MUSINGS, PONDERINGS, RUMINATIONS AND FANCIES

[Bronxgirl48]

At least we can be grateful "Herbie" (Karl Malden) didn't sing.

[HoldenIsHere]

At least we can be grateful "Herbie" (Karl Malden) didn't sing.

In the stage musical, "You'll Never Get Away From Me" is a duet by Rose and Herbie. Rosalind Russell and Karl Malden recorded a version of the song that was included as a CD bonus track:




In the released version of the GYPSY, Lisa Kirk's recording of "You'll Never Get Away From Me" was used with only a few spoken responses by Karl Malden heard in the the last verse:

[Bronxgirl48]

You gotta love Karl; he could do anything, lol.

[Bronxgirl48]

Deborah Kerr let out such a scream towards the end of KING SOLOMON'S MINES, I spilled my coffee, lol.

[Swithin]

I like the movie GYPSY starring Rosalind Russell as the mother of Gypsy Rose Lee and also like Rosalind Russell's performance. (I know there are many who don't.)
It's common knowledge today that Rosalind Russell's singing in the movie by dubbed by Lisa Kirk (with the exception of the first part of the final song "Rose's Turn"").
Is it possible that Rosalind Russell really believed that the singing used in the movie was all her as she states in her autobiography LIFE IS A BANQUET?:

At first I was only to act the part; Rose's singing was dubbed by a professional with a big trained voice. When I heard it, I got sick. "It isn't me," I said. "I'm bad, but I can't stand to hear that. Everybody knows I don't sing operatically, it throws the balance off." Warner Brothers agreed and rescored the picture, and I sang my own part. People still say that I didn't, but that's Roz, and nobody else, as Rose on the soundtrack of Gypsy.


While Lisa Kirk modulated her voice to sound more like Rosalind Russell, the voices are different.

Here's the version "Some People" sung by Lisa Kirk that was used in the movie:




Here's the recording of "Some People" that Rosalind Russell made herself:

I like the movie Gypsy as well and saw it many times when it was released (I was a young teenager). And I love Rosalind Russell. I have a vague (no doubt inaccurate) memory of "You'll Never Get Away from Me" being in the film, when I first saw it.

There have always been questions as to what Roz and Natalie sang in the film. Thanks to advances in voice analysis, a professional could assess the film and provide a definitive answer.

Roz did not have a traditional singing voice, but she did very well in Wonderful Town, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. I worked with the choreographer Donald Saddler and knew him well. He told me how professional she was to work with on Wonderful Town, which had quite a lot of complicated dance work.

I worked with Lisa Kirk once, in the 1970s. She was auditioning for Will Holt, and I ran sound and lights for her rehearsals. I remember she lived at the Parc Vendome on West 57th Street.

Odd double bill: A year or two after its initial release, Gypsy returned to my local theater (the Surrey in the Bronx) on a double bill with The List of Adrian Messenger. My friends and I went along to see it again, on New Year's Eve.

[Fedya]

You gotta love Karl; he could do anything, lol.

Except for hiding his nose.

[HoldenIsHere]

I like the movie GYPSY starring Rosalind Russell as the mother of Gypsy Rose Lee and also like Rosalind Russell's performance. (I know there are many who don't.)
It's common knowledge today that Rosalind Russell's singing in the movie by dubbed by Lisa Kirk (with the exception of the first part of the final song "Rose's Turn"").
Is it possible that Rosalind Russell really believed that the singing used in the movie was all her as she states in her autobiography LIFE IS A BANQUET?:

At first I was only to act the part; Rose's singing was dubbed by a professional with a big trained voice. When I heard it, I got sick. "It isn't me," I said. "I'm bad, but I can't stand to hear that. Everybody knows I don't sing operatically, it throws the balance off." Warner Brothers agreed and rescored the picture, and I sang my own part. People still say that I didn't, but that's Roz, and nobody else, as Rose on the soundtrack of Gypsy.


While Lisa Kirk modulated her voice to sound more like Rosalind Russell, the voices are different.

I like the movie Gypsy as well and saw it many times when it was released (I was a young teenager). And I love Rosalind Russell. I have a vague (no doubt inaccurate) memory of "You'll Never Get Away from Me" being in the film, when I first saw it.

