MovieChat Forums > River of No Return (1954) Discussion > I didn't know Marilyn played the guitar!

I didn't know Marilyn played the guitar!

posted 17 years ago by CaperGuy
20 replies | jump to latest

In River of No Return, Marilyn Monroe sang several beautiful ballads and accompanied herself on the guitar. I knew she was a talented actress and singer but I didn't know she played the guitar. As a novice guitarist, I know how hard it is to learn guitar and she played beautifully. My respect for Marilyn is now greater than ever. Is anyone else surprised that Marilyn was a guitarist?

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. - Proverbs 23:7

[–] ClassicSiren 17 years ago

well, she wasn't really a guitarist, she learned those songs specially for the movie, and i think she does it very well :)

I need sex for a clear complexion, but I'd rather do it for love- Joan Crawford

[–] loosid_dreamers 17 years ago

I play guitar and I know she didn't because, watching her chording, there is no way it was matching the chords necessary. I suspect that was not her voice either, but I have no proof - yet - that someone dubbed her voice. Marni Nixon was the big Hollywood "dubber" of all actresses during those days. Except Julie Andrews.

ps: Julie Andres is definitely fingering the correct chords in SOUND OF MUSIC.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] bluesguy 17 years ago

You go girl!

[–] nfb1960 17 years ago

Yeah, she sang very well in all of her films.

She might have fooled me, but she didn't fool my mother.

[–] denis-38 16 years ago

WRONG!!! Lionel Newman, the head muscial director at Fox said that Monroe sang every note of every song in every film. This was long after her death, and he had no reason to protect her. "We never had to dub one note."

I don't know where the Marni Nixon story comes from, but Monroe was able to pitch her voice that high, for the "Diamonds" note (and low--she affects much huskier tones in "River.")

[–] ducdebrabant 16 years ago

It's a falsetto head tone anyway -- a "fake" note. Perfectly acceptable, but no threat to Marilyn Horne. I am willing to believe those aren't her guitar chords, but she is doing something with that guitar, and she either had to learn it for the film or she had already learned it. She may have been insecure and late to work, but she was perfectly willing to learn stuff -- choreography, songs, a Swedish accent for "Something's Got to Give" or an Ozarks one for "Bus Stop, guitar fingering, how to pole a raft. It's when it came time to put any of it on film that she panicked.

----
"How can we be safe if you're not torturing anybody?"

[–] Jake_Flagrant 14 years ago

She is doing something with that guitar -- namely, holding it. If she learned anything about guitar fingering it didn't show in River of No Return. Her miming is so off it's laughable. Her singing's fine though.

[–] Will-35 13 years ago

the singer for the river of no return song is Gloria Wood... but marilyn sang the others

[–] AcademyAwardWinnerJordy 12 years ago

^How is that not Marilyn? Sounds like the same voice that sings Kiss and Diamonds. Where did you get this info from?

You ARE a DOPE FIEND! You're givin' me these Dope Fiend answers!(Judge Mathis)

[–] jeanesingsjazz 12 years ago

i know gloria wood is listed as "ghosting" for marilyn, but that is plain wrong. the recordings from this film were released under marilyn's name. there is no way to mistake gloria's voice for marilyn's. lionel newman has stated such.

[–] crazyfroglegs 16 years ago

I'm certain Monroe did her own singing in all her movies, because she had a very distinctive, recognizable singing voice that sounded similar to her speaking voice, and that she did live (at least in the "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" thing). As for guitar, I have a feeling she was miming that. The picture someone linked to above looks like she's holding the guitar but not playing it, since I'm pretty sure there isn't a chord with that finger position.

[–] mousepower 16 years ago

You can't seriously draw a conclusion like that from a still photo, can you?

...why thank you ever so, I never buy insurance. - Lorelei Lee

[–] jeanesingsjazz 12 years ago

sorry, but it IS marilyn singing! the recordings from this film were released under her name. for some reason singer gloria wood is credited with "ghosting" for marilyn in this film, but that is just plain wrong. gloria wood is a wonderful singer and i have her lp & ep, but it is marilyn singing in the film and on the released recordings. if her voice was good enough to sing in ladies of the chorus, niagara and gentlemen prefer blondes, there is no reason fox would have dubbed her here.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] pasojabber 14 years ago

I don't know who did the singing for the songs in this movie (OMDb tells us that Gloria Wood dubbed the voice,) but that was not Marilyn playing the guitar. She may have been holding the guitar, and faking the hand/finger movements - but the guitar on the soundtrack is NOT her. The chording and strumming she'd doing bears no relationship to actual playing.

[–] DavidStHubbinsUSA 14 years ago

I'm a recording guitar player as well and watched her play. I always watch carefully whenever there is a string performance in a movie by an actor. As is normal the songs were dubbed in from a studio recording, normal for those days. While because of the clean strumming and chording I doubt she played the actual music but she definitely was taught and practiced the simple strumming and fingering for at least the song she sang at the camp.

I was impressed with her exact low E bass line and strum including top percussion, they were near perfect most of the time. Her chording however was not correct. It's clear she practiced the song because she did finger her c and g chords right but during the shoot she would go from at times chording correctly and then forget to change chords.

I do believe she practiced at least that song quite a lot as she was relaxed and comfortable with her thumb draw bass line, full strum and left hand fingering looked natural which takes some playing. It doesn't look relaxed until after a lot of practice. She really did take her acting seriously. I'm sure she brought in a teacher for realism.

It was a simple 3 chord song that she didn't play in the recording or the sync for the movie but I fully believe that alone she could play that song. Her stage performance was a mess so I don't need to go there but she didn't know that one as well if at all but she was in front of more people and dancing so there was almost no left hand movement except up the board once which was a complete fake. She did better than most actors do though.

[–] freemanpatrick7 10 years ago

She's not really playing it. Her left hand hardly moves throughout the whole song "One Silver Dollar" even though you can hear the chords changing. When it does move it isn't playing the chord you hear on the sound track.

[–] DeepFriedJello 10 years ago

I was really impressed with her musical talent. I never thought of her as a singer, other than singing Happy Birthday. Even if the guitar was synced in, it was a good performance.