Audrey Hepburn sings "I Could Have Danced All Night" on Youtube

[marknyc]

Posted: 8/21/08 at 2:39am

Here we go again - I synched Audrey's rehearsal recording to the released film. A lot of work!

No controversy here - this is 100% Audrey.

And, I think, no debate about her voice, either...

Mark

P.S. Please copy any comments to the Youtube page - thanks!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T44es35h3gI Updated On: 8/21/08 at 02:39 AM

[esparza 333]

Posted: 8/21/08 at 2:48am

Marni Nixon was great dubbing voice. i still think Audrey was wonderful in that film.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/21/08 at 2:58am

This is my first time hearing it. It's actually not as bad as some people have made it out to be over the years. Clearly that track was never meant to be heard in its entirety. There are moments when she sounds "fine" and others when she goes flat and seems to give up. With today's technology they probably would have just fixed that in post or maybe just dubbed the more sustained notes. But, in those days I imagine there's not a lot they could do with that specific track. I'm interested in knowing more though. Did they get her a vocal coach or just send her in the studio on her own?

[Amalia Balash]

Posted: 8/21/08 at 8:28am

Thanks for all the work that went into synching this. I'd liked Audrey's voice fine in Funny Face, but her voice really doesn't seem up to singing Eliza. Acting, yes; singing, no.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 8/21/08 at 8:37am

I love her but she sounds dreadful

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/21/08 at 9:59am

I still think there is a charm to these original vocal performance that can never quite be captured in a vocal dubbing. I guess my feeling is that when you replace the singing voice in a musical, you are taking away a huge part of the actor's performance.

I definitely prefer the current trend to use original actors voices and 'fix' them in the studio, which I still think, had they had the technology back then, is what they would have done for Hepburn, Wood, Caron et. all.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 8/21/08 at 10:29am

I agree 100% with MichaelBennett. I think the beauty of movie musicals come from seeing a film actor show off their acting skills through the music. For example, Helena Bonham Carter might not have a great singing voice, but she sure could act that SWEENEY score like no one.
Rita Moreno says something similar about being dubbed in "A Boy Like That." She says that her Anita is doing something, displaying a specific set of emotions, and the dubbed voice is doing something different that doesn't truly capture what Moreno is doing on screen.
I'm not a fan of dubbing, I agree that "sweetening" the sound is a more appropriate technique.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 8/21/08 at 11:21am

If this was filmed nowadays, I would have preferred this track (cleaned up a bit) to the one used. But as is, the right choice was made.

I do prefer Audrey's 'Show Me' compared to Marni's, because you get more of the raw emotion from the singer.

[gilvisto]

Posted: 8/21/08 at 11:31am

Thanks for that! Yeah... I still think the greatest crime of the century was Julie Andrew's getting swapped for Audrey, who is quite lovely, don't get me wrong... but I love Julie Andrews...

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 8/21/08 at 11:35am

I don't think Julie thinks it was such a crime, she was in Mary Poppins the same year, and won the Academy Award. (For which Audrey wasn't even nominated for)

[marknyc]

Posted: 8/21/08 at 12:06pm

If you could make your cinematic debut in "My Fair Lady" or "Mary Poppins" which would you choose? I think Julie was devastated, and rightly so - she created the role and deserved the film. For those who hate dubbing, the answer is to cast someone who can sing! Audrey was clearly not up to the task.
Updated On: 8/21/08 at 12:06 PM