Why didn't Poiter sing 'Amen' himself?
It's so obvious that someone else is singing and Sidney is mouthing it. It ruins what is otherwise a truly wonderful film. Does anyone else agree?
shareI, too, felt it detracted a little bit from the film, but at the time this was made it was very common for uncredited singers to perform in movies for the stars.
"My name is Paikea Apirana, and I come from a long line of chiefs stretching all the way back to the Whale Rider."
It was Jester Hairston doing Poitier's singing. Could of fooled me I thought it was Poitier the whole time. Many times they have actors record their singing parts in a studio for better control of the sound, and then just dub it in later and it doesn't always sync up. That's why I wasn't bothered by the singing in this movie. Certainly didn't ruin the movie for me!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0354377/
If you weren't aware, at IMDb any film's main page will have a column on the lefthand side with all kinds of info like the cast, filming locations, etc - it's really a nice feature. That's where I found out about this Hairston fellow.
Jester Hairston had a huge career in entertainment as a vocalist, actor, conductor, composer and arranger. if people are familiar with Lost Horizon (1937), Cabin in the Sky, and The Green Pastures, Hall Johnson did the choral work in those films.
Hall Johnson was his mentor.
Hairston was also a regular on the Amos n Andy television program.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jester_Hairston
http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1416/Jester_Hairston_more_than_an_actor
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I never was a child.
--Ethel Waters
The reason that Poitier didn't sing (which surprised me, since I really thought it was him), was because of the fact that he was tone deaf. At least that's what it said in his bio.
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