MovieChat Forums > The Old Dark House (1932) Discussion > Why no Welsh accents?

Why no Welsh accents?

posted 8 years ago by Cary_Granite
5 replies | jump to latest

For a film that's meant to be set in Wales, not one character seems to have a Welsh accent. They make a joke at the beginning about Morgan (hey, at least he has a Welsh name!) being unintelligible, stating "even Welsh ought not sound like that"!

The only other film I've seen that's set in Wales with no Welsh principals was Human Traffic, in which they give a (sort of lame) excuse for John Simm's character being English, but don't bother with the others. Oddly, Richard Coyle (who was best known for playing Jeff, "the Welsh one", on Coupling) didn't even put one on, and he's quite good at it (especially for comedic effect).

Okay, I know I digressed, but my point is: why bother setting a film in a specified country and then not cast any native actors?

[–] bananabry 8 years ago

They are all visiting Wales. No one is supposed to be Welsh. ☺

Although it could be suggested that the Femm family are Welsh, and are affecting a posh accent.

[–] samoanjoes (56872) 7 years ago

I made the same comment about "The Little Shop Around the Corner" on IMDb about being in Hungary and no one having Hungarian accents, and I got ripped to shreds. Good luck.

[–] Falcon868890 (37) 6 years ago

If the actors had spoken with some facsimile of a Welsh accent, then our comment section would be deluged with complaints about "how phony" the accents were.

[–] greenbudgie (2355) 6 years ago

No Welsh accents in this or 'The Wolf Man' (1941) which was also set in Wales. Universal Horror films never seemed to be bothered about such things.

[–] telegonus (738) 5 years ago

Best answer I can come up with: Americans are generally not familiar with the accents of the people of Wales. Scotland is another matter so far as Brits are concerned. Various Scots accents sound familiar to Americans, were used in vaudeville and in plays long before the movies came along. Wales isn't nearly so well known in the U.S., and I've known many Americans of Welsh descent who know little about their ancestry. Since The Old Dark House was an American movie made for Americans (primarily), the studio probably felt it was no big deal for most moviegoers. Even in America regional accents are seldom used. How many genuine Southern accents does one hear in Gone With The Wind? None of the principal players have one aside from Hattie McDaniel. Vivien Leigh gave her best shot at sounding Southern, and she largely succeeds, but it's a performance, albeit an excellent one.