Well, dear readers, let me tell you an interesting story. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, want to tell you an interesting story. I can’t remember if I mentioned that they’ve done a new 4K transfer of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, which will have its premiere showing in September at Cannes. All well and good and I can’t wait to see if it achieves the perfection it deserves. And hopefully, that will lead to a much better restoration of The Young Girls of Rochefort, whose previous transfer is just way too yellow and quite gross looking at times. And, of course, I’ve complained for years that the widow Demy, Agnes Varda (now deceased), did not know much about film or what was possible, and either she was forgetful that the musical numbers were all shot twice – once in French, and once with the French actors lip-syncing in English to an English track. The dialogue scenes were all in French and dubbed for the English language version. The takes of the various numbers are quite different in performance. I know this because I owned what I believe was the only existing IB Tech/scope print of the English version, which was stunning in image and fun in English. I sold it, unfortunately, and unfortunately the buyer passed away about a decade ago and I have been unable to find any answers as to where his collection went. The point is no one involved with the Blu-ray release of Rochefort seemingly cared to research the English dub and print. I believe they would have easily found it (the negative for the dubbed version) at Warner Bros. who released the film here. Either too lazy or just completely unaware. But back to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. After attaining the dubbed version of Rochefort, I began to wonder if there’d ever been an English dub for Umbrellas. After all, in those years it was common practice for a French or Eyetalian film to first play in its native language with subtitles, but for the popular foreign films there’s be an English dub for the wide release, as a great many people refused to see subtitled films, especially back in those days. So, when I first saw That Man from Rio, for example, it was in French with subtitles, and I absolutely loved it and saw it many times. When it went wide, I went to see it again and was surprised, and not in a good way, that it was a dubbed in English version. Interesting bit of tid was that Belmondo was dubbed by Hal Linden. But the film lost its magic and much of its humor in the dub.
I also saw Sundays and Cybele many times in French, but when IT went wide after its Oscar win, it, too, was dubbed in English. It was a much better dub but still one missed the real voices – Hardy Kruger, if memory serves, dubbed himself so that was good. The American voice actor for Patricia Gozzi, while nowhere near as good as Miss Gozzi was, wasn’t hideous. But I saw Cherbourg more times than I can count, both during its long original run at the Beverly Theater and then on its wider release and then at many art house “revival” theaters, which weren’t called that back then – theaters like the Encore on Melrose. But it was always in French with subtitles. I supposed the thought may have been that the French dialogue set to music would just lose its effect completely if translated into English – frankly, it would most likely sound absurd.
But still I wondered. For years I wondered. And then, one night on our local Channel 13, there was a late-night showing. At that point in time, around 1981, there wasn’t much home video – that was just coming in. So, I decided to watch it. And lo and behold, it was an English dub. I couldn’t believe it. And it was just as weird and wacky as you might imagine. That was the only time it was ever shown that way on TV, at least that I know of. I’ve spoken of that showing for YEARS, decades, but no one believes me. My memory, as most of you know, is pretty good and I know what I saw, but when you’re faced for four decades of everyone telling you “Impossible” you just grow tired of it. But, last night a DVD was delivered to me of that very Channel 13 broadcast. The sound had been married to a TCM broadcast of the film in its proper ratio. But I’m also getting the full broadcast video, too, complete with the main titles in English and the commercials. So, I watched it and there it was – English. And exactly as I remembered it. Since the VIDEO was TCM it had French subtitles, so one could see how they were translated and/or bastardized for the dub in order to make the words fit the mouths of the actors, which, I must say, they did rather well, but at the expense of the musical cadence so that the words frequently have to awkwardly lay on the music.
I remembered not being enamored of the American dubber for Catherine Deneuve, but it was worse than I remembered – she’s just got the most irritating voice. Everyone else is actually pretty good and it would be fun to know who the dubbers were. Anyway, it was great fun to see it after all these years and even more great fun to be able to say to the naysayers, oops. I’m going to try and find a way to alert the son of Demy that this exists and should be included as an extra on any Blu-ray/4K release.
Otherwise, yesterday wasn’t much of a day, really, I got to bed super late, but managed to sleep until one o’clock and get eight full hours of good sleep. Once up, I answered e-mails, then ordered my tri-salad from Art’s Deli because I received an Uber Eats offer for a 55% discount and only a twenty-dollar minimum. So, I used that and it ended up being ten bucks cheaper than if I’d gone to Art’s and had it there. Pretty good. And the coupon’s good for one more meal, so that will be for today. I did a few other random things on the computer, then the DVD arrived and I watched that. Then I saw that I’d saved Taken 3 on Tubi, so I began watching that, even though I remembered not liking it much. Unlike the first Taken, this one’s pretty stupid. The first Taken runs an amazingly crisp eighty-five minutes sans end credits. It takes its time for the set-up, but once the action starts it’s pretty non-stop and the action scenes are pretty well directed, and everything makes sense. By Taken 3, in the hands of a different and terrible director, we’re in cliché land from the start and we’re treated to many ridiculous car chases (which the original pretty much avoids), filled with CGI mayhem that is patently absurd. The only thing that saves it and makes it watchable are Liam Neeson and Maggie Grace. The role of ex-wife Famke Janssen’s husband, was recast and that was a major blunder. It’s watchable only because of the two actors.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll eat something for 55% off, I’ll have a phone meeting late in the day, and then I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is a ME day and I don’t care who knows it. Monday is a holiday. Then this week is very busy as I begin casting and planning the June Kritzerland show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, eat something, have a phone meeting, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What was your all-time favorite vacation and why was it your favorite? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to be proven right about The Umbrellas of English.