MovieChat Forums > Man Without a Star (1955) Discussion > kirk douglas and banjo

kirk douglas and banjo

posted 18 years ago by Smithy6943
10 replies | jump to latest

Does anybody know if Douglas actually played his own banjo?

If you can't count it or measure it it's an opinion and not a fact.

[–] bullit2513 17 years ago

I'm not sure if it was Douglas playing. I watched it today on AMC and it seems at certain points that Douglas playing doesn't match-up with the music we're hearing. I do think he was singing though. Definitely enjoyable to see Douglas having such fun with the part.

"Congratulations, Major. It appears that at last you have found yourself a real war." Ben Tyreen

[–] RichN36 17 years ago

I was wondering the same thing but a little Trivia from 20,000 leauges under the sea he was actualy playing the Gutar in that film. So Would not suprise me to learn he was playing the Banjo here as well. He was a talented Actor and one of the class acts in Hollywood.

[–] alplatt-1 17 years ago

On another site (TV Guide?) it states that Kirk Douglas learned to play the banjo for this role.

[–] bchbys 17 years ago

It was only a four string banjo so it was not too difficult

[–] ScarletPimpernel64 16 years ago

There's also an episode of The Jack Benny Program where he plays the banjo.

"So what else is on your mind besides 100 proof women, 90 proof whiskey, and 14 karat gold?"

[–] cowgoesmoo 15 years ago

I'm watching this movie right now and immediately came here to find out the same thing! Thanks for the answers.

[–] plwblj 13 years ago

In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea he similarly handles it well and sings purty good,too !

[–] KutWrite (1220) 5 years ago

Someone else quoted an article which said he did.

The sound might not have matched Kirk's movements as it was most likely looped, as it seemed was most of the dialog in this movie. They didn't have the good recorders and boom/lav mikes we have today. Plus they may want the sound from one take and the action from another.

[–] liscarkat (16652) 5 years ago

They had excellent high-fidelity microphones in 1955. I just watched a movie from 1933 and I could understand every word spoken by every actor, without even having to try. I wish we still had that kind of sound recording technology today. In half the contemporary films I watch, much of the dialogue is unintelligible. Recording dialogue properly is a lost art.

[–] KBiker (776) 4 years ago

I agree, in older movies from the 30s thru the 50s, maybe into the 60s too, you could always understand what the actors are saying. Even in films starring Marlon Brando, who was always accused of mumbling, I was able to understand what he was saying. That's because actors then were like stage actors who are taught to enunciate and project. Then it became the style for actors to act more "naturalistic" and speak and act as they do in real life. So they mumble and they slur their words and run them together in rapid fashion, and I keep turning up the volume so I can understand them, not always successfully, until I finally give up and turn on subtitles. It's not all actors today who practice that style. Meryl Streep, for instance, despite all the accents she's famous for, is always understandable.