The trivia section for this film says that A singer named Gloria Wood dubbed Marilyn Monroe's singing. How can this be? I have seen this film a number of times and as I recognise Marilyn's voice, this can't be possible!
shareYes I think it sounds like MM, too. If not, that Gloria Wood sure comes close!
"Did you make coffee...? Make it!"--Cheyenne.
Absolutely not! Lionel Newman, the head of the music department at Fox, said, years after MM's death--when he would have no reason to protect her--that she "never, never needed dubbing." She could sing. It was always her own voice. Even as far back as "Ladies of the Chorus." (Fred Karger, the music guy at Columbia Studios, where MM filmed "Ladies of the Chorus" was quite surprised by her natural ability, considering she had never taken a lesson in her life.)
Lionel Newman also added that she was "never late, never caused trouble" when she recorded.
I understand that the very beginning of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," (the soprano "no no no no no" part) was done by someone else, and that I believe. Perhaps the part in "One Silver Dollar" which requires a similar register was done by Wood, and that information has been misinterpreted through the years that Wood sang everything in RONR.
I have the 45 rpm record of "River of No Return" (and "I'm Gonna File My Claim" as the B-side). Marilyn gets the credit. If it isn't her, it seems to be taking the "charade" a bit far.
The book Preminger by Foster Hirsch notes that River's producer Stanley Rubin scheduled twelve weeks of preproduction for Marilyn's rehearsals and musical numbers.
Gloria Wood was valued for her high notes (some limited dubbing?), but it sounds like Marilyn to me. Or the studio wasted much of twelve weeks.
It most certainly sounds like Marilyn to me. It is her singing "Down in the Meadow".
The Divine Genealogy Goddess
It's her singing in EVERY song. She has pitched her speaking and singing deeper for "RONR" because the girl is a tough cookie.
Marilyn's name was on all her recording of the time---they couldn't have done this if it hadn't been MM. (Remember, Rita Hayworth was dubbed in every one of her musicals, and Columbia was never so foolish as to try to release a record crediting Rita as the singer.)
The only dubbing that MIGHT have occurred is during the "operatic" bridge in "One Silver Dollar." But I might doubt even that. MM was working very hard on her singing at that point. (Her vocal coach, Hal Schaefer, is the guy playing the piano--the one whose hair she pulls playfully after "I'm Gonna File My Claim.")
And, as I have stated Lionel Newman, the musical director at Fox, said many years after her death--when it would have been a better story to "expose" her--that she never required dubbing, "not one note."
The huskier voice she displays in "RONR" sounds very much the way she sang in 1948's "Ladies of the Chorus." Fred Karger, who coached her during that film was surprised at how well Marilyn sang, having had absolutely no experience.