I enjoyed this movie, and it's a great movie, but one thing I found distracting about it was how almost every line is badly dubbed out of sync with the actors' lip movements. It's almost like they shot a completely different script -- what was the movie originally about -- a recipe for egg salad?
I must conclude that the live action audio they recorded was either lost completely or so bad nobody could make out what was being said.
With all due respect, I think there must be something wrong with your equipment, or your hearing, or the tape or DVD your were viewing it on. Both my Criterion and Optimum Releasing DVD's are perfectly clear on image and sound and were transferred from a brand new 35mm print expensively restored from the original negatives by the BFI. All the interior scenes (those filmed both in the studio and in the lion house and reptile house at London Zoo) were recorded live and were not dubbed. The dialogue in some of the exterior scenes, such as Phillipe and Baines heard talking from a distance while crossing Belgrave Square, were dubbed in later, because, as you can see, there is no microphone anywhere near them and radio microphones hadn't been invented in 1947.
shareNo, I agree with the OP. I saw a remastered version and the sound was terrible. It was even difficult to understand what was being said.
shareYou must have a faulty copy, then, as mine sounds as perfect as any film from 1947 recorded with optical sound equipment (no magnetic tape recordings in those days) could sound. I have heard of no other complaints regarding poor sound quality except yours and that of the original poster. Besides, if the sound was that bad, how did all the posters on this thread who typed down their favourite quotes from the film manage to hear the dialogue if the sound was that bad?
shareIt wasn't all inaudible.
shareI think some of you are missing the OP's point: the sound itself isn't bad, it's the syncing job that is very poorly done in spots. I just watched this on TCM and there's multiple points where the words don't match the lip movements. There's also a terrible cut in a shot of Mrs. Baines.
shareTCM must still be running the 2006 transfer, where there are a few frames missing as Mrs Baines sees Phillipe standing on that ledge. These frames have been restored in the new restored transfer released on Region 2 in the UK by the BFI and StudioCanal last November. As for the post-synching, it looked fine to me and it's something I'd notice if there was something wrong with it.
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