MovieChat Forums > Stage Fright (1950) Discussion > Sound mistake in final seconds? (Spoiler...

Sound mistake in final seconds? (Spoiler)

posted 16 years ago by donrocin
6 replies | jump to latest

When the curtain comes down on poor Richard Todd, Michael Wilding walks off comforting Jane Wyman. On the DVD I have, you can just hear some dialogue under the music. Cranking it up, its the voice of Michael Wilding giving instructions to a colleague along the lines of "leave the body where it is..is the photographer here...and if his boss is in the theatre". Clearly its not connected to the scene and Wildings lips aren't even moving. Probably its imperceptable in its analogue form, and I wonder how many other hidden sounds emerge from old films in the transfer to digital.

“When you give trousers to a monkey, the trees will end up with lots of scarfs.”

[–] samthonis 16 years ago

I heard it and thought it was, in fact, part of the scene. I took it as just background dialogue between the other police/detectives in the theater while our stars were walking out.

In Heaven, everything is fine

[–] Xcalat3 15 years ago

yeah I think it was just background dialogue

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] entertainme5 14 years ago

It is far too loud to be in the background! The dialogue ties to the movie and it was, infact, apart of it and makes sense of it to be in the movie.

"I have no memories I'm prepared to share with you."- Peter O'Toole

[–] alangalpert 14 years ago

Even on my VHS copy, the dialogue is quite audible. Detective Smith is giving instructions to a colleague regarding the body, so it is definitely relevant.

[–] HarlowMGM 13 years ago

I noticed a couple of other gaffes in the picture, notably when Jane Wyman is confronting Marlene Dietrich about the dress there's one shot of Jane where what she says clearly is not what she is mouthing.

And in Marlene's final scene with the detective as she sits there is clearly either a couple of seconds of missing footage or a very bad editing bit as the scene of her sitting is framed slightly different.

[–] gayspiritwarrior 12 years ago

It definitely is connected to the scene. It just isn't Michael Wilding's voice. It's the men on the stage he's leading her away from, talking about what to do next.

"The value of an idea has nothing to do with the honesty of the man expressing it."--Oscar Wilde