MovieChat Forums > Jason and the Argonauts (1963) Discussion > Why all the dubbing?

Why all the dubbing?

posted 13 years ago by Gheelnory
13 replies | jump to latest

As the notes on this site reveal, star Todd Armstrong's voice was dubbed by Tim Turner, and female lead Nancy Kovack's voice was dubbed by Eva Haddon.

I believe that another case of dubbing in the movie is the voice of the figurehead-Hera: I believe Joan Greenwood (who'd been one of the stars of the Ray Harryhausen movie released two years before this one, Mysterious Island) spoke some of those lines. (I'm very familiar with Honor Blackman's voice from her work in The Avengers, Goldfinger, and several television roles--and because of this familiarity, I am fairly certain that it was not she reading some of wooden-Hera's line. However, this is just an opinion; I have no proof).

At any rate, I'm curious as to the reason for dubbing the two leads (as well as possibly other performers). I did some searching but can't find a discussion of the topic.

Both Todd Armstrong and Nancy Kovack, though certainly not household names, were working actors with respectable credits--so it's not as if their own voices would have been unacceptable to audiences.

Was it common with "B" movies filmed overseas, to film the performers but refrain from paying them to come to the studio and loop their dialogue? That's my best guess at the moment.

Anyone have any better information on this?

[–] ozymandias312 13 years ago

I have wondered about this myself. About ten years ago someone posting from somewhere in Turkey, who claimed to be Todd Armstrong's nephew, said that Armstrong had been deeply hurt by the decision to dub over his voice. I have no way of verifying that.

Also, I seem to recall that Nancy Kovack said in an interview somewhere that Armstrong had seemed to her to be an unhappy man, and that she believed he had "left the business" because of it. And apparently he died by his own hand.

There is something tragic and mysterious about all this. It would almost make a good plot for a private eye story.

Ozy

And I stood where I did be; for there was no more use to run; And again I lookt with my hope gone.

[–] winles 13 years ago

Although Todd Armstrong's voice was(according to all sources) dubbed in Jason,he cannot be said to have "left the business" as he went on making films until 1982.
But yes he died from a self inflicted gunshot wound,very sad.
Personally I don't think there is anything mysterious about it,just the usual sad movie(Hollywood) story.

"There is no road that has not a star above it"
Ralph Waldo Emerson

[–] ozymandias312 13 years ago

My mistake. I stand corrected.

Ozy

And I stood where I did be; for there was no more use to run; And again I lookt with my hope gone.

[–] randi_middleton 13 years ago

according to TCM, where I just watched this movie, even though I own and seen it a billion times...

The reason for the dubbing is that the majority of actors in the movie are British and Todd was American.
They loved the look of Todd, but the American accent with the British actors didn't work.

So they dubbed his voice.

[–] ozymandias312 13 years ago

I can kind of see the logic in that. But the dubbed-in voice didn't sound just exactly, unambiguously British either. More like a sort of "mid-Atlantic" accent.

Ozy

And I stood where I did be; for there was no more use to run; And again I lookt with my hope gone.

[–] popedon1 9 years ago

I re-watched it yesterday, and you're right. He didn't sound British at all.

I wasn't thinking about that at all. I was half-watching it and putzing around the house. Trying to catch the RH special effects -- love those harpies.

But, when Jason thwarts another murder attempt by Zeus, I caught the philosophizing by the gods, with those proper British accents, and both the script and the accents made me roll my eyes. Why do we Americans equate "class" with British accents?! They sound so pretentious, and PBS, which is as uncool as it gets.

[–] vnisanian2001 12 years ago

Blackman was dubbed in this film? To quote Bond's response to Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, "I must be dreaming".

http://filmphilistine.blogspot.com/2010/03/jason-and-argonauts-1963.ht ml

Also this site believes EVERYONE in the film was dubbed by another actor.

[–] mam13143 11 years ago

Movies like this always have a lot of dubbing - I.e. Films with a lot of location shots back in the time when sound was not well done. Look at the film again and just think of how they could record voices in the open with lots of action back then. They really couldn't so all of the actors seem to be dubbed; and once dubbed they have to maintain that voice throughout the film. You still see it to this day, sound quality has greatly improved, yet you see this comment on recent films too. Sometimes it's just more expedient.

[–] naseby 10 years ago

Another American actor, supposedly less-so, in the film, dubbed into Brit-English, was John Crawford playing Polydeuces - Crawford in the same year played Agathon, in the small epic, 'The 300 Spartans' (Before that sepia-tinted blood and guts extravaganza, '300'). Crawford had played in some B-movie Brit noir films as well as starring as the 'Mayor' in one of the Dirty Harry films (I think, 'The Enforcer', offhand). Strange that he had an even small-ish role(uncredited according to IMdb, but the credits at the beginning mention his name). I have got to say, his Brit voice if you want to call it that, was somewhat 'effeminate'.

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

The 2 leads were dubbed purely because they were American with the rest of the cast primarily British. Does make you wonder why they'd hire 2 Americans only for them to be dubbed. I don't know anything about the Hera figurehead being dubbed by another actress. That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.🐭

[–] hansenmv2002 9 years ago

So large amounts of exterior shooting plus poor recording tech then; I would think the actor would be fine with getting dubbed: you already got PAID - you dont have to go back into the studio to loop endlessly - move on to next project.

LOOPING was a minor plot point in one scene of "Postcards From The Edge" .

House: I have been on a date before.
Wilson: Not since disco died.

[–] Ex-Player 9 years ago

You clearly don't understand how an actor works. It has far less to do with getting paid than having your performance meddled with - especially when the dubbing goes unmentioned and uncredited. To many it also is an indication that the actor gave a very poor performance that needed to be corrected and enhanced.

For the record, studios do not "loop endlessly" as it's not exactly an inexpensive process. Most trained professionals require only a few takes to re-record their dialogue and can dub their lines in a film within a day or two. Inexperienced actors, unfortunately, can take much longer.

[–] tgemberl 9 years ago

Federico Fellini often dubbed different voices on his actors. Sometimes he really liked their look but not how they sounded. As one person put it, "he used actors as props." For example, in Satyricon, I believe the actor Max Born is given a woman's voice because he is presented as an effeminate character. In real life he had a deep voice.

Even an actor whose acting was important in a film, Richard Basehart in La Strada, was given a different voice.

"Extremism in the pursuit of moderation is no vice."