MovieChat Forums > Homicidal (1961) Discussion > Am I the only one who found Warren's dub...

Am I the only one who found Warren's dubbed voice to be distracting?

posted 15 years ago by danielscissorhands
10 replies | jump to latest

Did anybody else find it distracting to watch Warren talk because of the fact that his voice was dubbed in?
I had to rewind it a few times, I found it so distracting.
I was too busy watching his lips not being in synch with his voice.
Also, as I said to someone in another thread:
He (really a she) was a bad actor by the way - but I think the person who dubbed in the voice was a worse actor!
The voice acting was so bad that I found that also to be a distraction.
haha.

[–] lastmidnite2 15 years ago

Ummm, Warren was played by a woman in male drag, hence the dubbing of the voice. How could you not know this? Oh I get it, you're just playing stupid!

[–] danielscissorhands 15 years ago

Nice trolling...

No I realize that he was played by a woman in male drag. And I also realize WHY the voice was dubbed.
I simply said that it was distracting, and was asking if anyone else found it distracting.I realize you think you are smart, but you're not telling me anything I didn't know. Sorry to let you down.
Now go troll somewhere else.

[–] jettrocketx 15 years ago

HI I watched this movie last night and loved it ! I've read several references on here about the voice of Warren being dubbed. But then I read a post from someone who had read William Castle's autobiography, and in it, he stated very clearly that the voice of Warren was NOT dubbed; it was done by Jean Arless. He hired her for the role on the spot when he saw that she had the ability to lower her voice an octave. anyhoo I was surprised to find out that she was also the actress (under the name 'Joan Marshall') who played Mrs. Munster in the pilot for the tv show ! ('the Munsters)

[–] danielscissorhands 15 years ago

Jettrocketx:

You are referring to this post:

"....I've been reading the reviews for Homicidal, and I've seen several references to the "dubbing of Emily's voice". In William Castles' autobiography, "Step Right Up, I'm Gonna Scare The Pants Off America" there is a section where he discusses Homicidal, and he describes how he chose Joan Marshall for the part immediately after hearing her speak.

The voice of Warren in the film WAS NOT dubbed. It's the voice of Joan Marshall herself! She had the ability to lower her octave/range, thus sounding as close to a masculine tone as a woman could. Needless to say, after Castle heard her he hired her on the spot. I urge you to read Castle's book; it's packed with insider tidbits on the making of all his films....."

BUT....
1. I wouldn't believe everything you read on the internet
AND
2. Even if it is true AND it is in William Castle's autobiography, AND it's Joan Marshall's own voice... it was still DUBBED in later. It is so obvious. His (her) mouth doesn't even move in sync with the voice. And as someone said in another post on IMDB, the voice sounds like it is coming from another room!

Again: even if it is her voice it was dubbed over the original recording.

Watch it again.

[–] jasonbourneagain 14 years ago

It could have been dubbed because it was hard to talk through the teeth?

[–] DivingIntheBlue 15 years ago

I just finished watching the film and yes, I found the dubbing a bit distracting. I also agree that whomever did Warren's voice wasn't a great actor. It sounded as if he were reading the script aloud at times.

That said, I think Jean Arless actually did a pretty good job of being in sync. As for her acting, well, it was a different era and actors were a bit more over the top back then.

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[–] sjynyc 14 years ago

The voice WAS the actress' voice. Dubbing does not automatically mean someone else's voice is used, just that the voice was added in later.

If the out of sync was done on purpose or by accident, it ended up doing something that could be seen as an advantage... distraction. The little bit of distract could make the difference between "figuring out" the twist. So, in this case, the bad dubbing was GOOD... you were too busy being put off by the dubbing that you may not have put two and two together (some did, but a surprising amount of people didn't, myself included).

[–] delores0412 14 years ago

No, you’re not the only one.

At first, I thought that the “guy” who played Warren was rather strange looking and the horrible dubbing made it worse. Of course I found out why “he” looked strange.

I thought the kid who played Warren was hideous but then I realized there was a reason for his look - fake teeth.

I’m no super sleuth and didn’t figure out part of the movie until about half way through. Somewhere in the middle of the movie, I don’t remember which character but I thought the way he was talking about Warren was the 60’s way of saying he was gay without saying it directly. This wasn’t at the end of the

[–] clown_vomit 14 years ago

No, you’re not the only one.

At first, I thought that the “guy” who played Warren was rather strange looking and the horrible dubbing made it worse. Of course I found out why “he” looked strange.

I thought the kid who played Warren was hideous but then I realized there was a reason for his look - fake teeth.

Those were my thoughts exactly. Every single time Warren was on screen, I was so distracted by his strange make up, eyebrows, teeth, lack of emotion, and horribly dubbed voice.

Its much more bearable once you realize why.

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[–] MrBook_ 14 years ago

It was definitely distracting. From the intonations and delivery, I'm thinking they hired a voice talent (announcer) instead of an actor to dub Warren's voice, which was definitely a mistake. What's doubly goofy is that most of the time when you're watching a movie, the actors' voices are dubbed (looped), even if it's just by the actors themselves, just to make sure everything is clear and doesn't have that muffled echoey sound that voices can have when recorded while filming. So in theory it shouldn't even be noticeable at all, but the guy dubbing it delivered every line like he was doing the voiceovers for an Anacin commercial.

Oh, and that line from Castle about it being Jean Arless's voice is definite BS, but I would expect nothing less from the P.T. Barnum of cinema.

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