Is it true that Kim Novak dubbed Doris Day's singing in this movie? I heard that Novak turned down the part but when she found out that Howard Keel and not Gordon McRae would play Bill, she changed her mind and asked Warner to cast her. Day was already signed so they compromised by letting Novak do the singing.
shareOk - Several reasons why i believe this to be COMPLETLEY untrue:
1) I've watched many Doris Day films, and her singing voice is distinctly hers in Calamity Jane.
2) People used to go to the movies simply to hear her sing as well as the other guys in the movie - i don't thing they'd have taken the chance of upsetting the public by having her voice dubbed.
3) I also don't think that Doris' contract would have allowed her voice to be dubbed - she was a singing star as well as an actress.
4) its not in any movie trivia i've seen for this film.
To be honest, it just makes NO sense to think they were going to dub her voice.
Absolutely not. As the other poster said, Doris has a very distinct voice. There is no mistaking it.
I've also read Doris' [Auto]biography. Just based on the representation of her character from her comments, I would say that she would never allow this.
That [educated guessing] aside, she definitely did her own singing.
"I'm sure I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about." ~Mary Poppins
no it aint dubed
I love... I love... I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on"
No. They didn't dub her voice. The voice in that movie is hers... Because I am utterly in love with Doris Day! My favourite actress ever...
shareWow. No way was Doris' singing dubbed. That's laughable. I've never heard such nonsense.
shareI've never HEARD that ridiculous story. In 1953, Kim Novak wouldn't have been offered such an important picture, let alone a MUSICAL! Besides, she was at Columbia Pictures, not Warner Brothers. Doris Day was a top boxoffice star by 1951 AND a consistent recording artist with many hit records. She was the only female movie star to also have a full-time recording career.
Why in the world would Warner Brothers want to "dub" it's #1 money-making star? I don't believe Kim Novak is a singer, let alone, any kind of actress! She was panned by the critics in every film she ever made, even the ones that became popular despite her weakness as the leading lady.
Kim tried to cover up her acting inadequacies by throwing temper tantrums on the set - anything to draw attention away from her "acting abilities." Many male stars refused to work with "stupid" as they called her. If you want to laugh (or cringe) watch Kim in "Jeanne Eagles" co-starring Jeff Chandler. She was awful, natch!
Not to mention the fact that the songs from Calamity Jane are on Doris Day's Greatest Hits CD, and they sounds identical.
Personally, I think I have too much bloom. Maybe that's the trouble with me.
You should do your homework before posting such ridiculous muck. Kim Novak made her first film in 1954, "Calamity Jane" was shot in 1952 and released in 1953! Do you think that Warner Brothers would offer a complete unknown to star in an important musical such as "Calamity Jane"?
Doris Day had saved Warner Brothers from near bankruptsy with a string of musical comedies (starting in 1948), which landed her among the Top Ten Box Office stars of 1951 & 1952. For you to concoct this unbelievable story about Novak being a singer, worthy enough to dub DORIS DAY? You must be one of those "I hate Doris Day people left over from the late '60s," who'll do ANYTHING to disparage Miss Day. Shame on you!
Funny. Today, both Doris and Kim live in Carmel, California and often see one another in their jeeps going back and forth to the market. They wave and keep going.
Calm down you people! the OP said:
Is is true...
did kim novak ever star in a musical?
shareYes. "Pal Joey", with Frank Sinatra & Rita Hayworth.
shareYes, Pal Joey, And HER voice was dubbed
shareDoris Day did all the singing in all her movies, without exception, period. Nobody ever dubbed her songs in the movies or elsewhere.
Also, Kim Novak's voice was dubbed unnecessarily for Pal Joey. Studio boss Harry Cohn wanted perfection and did not trust Kim's singing ability. But she has a beautifully trained voice (like a slightly huskier voiced Peggy Lee) and she did record the songs in this movie. The woman who dubbed her voice (I think her name is Trudy Erwin) later said she used Kim's recording to enable her to adapt and use the nuances of Kim's voice so that the dub would sound like Kim. However, Kim's co-stars, including Sinatra, thought Kim's voice was more than adequate and at least as good as the girl who dubbed for her in the movie. I have heard Kim's singing voice and I agree. Kim could sing. Unfortunately, the studio boss couldn't get past her stunning good looks. Pity.
I saw her in person several months ago, just before she turned 75 (in February), and she is still a very beautiful woman. At 75, she's still HOT.
No one would ever dub Doris Day!
*~*~*~My other signature is 'Why has the rum gone?'~*~*~*
It also should be added that Kim Novak's vocals in films were always dubbed, each time by a different ghost-singer. (Trudy Stevens - not Erwin, people are always confusing these two - in PAL JOEY, Jo Ann Greer in FIVE AGAINST THE HOUSE and Eileen Wilson in JEANNE EAGELS.)
Doris Day was the best screen singer of the 50s and to me, her performance in CALAMITY JANE was her finest and one of the best ever to grace a musical film.
