With the passing of actor Jesús Guzmán, shown here in the
train scene from “For a Few Dollars More (1965). It brings this goof to mind. You’ll
have to see this piece of trivia or goof in a theater or a big screen TV but
during the conversation on the train between the peddler and Colonel Mortimer
if you look closely you can see through the window over the peddler’s shoulder
a car driving on a road in the background.
[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]
Alma Vanessa Bauche Chavira was born in Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico on February 18, 1973. She is the daughter of musician, singer Tito Bauche [1938-2007]. She was named after actress Vanessa Redgrave. Her father was a Romani who married her mother, a woman who aspired to be a dancer and singer. At the time of the marriage, her mother was sixteen years old, and her father was a junior in high school. The couple divorced when Bauche was seven years old. After the divorce, she and her brother, Tito, spent three years traveling with their father. Eventually, she and her brother settled down with their mother in Mexico City.
Vanessa received her starring role in a film as a drug-addicted prostitute in “El Patrullero” (Highway Patrolman) (1991). After starring in a number of telenovelas she played a lead role in the international success “Amores Perros” (2000).
While Bauche has found success in both film and television, she also maintains a steady career in theater.
Bauche has appeared in two Euro-westerns. As Flor in “One Man’s Hero” in 1998 which starred Tom Berringer, Joaquim de Almeida and Daniela Romo. Her second Euro was U.S.A., French co-produced “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” in 2005 as Mariana.
BAUCHE, Vanessa (aka Vanesa Bauche) (Alma
Vanessa Bauche Chavira) [2/18/1973, Mexico City, Federal District,
Mexico - ] – theater, film, TV
actress, daughter of musician, singer Tito Bauche (Héctor
Armando Bauche Alcalde Merino) [1938-2007] married to writer, actor
Marco Pérez [1977- ] (2013- ).
One Man’s Hero – 1998 (Flor)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada – 2005 (Mariana)
Renato Casaro. L'ultimo cartellonista. Treviso, Roma,
Hollywood
Country: Italy
Publisher: Grafiche Antiga
Language: Italian
Pages: 412
ISBN-10 : 8884352266
ISBN-13 : 978-8884352262
A cross-section of over forty years of film history
summarized in the posters of a true artist. The more than three hundred pieces
presented in the three exhibitions are published in the prestigious volume
produced for this exhibition by Grafiche Antiga (412 pages in monolingual
Italian and English editions) and edited by Roberto Festi which contains – in
addition to all the works in the exhibition – critical and in-depth texts,
period images, stage photographs and a first analytical repertoire of his works.
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92mVD08u6_Q
By Johan Melle
October 16, 2023
The English language dubbers of Rome in the 1960s and 70s had a large and versatile pool of talent to choose from, but there was one area that was to prove problematic time and again: child dubbers. There simply weren’t many available, which sometimes forced the dubbing directors to cast adult females trying to impersonate children’s voices. One of the few genuine child dubbers who was active in Rome during that era was an American teenager by the name of Dan Keller. From the late 1960s on, Dan was the go-to guy for young boy voices, and in this exclusive interview he shares some wonderful and insightful memories of his time in the dubbing salas of Rome.
Johan Melle: Can you start by telling a little bit about yourself, where you’re from and how you and your family came to live in Rome during the Hollywood on the Tiber era in the 1960s?
Dan Keller: That story is told here. The short version is, in 1961 my family went to Rome for a year and stayed for 12.
JM: How did you end up doing English dubbing in Rome and how old were you when you started out? Was there a casting call or similar?
DK: There was an audition at my junior high school, then called the Overseas School of Rome, now the American Overseas School of Rome. The music teacher – Mr. Estrada – had been asked by someone he knew in the film industry to find American English-speaking kids to do dubbing. He had each of several boys sing a song and he picked one, me.
JM: What are your memories of your first dubbing job? How was it like being in a dubbing studio for the very first time and stepping in front of the microphone and be directed by a dubbing director?
DK: Alas, I don’t remember that first job. There were many; they are a blur in my memory. But I do remember that I really enjoyed the work. My boyhood voice is in literally hundreds of movies, mostly spaghetti westerns. From roughly 1967 through 1971 or so mine was the first-call American-sounding English-speaking young male voice in Rome.
JM: So… that would be roughly from the age of 13 to 17, then? Were the actors you dubbed more or less the same age as you, or did you have a light enough voice that you also dubbed actors that were several years younger?
DK: Yes, 13-17. Yes, I dubbed a wider range of male child voices, down to ages 5 or 6, I’m guessing.
