One of the oddest moments of dubbing comes in one of the greatest movie musicals ever made. "Singin' in the Rain" had Debbie Reynolds supposed to dub for Jean Hagen who has a speaking voice that is like nails going down a chalkboard. When Reynolds does sing "Would You?" while Jean Hagen is lip syncing (thinking her own voice will be used), it is the real Jean Hagen singing, not veteran singer Reynolds. When Hagen does go to sing "Singin' in the Rain", Reynolds' real voice appears, making you wonder if the continuity director was on vacation when this was screened. Later on, audiences noticed similarities in Deborah Kerr, Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn's singing voices. The voice behind these famous movie stars was Marni Nixon. Dubbing goes back a long way, so it comes as no surprise to find out such earlier stars as Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner were dubbed too.
Kenneth Farrell is Vic Morton, a Hollywood matinée idol who much like Dick Powell wants to go into more dramatic parts. What the world does not know about this fictional movie star is that not only is he one of the nastiest S.O.B.'s on a movie set, his voice is actually not his. Wait until they see that it is the future voice of Francis the Talking Mule (Chill Wills) who really sings for him, and basically being the male version of Marjorie Main, it's as big a shock as if the future Ma Kettle had been the one dubbing someone like Kathryn Grayson or Jane Powell. Farrell has a strict rule on his sets that they are all closed and that his dressing room is never to be entered without his permission. When his press agent's (Sheila Ryan) boyfriend (Edward Norris) enters Farrell's dressing room without permission, Farrell's whole career is on the verge of being destroyed. Then the murders begin, and a whole slew of suspects are questioned.
It's pretty obvious from the get-go who the killer is (as well as the motive) but what makes this even worse is the fact that the real voice used does not match Farrell's looks and that Farrell does not have a matinée idol appearance. Even when Wills sings, its apparent as well that he too is being dubbed which makes this film seem even more fake than everything going on at Majestic Pictures. Of course, Majestic Pictures in real Hollywood history was a defunct B movie studio, and after showing all the "A" studios in the opening scene, going to the fake Majestic studios just makes this all the more artificial. During its short existence, PRC had one definite classic ("Detour"), some forgotten gems ("The Enchanted Forrest"), mostly schlock horror or mystery films and many, many Z-grade westerns. So when they tried to go beyond their usual product, they seemed way below even Republic and Monogram who at least got the big stars in the last depths of their careers. The acting here is acceptable, but the script is poor and the direction slow. Art direction is above average for PRC standards but nobody goes out humming the sets in a musical.
Kenneth Farrell is Vic Morton, a Hollywood matinée idol who much like Dick Powell wants to go into more dramatic parts. What the world does not know about this fictional movie star is that not only is he one of the nastiest S.O.B.'s on a movie set, his voice is actually not his. Wait until they see that it is the future voice of Francis the Talking Mule (Chill Wills) who really sings for him, and basically being the male version of Marjorie Main, it's as big a shock as if the future Ma Kettle had been the one dubbing someone like Kathryn Grayson or Jane Powell. Farrell has a strict rule on his sets that they are all closed and that his dressing room is never to be entered without his permission. When his press agent's (Sheila Ryan) boyfriend (Edward Norris) enters Farrell's dressing room without permission, Farrell's whole career is on the verge of being destroyed. Then the murders begin, and a whole slew of suspects are questioned.
It's pretty obvious from the get-go who the killer is (as well as the motive) but what makes this even worse is the fact that the real voice used does not match Farrell's looks and that Farrell does not have a matinée idol appearance. Even when Wills sings, its apparent as well that he too is being dubbed which makes this film seem even more fake than everything going on at Majestic Pictures. Of course, Majestic Pictures in real Hollywood history was a defunct B movie studio, and after showing all the "A" studios in the opening scene, going to the fake Majestic studios just makes this all the more artificial. During its short existence, PRC had one definite classic ("Detour"), some forgotten gems ("The Enchanted Forrest"), mostly schlock horror or mystery films and many, many Z-grade westerns. So when they tried to go beyond their usual product, they seemed way below even Republic and Monogram who at least got the big stars in the last depths of their careers. The acting here is acceptable, but the script is poor and the direction slow. Art direction is above average for PRC standards but nobody goes out humming the sets in a musical.