MovieChat Forums > Shirley Valentine (1989) Discussion > British Readers.......What did Shirley r...

British Readers.......What did Shirley really say?

posted 20 years ago by dextermovies
29 replies | jump to latest

Two parts of the movie are dubbed over; I figure it's because someone thought the joke was too British and American's wouldn't "get" it or something dumb like that. So I'm curious if anyone can tell what Shirley really says.
The first dub is when Shirley's discussing the pronunciation of clitoris with her friends she says she asked her husband one night if he'd heard of it and he replied "Yeah, but it doesn't run as well as the Ford Escort". You can tell the car name was dubbed, her voice changes & her mouths not moving to the words. What was the car name that was really used? Or was it something other than a car?
The other is when she meets Gillian in the department store and says the sexy undewear is for her because she's going to Greece with her lover. She asks Gilling where the "Garter Belts" are. Again you can tell garter belts aren't what she's really saying.

I'm Invincible..You're a Looney!
Camelot! Camelot! Camelot....It's only a model......Shhh!

[–] WeeMinx 20 years ago

The comment about the car isn't so different. He says "Yeah, but it doesn't run as well as the Ford Cortina"

She says "suspender belts" instead of "garter belts".

So, not such a huge difference.

Minx
x

[–] dextermovies 20 years ago

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity! Wish they would have just left it as it was made; you're right, not such a huge difference - Though I'll admit it might have taken me a little time to pair up Suspender & Garter.

I'm Invincible..You're a Looney!
Camelot! Camelot! Camelot....It's only a model......Shhh!

[–] indigopussycat2 20 years ago

There is also two different answers when Jeanette and her hubby are slagging off the Greeks in the hotel restaurant, after she has dragged Shirley over to join the party of intolerant English people. In one version I have seen, when Shirley asks Jeanette where her jaccuzi came from, she replies K-Mart, in the other version she replies MFI.

Cheers,

VAL

[–] amazon1951 19 years ago

what is MFI?

[–] mo-jo-3 19 years ago

MFI is a British chain store, which specialises in lower-end of the market self-assembly household furniture etc. I can't remember what MFI stands for - but the joke is "Made For Idiots"

[–] calendric 19 years ago

MFI is Mullard Furniture Industries

[–] cherryicecreamsmile 18 years ago

Thanks for clearing that up! I was just watching it on Sky movies at home in Glasgow and she said K-Mart! That confused me cause I knew that wasn't what she really said but then I also thought that there were no K-Marts in Britain. I wonder why Sky is showing the American dubbed version.

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[–] Piafredux 20 years ago

Goodness, dextermovies, pairing up suspenders and garter belt? - now where would that co-locate their wearers, er, meaningful bits?

(Yah, yah, I know that for suspenders our British cousins say braces. But Fred Scuttle alone knows what Benny Hill called them.)

[–] Rodamena 20 years ago

Anyone know where I can get the Sound Track to Shirley Valentine?

[–] laura-jenkins3 18 years ago

amazon

[–] joelovesbabs 20 years ago

The looping was done to accomodate North American audiences and make the dialogue more resonant to them, since North America is the most profitable movie market.

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BARBRA STREISAND AS YENTL

[–] BillyFisher 20 years ago

The other dub that comes to mind is when Shirley is feeding the dog, and the original has her pronouncing "Yogurt" the British way (no long "o") and saying "nut-rissole hound" rather than "veggie hound" or whatever it is she says on the American version.

The dubbing definitely detracts from the rhythm and wit of Willy Russell's original script.

[–] tmurray2 20 years ago

Also when young Shirley is smoking in the school yard one of the girls asked what she had last subject and Shirley replies Science. the girls says 'its Garbage science' Im sure the British version said rubbish as garbage not used there. The actress who played Jeanette died recently :-(

[–] ChampCarReigns 20 years ago

Didn't "...rabbits having a shag" get dubbed to "...rabbits having a screw." in the school scene, too?