JM: Can you take us through the dubbing process and explain how it was done back then? What were the biggest and most frequent challenges you faced when trying to put English words into Italian mouths?
DK: Much work has already been done by the time I arrive at the studio to do my part. The movie has been chopped into “loops” – short segments of a few seconds or minutes containing one or a few lines of dialog that need to be re-recorded in the target language. A translated script has been written. The loop is shown over and over (“looped”) while I practice speaking (or yelling or crying or whatever) in sync with the image and when I’m confident I’ve got it, the engineer behind the glass window to the control room “mette magnetico” (turns on the recorder) and we record “takes” until the director (also in the control room) is satisfied.
The range of emotions sometimes made the work challenging. We had to cry, laugh, shriek, moan, whistle, whisper, etc. High quality performances were demanded. And I was proud to deliver! Frankly, watching a movie with my voice in it, you very likely wouldn’t be able to tell that it wasn’t the original actor speaking.
Here is how dubbing works: you must match up the labials and the fricatives. A labial is when your lips close: the letters B, M and P. The fricatives are when they partially close: F and V. So, the line that you speak must have a labial whenever the actor is uttering a labial (you can say a P when they’re saying an M, for example) and similarly of course for the fricatives. This is the challenge for the translator; they must watch the loops over and over and write lines that have the right meanings for the story, and the right sounds for the lip syncing. Sometimes, in the studio, we’d find that the translated line didn’t quite work so we’d rewrite it on the fly.
JM: I know these dubs were done very quickly one after another, but are there any specific films you remember working on, or certain actors you know that you dubbed?
DK: Mostly spaghetti westerns but also some Korean monster movies, low-budget romantic dramas, etc. The actors? No idea.
JM: Since you mention Korean monster movies… there is one Korean monster movie I know was dubbed in Rome and which happens to feature a young boy in a pretty large role: Yongary, Monster from the Deep (1967), which used to be a staple on American television for years and is now considered a bit of a cult classic. Maybe that’s your voice doing the boy?
DK: Many thanks! Yes, that’s my voice in Yongary. Of course, when dubbing, one sees only the short loops that require one’s voice, only a small percentage of the movie, and not in order. Until I received the link you sent, I had never seen the entire thing. What a hoot! It’s hilarious! Thanks again!
[Dan is the English voice of plucky boy hero Icho (Lee Kwang-ho) in the cult classic Yongary, Monster from the Deep (1967)]
JM: Child and teen dubbers seem to have been in short supply, and there are in fact several examples of films where young boys were dubbed by adult females trying their best to sound like kids, so I would imagine that made you much in-demand. Do you have any idea about roughly how many films you might have dubbed?
DK: I wish I had kept track! One or two hundred, I’d guess. I never encountered any female dubbers impersonating children.
JM: There were a few other young dubbers, too. I know Leslie La Penna, the son of dubbing actor/director Tony La Penna, did some occasional dubbing as a young boy in the 1960s. I think you and him are about the same age. Andy and Steven Luotto, the sons of dubbing director Gene Luotto, and Paul Goldfield were also young dubbers, but a bit older than you, I think. Do you remember any of these guys?
DK: Yes. The Luotto kids and the Goldfield kids (Paul’s sister Barbara was in my sister’s class) all attended my high school though I never actually worked with them.
JM: Are there many particular dubbers you remember working with?
DK: Alas, no. Usually we worked solo. We were booked to the minute and one dubber would be departing as the next was arriving.
JM: Solo? So your sessions were usually single-tracked then? That’s surprising to hear, because I’ve always thought it was common that the dubbing actors who had lines in the same loops recorded their lines together in the same session.
DK: No, you’re right, I misspoke. Sometimes there were several dubbers being recorded at once. I also met others on the job, arriving early or hanging around after my work was done to meet them and see them in action.
JM: Did you work for all the various dubbing directors? And did you have any favorites that you were particularly fond of working with?
DK: Yes, many. Everyone was professional and courteous. In the studio, everyone was focused on getting the work done fast and well. Studio time was expensive! I recognize (and worked with) some of the directors you mention in your blog: Lew Ciannelli, Frank Von Kuegelgen, Bob Spafford. Other people you mention that I knew were Michael and Rhoda Billingsley (their maid, Elizabetta, was also my family’s), Frazier Rippy, Shirley Herbert, and Sandra Kennedy who also worked as a hairdresser and cut my hair at her salon. Two of the studios I worked at were Fono Roma and CDS. There were more but I’ve forgotten their names.
