Natalie Wood sings "Tonight" on Youtube

How did you get her outtakes!?!

I believe they are copies of Richard Beymer's practice recordings (I don't have the originals).

Updated On: 8/19/08 at 10:10 PM

The image and the acetate recordings synch up perfectly because while they were filming Miss Wood was actually lip synching to her own tracks. The producers did this so she wouldn't know they were even thinking about dubbing her. Every number Wood filmed she filmed to her own vocal tracks.

It was only after filming was completed that they finally brought in Marni Nixon who then had the difficult job of matching Wood's lip movements during the dubbing process.

That's actually all Natalie Wood, there is not dubbing by Marni Nixon at this point, as these are indeed the pre-recorded tracks used for filming. Natalie Wood was furious that she was dubbed for the final product. Most of us have speculated that if this film were being released today, her voice would have been 'sweetened' in the studio but that her voice could definitely have been used. But then the producers of the film of West Side Story apparently wanted a very studio sound all around, which explains why just about everyone in the film was at least partially dubbed.

Updated On: 8/19/08 at 10:37 PM

Whether singing or telling stories...I could listen to Her for hours!

Thanks for posting this!

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What's interesting is that I've read and/or seen interviews with Nixon and Rita Moreno where they're pretty harsh about Wood's voice. I remember thinking the first time I heard outtakes that she got a bum rap, especially coming from Moreno, who also had some of her notes dubbed.

And was it really technically impossible to mix the notes from different takes back then? It doesn't seem all that space age to me. Didn't Marni Nixon do some of the higher notes in "Little Lamb" when Wood was in Gypsy?

You're right that Marni was not only a great singer, but an amazing mimic - she managed to sound like Natalie, Deborah AND Audrey! It's the word "forever" that makes me think it's Marni on the first line - it's too well sung, compared to Natalie's high notes, some of which are quite off!

Who wouldn't have been jealous of Natalie Wood in 1960!

In the DVD documentary, you can hear Moreno's voice dripping with disdain as she says, "All the stuff with her was shot ... with ... her ... voice." It's kinda funny.

Here's what Marni wrote:

"It was very disheartening to hear them as they listened to her playbacks and extolled her vocal prowess. 'Oh Natalie, that was just wonderful,' they cooed. They were creating a monster. A monster who thought everything she sang was perfect.

I am sure, however, that they thought if they were critical of her vocals in any way that she would walk off the picture before everything was filmed. She had them hostage and they were placating her until they didn't need her anymore.

I heard later that Natalie was very upset and felt betrayed by the powers that be. She sincerely wanted to sing her own tracks. I have to agree that it was cruel of Saul Chaplin and his musical crew to lead her on and make her believe there was a chance they would use her voice.

But in their defense it was their job to make sure that their highly paid and very bankable star finished shooting every scene. In addition, it was their responsibility to present the brilliant and difficult Bernstein/Sondheim score in the best possible light. This they did, and did it well."

It's funny how Moreno's harshness may have stemmed from the fact that Wood wasn't Hispanic but neither was George Chakiris, who was born in Ohio and is of Greek extraction. Where is her disdain for him?

She was just jealous of her. Period.

Here's the word from the guy who sent me the recordings:

Marni sings the phrase "There's only you tonight, what you are, what you do, what you say" - plus she loops in on "away"
on "the world went away." Marni also sings "all the world is only you and me" - the rest is pretty much all Natalie.

I don't know if he's guessing, or if he has accurate sources.

Personally, I think Natalie's voice was not up to the task. Perhaps Saul tried to cut in Marni here and there to salvage some of Natalie's recordings, but finally just gave up and threw them out. She hits a lot of unpleasant notes, and Brad is right that Marni's voice is absolutely flawless.

I personally am not sure I believe that they would have gone to the trouble of editing and looping portions of Wood'svoice for a pre-rehearsal vocal track. If it was that obvious that Wood needed to be so overdubbed in the initial recording sessions, I doubt Wood would have reacted as strongly as she did upon finding out she was to be dubbed for the final product. Yes, there could have been that much ego involved but I kind of doubt it.

I'm more inclined to believe it was the general belief of the film producers, even early on, that Nixon would completely dub Wood and thats why Nixon was in on the recording sessions. I bet they let Wood sing along to her voice without alterations - and thats what made Nixon's dubbing all the more cruel.

But this has of course entered into the realm of movie folk lore so we will never know for sure.