting over a blunder that had occurred years earlier, when he had failed to sign up Deanna Durbin, only to have her go to Universal and make millions for them. He was always searching for another Durbin, and he believed he had found one in Powell.")
So she must have had something...
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You're welcome! But I'm just realizing that I put down the wrong year. The film was released in 1937.
Anyway, I agree completely that it's a wonderful movie, but a very hard one to watch. I first saw it when I was a kid (on a snowy winter day shortly after coming back from Religious Education class) and I wanted the couple's children to burn in H*** for their selfishness. lol! I saw it again a few years ago and, though I hoped my attitude had been a little tempered by (alleged) acquired maturity, I found I still felt as angry at them as I did before. Sometimes those childhood impressions can be hard to shake.
It's mystifying that this film has not been released on either VHS or DVD. At least, as far as I'm aware it hasn't been. Wish Criterion would get their hands on it. They could do a masterful job with this gem!
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I think it may be MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW (1940).
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From the bits and pieces you've provided, the movie sounds like ALL MINE TO GIVE 1956 or 1957) starring Cameron Mitchell and Glynnis Johns as the parents of several children. The parents both pass away and the oldest son (played by Rex Thompson who played Deborah Kerr's son in THE KING AND I) finds homes among the neighbors for his younger siblings.
On Christmas morning he takes the other children to their new homes (pulling the smallest ones in a red sled). After his brothers and sisters have been taken to their new homes, the film ends with him heading up to a logging camp where he's been promised a job.
Hope this makes you rest a little easier. lol!
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I have several recordings of Farrell's as well, Jack, including her marvelous album of Christmas hymns, SONGS FOR CHRISTMAS EVE, which I just put away for another year after giving it ample play during the holidays.
You're right, Farrell did start off on radio. Shortly after arriving in New York to begin her vocal studies she was hired for the CBS studio Chorus and shortly after that, she was given her own weekly radio program, on which she sang both classical and popular songs. In fact, her close friend Harold Arlen allowed her to introduce his song, "Right As The Rain," from the forthcoming Broadway show BLOOMER GIRL on her radio show prior to the show's opening.
You're also right that, despite her obvious vocal talent, the Met didn't fall over backwards to hire Farrell. 15-20 years before she was hired by the company in 1960, she auditioned for then General Manager Edward Johnson who found her "amateurish and fat." Farrell, who disliked pretense and was never terribly ambitious professionally-speaking, reportedly shrugged her shoulders at the rejection thinking, "What do I need the Met for? I've got a national radio program!"
As was the case with the best movie sopranos, I suspect that Farrell's talent for singing crossover stemmed in part from her starting out on radio and learning to adapt her considerable vocal resources to the more intimate demands of the microphone.
However, despite her tenure in radio, I think Farrell had more freedom to develop her instrument fully than the younger movie sopranos did. In addition to her radio work, Farrell also did a fair amount of concertizing, including her tenure in the Bach Aria Group, performing with other aspiring opera singers like George London and, on at least one occasion, a pre-Hollywood, Mario Lanza, and she never needed to conform her sound to fit the wholesome Girl Next Door images studios crafted for the Teen movie sopranos.
[i]THREE SMART GIRLS (1936) ON TCM TONIGHT: DEANNA DURBIN'S DEBUT[/i]
in General Discussions
Posted
That's fine, Sam:
Subjective impressions are always valid and require no defense or explanation.
I enjoy soprano singing, both operatic and "pop," which is undoubtedly one reason I enjoy Deanna's work so much, but I do think, regardless of whether one likes the soprano voice or not, Durbin's voice and musical intelligence is most impressive, very much on a par with Garland's and, talented little performer though she was, quite superior to Temple's vocal endowment. Agree completely with you about her acting. In a role/image that could easily be curdlingly "sweet" and affected, she's very natural. spontaneous and witty.
As I hear it, Durbin's singing style also is not as formal or heavily stylized as that of adult soprano contemporaries like Dunne, Jeanette MacDonald, or Grace Moore. She had quite a talent for singing "pop," though, undoubtedly due to the popularity of opera, and other classical vocal pieces at the time (and her ability to sing that repertoire so effectively), she didn't begin to explore this repertoire until later in her career (e.g., SOMETHING IN THE WIND).