We dubbers all belonged to ELDA, the English Language Dubbers Association, which booked the jobs, set our fees, and called us up with our assignments. Mine were scheduled so I could go to the studios after school.
JM: How was the pay like for someone of your age? Were you paid based on the number of lines you had?
DK: The pay was great! Yes, dubbers were paid by the line. There were two types of lines: the ones we had to sync and the ones we didn’t (termed “brusio” such as in crowd scenes or when the actor’s back was turned.) Synced lines paid more. Also, “English-on-English” paid more; paradoxically, it is more difficult to sync with the same language. When the ELDA lady called to book us for jobs, she told us how many lines (and what type) we were to do, which would give us an idea of how big the job was. Often, the job was just a few lines. A few dozen lines was a big job and could take hours to do. My parents allowed me to keep and spend my dubbing earnings so all through high school I was well-equipped with motorcycles and electric guitars.
JM: You guys dubbed a lot of great films, and you also dubbed quite a few that were not so great. Generally speaking, how did the dubbers feel about the sort of films you usually worked on, and what was the atmosphere like in the sala? Were there a lot of laughs and jokes, or did tempers often flare due to the hectic work schedules?
DK: Most of the movies were pretty bad but we
didn’t care about that. We did our best for them all. I don’t recall any flared
tempers though there were sometimes some challenges such as laughing
convincingly for which the director (and assistant director when the budget
permitted) had to be creative to evoke the desired performance. I remember once
the assistant came into the “sala” (the soundproofed room with the screen and
microphone) to dance around with me to get me to have a playful tone.
Sometimes, too, there were technical issues such as “si sente la sala” – “you
can hear the room” when there was a resonance that made the voice sound indoors
when the scene was outdoors. Then the engineer would have to reposition the
microphone or tinker in other ways (The mics were always Neumann U87 – industry
standard). We dubbers could, if it would help, use a “cuffia” (earphone) to
hear the original soundtrack to get the right timing, e.g. when there was a
long pause between some words.
JM: Sometimes, the English dubbers did Italian dubbing, too, if the Italians needed someone who could speak Italian with an authentic American or British accent. Did you ever dub anything in Italian?
DK: No, I worked only in American English. I’ve never learned to do accents and thankfully didn’t need to.
JM: Do you have any memories of Italian directors or producers taking an interest in the English dubs and coming to the sessions to supervise etc., or were you pretty much always left to yourselves?
DK: No, the original cast and crew were long gone by the time the dubbing phase was reached.
JM: What is your best or funniest memory from the Roman dubbing salas?
DK: Hmm, let me think about that. Mainly, my memories are of hard-working, highly skilled people.
JM: When did your dubbing career come to an end, and why did you decide to call it quits?
DK: I would have loved to continue that work forever, but with adolescence my voice deepened and that was the end of my career.
JM: I understand that your mother Judith was also involved with English dubbing. Can you tell us a little more about what her job was and how she got in on the scene?
DK: My mother’s career was later and unrelated to mine. I never actually worked with her; it was coincidence that we both were employed in the same industry. She was not a dubber, but worked as an assistant director for a director named Cesare Mancini. He used some of the same studios that I worked in, but I never worked for him. Like me, she loved that work.
JM: Dubbing wasn’t your only involvement with the motion picture industry, because you also stepped in front of the camera. In fact, you were one of the kids in the WW2 film Hornets’ Nest (released in 1970, but shot in 1969) starring Rock Hudson and Sylva Koscina. How did that experience come about?
DK: I guess it was a “who you know” situation. Someone suggested I go for a screen test on the Rock Hudson movie – it was very exciting, in Cinecittà where lots of great movies were being shot, including Fellini Satyricon (I saw a bus loading up with actors wearing the most amazing elaborate costumes and makeup, headed for the soundstage/set) – and I somehow managed to get the part. It was one of the great experiences of my life.
I wrote about the Rock Hudson movie here as I think you’ve seen.
JM: Can you share some memories from the shooting of the film? What was it like to be in front of the camera for a change, and acting alongside a huge star like Rock Hudson? And did you feel that your experiences with voice acting was helpful to you in any way?
DK: Acting and dubbing are completely different; the skills for one don’t apply to the other. I was hired for the summer of 1969. Shooting was on location in Piacenza, Italy. The big stars (Rock Hudson, Sylva Koscina, a few more) had their own trailers on the set. Everybody was friendly and professional. I shook Rock’s hand and got his autograph. There were lots of people in the crew; makeup/hair people, dialog coach, director of course, lighting guys, electricians, sound guys, assistants of various kinds, caterers, drivers, and Rock even had a stunt double. But it was mostly long days (we had to be out of our hotel and on the bus to the sets bright and early) and lots of sitting around in costume and makeup in case the director called for us, which he mostly didn’t.
