CaveGirl Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Now I'd like to be classy and say my favorite movie narrator is the great Kim Stanley, as the adult Scout in "To Kill a Mockingbird" but I'd be lying. My favorite is really Ed MacMahon as the narrator of the classic "Daughter of Horror" [aka "Dementia"] which if you don't remember is the film being shown at the movie theatre, in "The Blob" with Steve McQueen. Who do you enjoy most as a narrator? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Kimble Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Who do you enjoy most as a narrator? Stock film of battleships, steaming on the seas. Stirring music plays over. JOHN CLEESE (booming): There have been many stirring tales told of the sea, and also some fairly uninteresting ones only marginally connected with it, like this one. (meekly) I'm sorry, this isn't a very good introduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaveGirl Posted May 2, 2016 Author Share Posted May 2, 2016 Stock film of battleships, steaming on the seas. Stirring music plays over. JOHN CLEESE (booming): There have been many stirring tales told of the sea, and also some fairly uninteresting ones only marginally connected with it, like this one. (meekly) I'm sorry, this isn't a very good introduction. Great choice! I'd listen to anything Basil Fawlty narrated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Kimble Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 (Stock footage of Welsh mountains, then a Welsh coal mine) JOHN CLEESE (booming) The coal miners of Wales have long been famed for their tough rugged life hewing the black gold from the uncompromising hell of one mile under. This is the story of such men, battling gallantly against floods, roof falls, the English criminal law, the hidden killer carbon monoxide and the ever-present threat of pneumoconiosis which is... (flustered) er, um... a disease miners get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricksghost Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Dick Powell in Murder my Sweet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet0312 Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Richard Dreyfuss Stand By Me 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fedya Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 The stentorian voice of Reed Hadley in those Fox docudramas of the late 1940s. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregoryPeckfan Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 I love movie narration. Besides what have already been mentioned: Robert Montgomery in Lady in the Lake Spencer Tracy in How the West Was Won 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
film lover 293 Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 James Mason in the animated short "The Tell-Tale Heart" (1953). Vincent Price narrating the AIP E. A. Poe films (any of them). Orson Welles narrating "Rikki Tikki Tavi" (1974, animated). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Faiola Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 William Holden in SUNSET BOULEVARD. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Robert Redford, "A River Runs Through It" (1992): 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Can't argue against any listed so far. Can only add: MORGAN FREEMAN (narration of "March Of The Penguins") DAVID McCOLLOUGH( narration of "Seabiscuit"--2003) PETER BULL (narration of A CHRISTMAS CAROL--1951) There's some slight narration JIMMY STEWART does in his movie "Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacaction" that he handles very well. as does SPENCER TRACY in "Father Of The Bride". The ones I mentioned up there I think offer narration in other movies I can't think of right now. But one thing is CLEAR---- The WORST and MOST BORING narration done by ANY actor in ANY movie is KEVIN COSTNER narrating ANYTHING! He comes off like the dumbest kid in class reading an assignment out loud. Why, a DEAD LEAF shows more emotion! Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Joanne Woodward in The Age of Innocence (1993). Martin Scorsese's best film, and one of the greatest films of all time, enhanced by Ms. Woodward's narration. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Linda Manz, who plays Richard Gere's little sister in Terrence Malick's "Days of Heaven" (1978), was an interesting -- and unforgettable -- choice to provide the movie's narration. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Martin Sheen's voiceovers for Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" were so brilliant... ...you couldn't help thinking about them when his son Charlie performed the same duties for "Platoon" (1986). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Ahhhh...and THEN there's Dan Aykroyd's spot on Jack Webb-esque narration in the 1987 movie DRAGNET here... (...only the names were changed to protect the innocent...dum dee DUM dum) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthemoviefan Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 I just recently watched the MST3K version of The Creeping Terror, which has a ton of narration, more than any film I've ever seen. I'm more partial to the narration of Lou Marcelle in Casablanca. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 One of my favorite films with narration: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Here are two good trashy horror films that employ narration (both of these films have alternate titles): 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaveGirl Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 The stentorian voice of Reed Hadley in those Fox docudramas of the late 1940s. I LOVE Reed Hadley and you are so right about the voice, and the word "stentorian" really captures his sound. Thanks, Fedya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaveGirl Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 James Mason in the animated short "The Tell-Tale Heart" (1953). Vincent Price narrating the AIP E. A. Poe films (any of them). Orson Welles narrating "Rikki Tikki Tavi" (1974, animated). Wow, three of the best voices to hear on film. Thanks, FL! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaveGirl Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 Can't argue against any listed so far. Can only add: MORGAN FREEMAN (narration of "March Of The Penguins") DAVID McCOLLOUGH( narration of "Seabiscuit"--2003) PETER BULL (narration of A CHRISTMAS CAROL--1951) There's some slight narration JIMMY STEWART does in his movie "Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacaction" that he handles very well. as does SPENCER TRACY in "Father Of The Bride". The ones I mentioned up there I think offer narration in other movies I can't think of right now. But one thing is CLEAR---- The WORST and MOST BORING narration done by ANY actor in ANY movie is KEVIN COSTNER narrating ANYTHING! He comes off like the dumbest kid in class reading an assignment out loud. Why, a DEAD LEAF shows more emotion! Sepiatone Hey, Sepia you just taught me something. I love ACC from 1951 but I guess am usually so engrossed in the story that I never paid attention to the narration. Thanks for the reminder of who it was, and I can hear now in my head the ending bit, where the narrator says something about that Scrooge was afterwards noted for something like "how well he kept Christmas" or whatever. Next time I shall pay attention to Bull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaveGirl Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 Linda Manz, who plays Richard Gere's little sister in Terrence Malick's "Days of Heaven" (1978), was an interesting -- and unforgettable -- choice to provide the movie's narration. Ya know, interesting you say that, Jakeem because I once had an argument with someone was was totally disgusted with Manz and her readings but I liked her and the sound of her voice. She truly sounded like a kid who had no schooling and was a bit itinerant which is what the movie calls for, which made sense that she was pronouncing some words oddly. Of course, I like all Malick films and that one is my favorite. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaveGirl Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 Ahhhh...and THEN there's Dan Aykroyd's spot on Jack Webb-esque narration in the 1987 movie DRAGNET here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcMSiqo3g7k (...only the names were changed to protect the innocent...dum dee DUM dum) Ya know, Dargo they say that Jack Webb would work incidental actors on the set, over and over again in reading their lines because he wanted no intonation or expressive feeling in their line takes. I kinda dig that very unexpressive style too. So much better than overacting for sure. My favorite episode is the one with Michael Burns as I think, the Blue Boy? Thanks for your as always astute observations. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Just wanna say here I thought Sigourney Weaver did a great job at narrating the "Cinema's Exiles" documentary I watched last evening on TCM. (...nice to hear a woman's voice for once in these kinds of things...seems a seldom occurrence) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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