Shirzevor
I have looked through the credits/bylines and searched throughout comments and am still unclear regarding the original language.
I don't know Burt Lancaster's heritage (that name is clearly a Hollywoodism!) but on close attention he seemed to show Italianate articulation. The English sub-titles never matched anything coming from his lips!
Please - was the film made in the Italian language, which Mr Lancaster would have had to be fluent in?
Shirley12 has a real point. In the dubbed version, Lancaster appears to be speaking Italian in actuality,or phonetically mouthing the Italian so as to match easily the dubbing of the Italian actor. But I am quite sure Lancaster did not have Italian. Does anyone know if he is actually speaking English or Italian in the Dubbed Italian version? Thanks. What a film!
shareThis movie was shot in Italian.
"What If" is a game for scholars.
Timothy Dalton, The Lion in Winter (1968)
No, the film was most likely shot without sound and then post-dubbed into Italian (and later into English, French, etc.) - just like the vast majority (if not all) Italian films made at that time. All things taken into account, the Italian version should be considered the "most" original version (probably supervised / directed in the dubbing studio by Visconti himself), while the English version features Lancaster's own voice, but hardly anyone else's.
shareShirley,
"Burt Lancaster" is actually NOT a "Hollywoodism" -- it was his real name! Burt was born "Burton Lancaster" in New York City and his background was English-Irish. He just happened to have a great "actor" name.
Agree that it's tough to tell, but Lancaster spoke his parts in English according to Peter Cowie's commentary track on the Criterion Collection DVD:
"... he [Visconti] chose Burt Lancaster, who was allowed to speak his lines in English. All the scenes without the prince were filmed in Italian, and later dubbed for the American-released version"
I don't know Burt Lancaster's heritage (that name is clearly a Hollywoodism!)
The film was shot in more than one language. Burt Lancaster spoke English, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale spoke French, most of the other actors spoke Italian. Many actors were later dubbed in Italian, including Italian actors (back then, it was common to dub Italian movies in post-production).
shareI think that the original language was a mix of Italian, Latin and French. I've been told to avoid the shortened US version of this film. The trouble is that I don't like films that last for over 3hrs like the original does. I've heard the story read over the radio so I might be tempted to go for the shorter Americanised version.
shareI thought I was treating myself by buying The Leopard on Vudu and I wish I had found this site and taken heed of the warning to avoid the Americanised version. It is embarrassing not to be even minimally conversant in French or any language other than English and having to spend time finding agreeable versions of movies I like. I always prefer watching movies with original audio and English subtitles. Dubbing is simply too great a distraction.
The comment above about Italian movies typically being dubbed, even in the original language, does not give me much hope, but I would like to ask if anyone knows how to find original movies with English subtitles?