JM: Did you appear in more films, or was Hornets’ Nest your first and only time in front of the camera?
DK: That was my only one. Some screen tests were offered but the administrator at my school said I couldn’t take time off to do them. In retrospect, I wish I’d disregarded his edict.
JM: Your Roman adventure eventually came to an end. Can you say a little about the career path you eventually chose and where you are today?
DK: Yes. Rome in the 60s was a wonderful place to grow up but my plan was to return to the US for college, which I did. I went to the University of California at Santa Cruz. Grad school was at UC San Francisco. I’ve lived in California ever since. I am retired now, after several careers including computer programmer, technology trainer, and nurse.
JM: Did you appear in more films, or was Hornets’ Nest your first and only time in front of the camera?
DK: That was my only one. Some screen tests were offered but the administrator at my school said I couldn’t take time off to do them. In retrospect, I wish I’d disregarded his edict.
JM: Your Roman adventure eventually came to an end. Can you say a little about the career path you eventually chose and where you are today?
DK: Yes. Rome in the 60s was a wonderful place to
grow up but my plan was to return to the US for college, which I did. I went to
the University of California at Santa Cruz. Grad school was at UC San
Francisco. I’ve lived in California ever since. I am retired now, after several
careers including computer programmer, technology trainer, and nurse.
Thanks for this opportunity to stroll down memory lane! I
hope some of these words are useful to you in your wonderful blog.
My most sincere thanks to Dan for generously taking the
time to answer my questions and for allowing me to use some of his personal
photos. An all-around great guy and if you want to learn more about him and his
colorful family, his website is well worth visiting.
[These daily posts will cover little known actors or people that have appeared in more recent films and TV series. Various degrees of information that I was able to find will be given and anything that you can add would be appreciated.]
Spartaco Battisti is/was an Italian character actor. He appeared in 18 films from 1964’s “Squillo” until his final appearance in “L'ultimo giorno” in 1985. He appeared in four Spaghetti westerns “Vaya con dios gringo” (Go with God, Gringo) in 1966 playing the role of Jack Stewart, followed in 1968 with an appearance as Poldo in “El Zorro” (Zorro the Fox). Then in 1970 he plays a gambler in “La Belva” (The Beast) and finally in 1972 he plays a Mexican general in “Spirito Santo e le 5 magnifiche canaglie” (Gunmen and the Holy Ghost).
After his final film appearance in 1985 he disappears from the scene.
BATTISTI, Spartaco [Italian] – film actor.
Go with God, Gringo - 1966 (Jack Stewart)
Zorro the Fox – 1968 (Poldo)
The Beast – 1970 (gambler)
Gunmen and the Holy Ghost – 1972 (Mexican General)
As we know most of the Euro-westerns were co-productions from Italy, Spain, Germany and France which incorporated British and American actors to gain a worldwide audience. The films were shot silent and then dubbed into the various languages where they were sold for distribution. That means Italian, Spanish, German, French and English voice actors were hired to dub the films. Even actors from the countries where the film was to be shown were often dubbed by voice actors for various reasons such as the actors were already busy making another film, they wanted to be paid additional salaries for dubbing their voices, the actor’s voice didn’t fit the character they were playing, accidents to the actors and in some cases even death before the film could be dubbed.
I’ll list a Euro-western and the (I) Italian, (S)
Spanish, (G) German and (F) French, (E) English voices that I can find and once
in a while a bio on a specific voice actor as in Europe these actors are as
well-known as the actors they voiced.
Today we’ll cover “Son of a Gunfighter”
[(I) Italian, (S) Spanish, (G) German, (F) French, (E) English]
Johnny Ketchum – Russ Tamblyn (S) Jesús Nieto, (G) Michael Chevalier, (F) Michel Cogoni, (E) Russ Tamblyn
Deputy Mace Fenton – Kieron Moore (S) Ángel María Baltanás, (G) Arnold Marquis, (F) Georges Aminel, (E) Kieron Moore
James ‘Ace’ Ketchum – James Philbrook (S) Rafael Navarro, (G) Martin Hirthe, (F) Michel Gatineau, (E)James Philbrook
Don Perdo Fortuna – Fernando Rey (S) Fernando Rey, (G) Siegfried Schürenberg. F) Jean-Henri Chambois, (E) ?