Karine Philippot
cinekarine:
You are correct, Kim's singing voice was usually dubbed in her movies, often unnecessarily so. I have records by Kim and she has a beautiful voice and is a very good singer. She sounds like a huskier-voiced Peggy Lee. Rita Hayward and Rosalind Russell also had beautiful voices and were very capable singers but their voices were always dubbed as demanded by Columbia Pictures head, Harry Cohn. He wanted perfection and didn't trust the singing abilities of his actors/actresses.
It was Trudy Irwin who dubbed for Kim in Pal Joey, not Trudy Stevens (at least that's what the studio credits and soundtrack say). However, Kim's co-stars, including Sinatra, have stated that it was unnecessary to dub Kim's vocals because they could not see any improvement over Kim's vocals with the dubbed voice. As for Trudy Stevens, she did dub vocals in two movies: for Vera Ellen in White Christmas (1954) and for Lizabeth Scott in I Walk Alone (1948).
Jo Ann Greer dubbed (also unnecessarily so) for Rita Hayward in Pal Joey.
There is a rumour that Kim did her own singing in Five Against the House but I seriously doubt that because it's a Columbia Pictures movie and Harry Cohn would have never permitted it. But Jo Ann Greer is not credited for dubbing for Kim and to date no one has been able to confirm who actually did the dubbing for Kim in this movie. It could very easily have been Jo Ann, or either of the two Trudys.
Both Eileen Wilson and Gogi Grant have been credited with dubbing for Kim in Jeanne Eagels. According to the TV Guide (which is often hopelessly wrong) it was Eileen, although there is nothing solid to confirm it was either. But it may have been Eileen Wilson ( despite my misgivings about TV Guide) but she sure sounds like Gogi. Eileen was also a regular on TV in Your Hit Parade and The Perry Como Show in the early 50s.
Back in the 50s and 60s, it was considered detrimental to a movie and its star to reveal that a voice was dubbed, let alone reveal the identity of the real singer. Edmund Purdom's carrer was seriously damaged (in America) when it was revealed that Mario Lanza dubbed for him in the Student Prince (1954). Wouldn't it be nice if the studios would now provide this information to us movie fans?
Doris Day's voice was never, ever dubbed at any time for any reason, period. Why in heaven's name would anybody want to dub her near perfect voice? I seriously doubt the sanity of anyone who says Kim Novak dubbed for Doris Day.
I completely agree with you that Doris Day is absolutely stunning in Calamity Jane. I fell in love with her from the first moment I heard her sing Secret Love. But then along came Kim and that dance in Picnic ....
Too bad that today's music lacks the same quality in composition and performance. In the words of our children: today's music sucks!
"Beauty is the power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband." (Ambrose Bierce)
Amen to Doris Day's singing ability. Her voice was one of the greatest in the musical theater era and staples such as "Calamity Jane", "Love Me Or Leave Me', "The Pajama Game", and so many MANY earned her a spot in the Greatest Singers Of All Time."
shareAbsolutely untrue. Doris Day has the best singing voice ever in recorded history.
"Train don't run out of Wichita... unlessin' you're a hog or a cattle."
Doris's voice was absoloutley NOT dubbed. In those days it was VERY rare for an actress to even prerecord her voice and sing along with it let alone, have somone else sing it for you.
back in the 50's you basially sang it on the spot, when you were acting rather then today when most songs are pre recorded and the actors/actresses either lipsynch or sing along to it.
Sometimes an accident can be an unhappy womans best friend
In those days it was VERY rare for an actress to even prerecord her voice and sing along with it let alone, have somone else sing it for you.
back in the 50's you basially sang it on the spot, when you were acting rather then today when most songs are pre recorded and the actors/actresses either lipsynch or sing along to it.
[deleted]
An interesting piece of trivia. Have you ever noticed the different acoustic in the song "I Can Do With Out You". Aparantly thios is because the studio accidently lost the pre-recorded track, and that one song was performed live on set. On the soundtrack album you can hear all the noise of them throwing things at each other, and draging the table ect.
share"Have you ever noticed the different acoustic in the song "I Can Do With Out You". Aparantly thios is because the studio accidently lost the pre-recorded track, and that one song was performed live on set."
I suspect that the vocals were recorded live (almost certainly to a prerecorded backing track) because the nature of the song and the choreography meant that prerecorded vocals would inhibit the performances and staging. I have no doubt that had the recording on set not been deemed to be adequate that the vocals would have been post-synced.
utter nonsense!
shareAs everyone says, No Kim Novak, Doris Day did her own singing in Calamity Jane. She says that she did the singing of Secret Love in only one take for the film. Secret Love won the Oscar for Best Song that year and I think Doris sang it at the Oscar presentation, ah, those were the days.
TCM is honoring Doris Day in April but Calamity Jane is not on the schedule -- I'm sorry, I have heard that this was DD's favorite of her roles.