How fake the dubbed singing looked! It was particularly bad for Harry Belafonte. I know that dubbing an actor's singing voice was the norm back then and even later (like in West Side Story). However, it just distracted me from an otherwise excellent movie.
shareI agree. Just think how it might be done today -- perhaps similar to Les Miz -- with the actors doing their own singing live. I realize that they wanted operatic voices, but I think it would've worked with Harry Belafonte doing his own singing. Pearl Bailey didn't have an operatic voice and I thought her drum number was well done.
shareI actually think Dandridge was extremely convincing in her lip syncing. But I agree, they should have been allowed to use their real voices.
shareIt's hard for me to watch the movie without chuckling anytime Belafonte opens his mouth to warble and this totally inappropriate voice emanates. Anyone who knows Belafonte's actual singing voice HAS to be distracted....
May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?
Dubbing is only acceptable in.a.biopic Otherwise- what if their voices weren't operatic?
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