There have always been questions as to what Roz and Natalie sang in the film. Thanks to advances in voice analysis, a professional could assess the film and provide a definitive answer.

Roz did not have a traditional singing voice, but she did very well in Wonderful Town, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. I worked with the choreographer Donald Saddler and knew him well. He told me how professional she was to work with on Wonderful Town, which had quite a lot of complicated dance work.

I worked with Lisa Kirk once, in the 1970s. She was auditioning for Will Holt, and I ran sound and lights for her rehearsals. I remember she lived at the Parc Vendome on West 57th Street.

Odd double bill: A year or two after its initial release, Gypsy returned to my local theater (the Surrey in the Bronx) on a double bill with The List of Adrian Messenger. My friends and I went along to see it again, on New Year's Eve.

Swithin, I'm glad to know that someone whose opinion of musicals that I respect also likes the movie adaptation of GYPSY.

I think kingrat summed it up nicely as to why Rosalind Russell was able to convince herself that all the singing for Rose was her own:
Lisa Kirk does a marvelous job of sounding somewhat similar to Russell's speaking voice but actually singing on pitch. That's probably what Roz's singing sounded like inside her own head.

I am remembering now that the first part of "Rose Turn" isn't the only singing that Rosalind Russell did in GYPSY. She did her own vocals for "Mr. Goldstone" and for the short reprise of "Small World" (sung after Herbie deserts her, just before Louise makes her debut as Gypsy Rose Lee). Both of those songs were sung live during the filming.

Natalie Wood did her own singing in GYPSY, one of the few times that she was allowed to do so. The version of "Little Lamb" used in the movie was sung live by her on set during filming. Natalie Wood recorded another version of "Little Lamb" that was released on the movie soundtrack album.

[Swithin]

One of the great treasures of early television is a production of Wonderful Town, which Roz Russell starred in, five years after her triumph on Broadway. Here she is, with Jacqueline McKeever, in a performance of one of the show's great songs: "The Wrong Note Rag." Evidently Russell mentioned to Bernstein that she felt she couldn't sing up to the then Broadway standard, and asked him to go easy, which he did with "100 Easy Ways to Lose a Man." But with "The Wrong Note Rag," he really challenged her, and it paid off.

[txfilmfan]

One of the great treasures of early television is a production of Wonderful Town, which Roz Russell starred in, five years after her triumph on Broadway. Here she is, with Jacqueline McKeever, in a performance of one of the show's great songs: "The Wrong Note Rag." Evidently Russell mentioned to Bernstein that she felt she couldn't sing up to the then Broadway standard, and asked him to go easy, which he did with "100 Easy Ways to Lose a Man." But with "The Wrong Note Rag," he really challenged her, and it paid off.

Thankfully, the entire telecast is available on YouTube. Lots of fun numbers (I like "Conga" best)

Here's Miss Russell as the Mystery Guest on What's My Line about 7 weeks before Wonderful Town opened in February 1953.

[Bronxgirl48]

You gotta love Karl; he could do anything, lol.

Except for hiding his nose.

But he was proud of it, unlike Orson Welles who couldn't stand his upturned little one so kept using silly fakes to make him look more unique, lol.

[HoldenIsHere]

You gotta love Karl; he could do anything, lol.

Except for hiding his nose.

But he was proud of it, unlike Orson Welles who couldn't stand his upturned little one so kept using silly fakes to make him look more unique, lol.

Right, I don't think Karl Malden ever even thought of hiding his nose.

[Bronxgirl48]

Or his real last name. There was almost always some character named Sekulovich in any number of Karl's films.

[Bronxgirl48]

Which movie is more hammily "Southern" -- THE LONG HOT SUMMER or CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF?

And who would win in an eating contest, Will Varner or Big Daddy?

[Hibi]

Which movie is more hammily "Southern" -- THE LONG HOT SUMMER or CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF?

And who would win in an eating contest, Will Varner or Big Daddy?

Am sure Welles could eat meals around Burl Ives!

[Bronxgirl48]

lol, I think you're right. Burl, though, sure did love his Hoppin' John!