Pilar Fortuna – María Granada (S) Ana María Saizar, (F) ?, (E) ?
Juan Morales – Aldo Sambrell (S) Aldo Sambrell, (F)
Henry Djanik, (E) ?
Michel Cogoni (1936 – 1969)
Michel Cogoni was a French journalist, radio and
television host, and singer. Hired by Lucien Morisse, after winning the 1959
European 1 Playmakers' Cup, he presented Séance de nuit with Harold Kay for
several years. He was a regular on the RTL ‘Super Hit-Parade’, and at the same
time, on the same channel, he produced a program for women, ‘Écoutez-moi’. He
pursued a career as a singer, recording several albums. His revival of
"Monia" in 1969 was a respectable success. In 1968, he joined Radio
Monte Carlo. During this time, he also did some film dubbing. On August 9, 1969,
he was killed in a car accident: while driving a Peugeot 3 cabriolet at around
2 a.m. on the Route de l'Esterel, between Théoule-sur-Mer and Cannes, he
suddenly lost control of his steering. His car swerved and, after rolling over,
fell, upside down crushing him under its weight. He was taken to hospital in
Cannes but did not survive his injuries. He was 33 years old.
Variety
By Marta Balaga
October 15, 2023
[Spanish star Miguel Bernardeau can relate to “Zorro.”]
“He has to grow up really fast. He has to decide who he wants to be and he has to do it when still very young. Which also happened to me,” he tells Variety in Cannes before the market premiere of his new show.
Following the success of “Elite,” Bernardeau has become a household name. But he doesn’t think about it when choosing his roles.
“I wish it was that simple. Also, I didn’t ‘choose’ this role – I auditioned for it seven times. Before the first one, I found out my grandfather was sick and then it went really badly. But I had this fire in me already, so I kept coming back.”
Mipcom opener “Zorro” is produced by L.A. and Madrid-based Secuoya Studios and directed by Javier Quintas. As reported by Variety, Prime Video has acquired rights for the U.S., Latin America, Spain, Andorra and Portugal. Mediawan Rights is handling other international distribution.
But despite its pedigree, Bernardeau still took his time before committing to the show.
“It was a difficult decision and a long shoot. At first, I was thinking about Zorro being this iconic character, but I decided to leave it behind. If I was going to do this, I wanted to have fun. And you can’t have fun if you are constantly wondering if you are copying someone else,” he adds.
“I just saw him as a character I wanted to play. Someone my younger self would surely admire.”
In the show, set in 1834, Diego de la Vega returns to Los Angeles after the murder of his father. A masked assassin named Zorro also died that night. But it is believed that his spirit lives on, waiting for a successor.
“I like these first episodes. They show how he is becoming a man, discovering all these secrets from the past. He is thinking about where he came from, but also about who he can become, which is something I understand,” he notes, admitting that the grueling shoot quickly took its toll.
“It was hard. I actually discovered that action sequences are not that playful. It stopped being fun somewhere around the fifth month,” he jokes. Still, the “fast-paced” version of “Zorro” was something that brought him joy.
“I want to choose projects that make me happy. There are so many shows out there that pretend to be something they are not. Not this one. There is adventure, action and characters that bring so much to the story, but it still has depth and very emotional moments.”
After the screening, executive producer Sergio Pizzolante adds: “We asked the question: ‘Why has this character never been done in Spanish, in a premium way?’ No one could answer it. The common knowledge is that if you are going to shoot something with a budget, you have to do it in English with an American cast. We decided to change that.”
As well as introduce strong female characters along the way, played by Renata Notni and Dalia Xiuhcoatl, who “connected with stories of oppression” of the Indigenous peoples.
“It was hurtful, but I used it to play this character. She is powerful – just as powerful as Zorro,” she notes, with Notni stating:
“Nowadays, women want to be represented. They deserved to be represented. The way we are, the way we feel: Empowered, inspiring. In this take on ‘Zorro,’ we are moving away from tradition. We are not expecting anyone to save us, we don’t need that.”
“This is a new version for the new generation.”
Still, taking on an icon was a big responsibility for everyone involved, admits Pizzolante.
“I remember asking people what was the coolest thing they have ever done. They would say: ‘We are in it.’ It’s a love letter to all the other versions, from Douglas Fairbanks to Tyrone Power and Banderas.”
“My wife is a singer-songwriter and I always say that
singers die broke: Songwriters leave a legacy. We are in a business of creating
a legacy. We were not trying to make a Spanish show. We were making a global
show in the Spanish language.”
[Submitted by Michael Ferguson]