[–] BillyFisher 20 years ago

Nope, I recently rewatched the original, and both "garbage" and "screw" were there.

[–] Jayzee33 (5) 4 years ago

Yes I just watched a version on YouTube and she clearly mouths the word s**g, but you hear the word s***w

[–] reachstevenmartin 19 years ago

Try the enlightening text version of the play. Shirley Valentine
& One for the Road

[–] roobad 19 years ago

It really bugs me now when I watch it that they dubbed 'MFI' with 'K-Mart' in the restaurant scene. Originally Shirley says:"...And where do you suppose, Jeanette, your jacuzzi comes from?" then Jeanette replies in a really gormless way "MFI," but they've dubbed it with "K-mart" which just sounds crap: 1. because I know that scene so well and love that particular moment and 2. because K-mart just isn't what a British person would have answered, especially in the 80s. In fact K-mart isn't really a typical household name for a department store in Britain even now. GRRR.

[–] mikeoak840 11 years ago

As a prior poster noted, they changed MFI (a well-known British store that's unknown in the US) to Kmart (well known in the US but not so much the British Isles) and Cortina (what Ford calls the car in England) to Escort (what it was called in the US). If you said MFI and Cortina in the US - virtually nobody would understand. Much as you state when you hear it with Kmart and Escort. If someone said about the time this movie was out that they were going to run down to Broadway for a birthday gift, you'd really have no clue. If they said M&S (Marks & Spencer) THEN you'd get it.

[–] meg_ch_phillips 19 years ago

hi there, when discussing the clitoris she says about a Ford Cortina, which is a car which i can only assume isn't in america, and over here in ole blighty we have 'suspender belts' instead. Also when they are discussing the jacuzzi in the restaurant janette says MFI in Britain, but it's really funny the way she does. Anyway, hope i could have been some help.
Meg x

[–] david1731048 18 years ago

Most of it was for American benefit, and the UK DVD was accidentally released with the American dubbings still on it. One exception was the Ford Cortina reference, I heard somewhere that by the time of the movie, because Ford had stopped making them, it would be a pointless plug and replaced it with Escort since that was their most popular current model on the market.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Reinventor231 18 years ago

Shirley Valentine is one of my favourite movies. I live in Australia and just bought the DVD yesterday and was disappointed about the dubbings that everyone above has mentioned. I have seen the movie previously on T.V with the original text and there is a marked difference with these changes.
I thought these changes would only be done for the DVD'S that will be distributed in North America. What a shame.

"Look after yourself,seeing that's what you're best at!"

[–] RazAtTheMovies 18 years ago

I'm watching on SKY as we speak. Still funny but why does the BRITISH Sky Broadcasting Company show the American version? It's a Brit film, written by a Brit starring Brits. Leave our films alone and let us enjoy the jokes as they were meant to be.

[–] simybimy 17 years ago

The first dub when she is talking about the Ford Escort, she really said the "Ford Cortina."

The second part to your question, when she is talling to Gillian in the dept. store, In stead of saying where are the garter belts, she actually said "where are the suspender belts?"

Hope this helped.

[–] Cessquill 11 years ago

I know it's a long time for a thread resurrection, but this is the reason I didn't buy the DVD in the UK - the dubbed version. I appreciate the reasons why, but I can't accept the lack of control over it. I have (or had) it on VHS, which contained the English version.

Does anybody know if the original version is available on DVD anywhere? It's hard to find out which release contains which print, or if any at all have been released with the UK theatrical dialogue.

[–] scottsteaux63-735-780576 11 years ago

Apparently the car in the original English version was the Ford Cortina, which was never made in the US. It seems odd at first glance as Ford stopped making the Cortina in 1982 but then you have to realize the scene was a flashback from at least ten years previous.

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[–] JKMerengue 10 years ago

Not so odd. People still joke about things being like a "Model T" when, of course, they're no longer made. Maybe Shirley was twisting his response as a joke to make him a bit "old-fashioned", which wouldn't be inappropriate for a slam at men. Probably stretching it, but.. :-)