Christopher Plummer was dubbed in the released film, but here's his own vocal track, with Charmian Carr.

From his autobiography, "In Spite of Myself":

"To further shake me up, our first recording session was upon us. Daunting is not a strong enough word to describe it. Julie and I stood side by side in a small glassed-in cubicle facing two microphones. Surrounding our prison cage sat 75 musicians like hungry jackals waiting to pounce, led by their keeper, Irwin Kostal.

Warbling softly into a mike is far more difficult than singing full out in a theatre as I was later to discover. One is much more likely to catch and collect "frogs" in the throat, whereas projecting usually gets rid of them. I tried so hard not to look like a complete basket case. Julie, sensing my nerves, took hold of my hand and held it throughout the session. It must have taken her days to recover the use of it afterwards, I had squeezed it so hard.

No matter how diligently I'd slugged away at my lessons, I was still untrained as a singer. To stay on a long-sustained note was, for me, akin to a drunk trying to walk the straight white line, whereas you can bet the very first cry that Julie let forth as she emerged from her mother's womb was in perfect pitch! Listening to the playback, there was no disputing we were on separate planets. In the end, Robert Wise managed to hire someone to take care of my elongated passages, and the balance was somewhat restored."

Bill Lee was the "someone" who was hired, and he replaced all of Plummer's singing, not just the long notes.

Credits

7 Likes

  • John Gannatti 7 months ago
    Well, it's not the worst rendition of Edelweiss I've ever heard, but it's understandable that they had studio vocalist BILL LEE come in and re-do his vocals, and he
    (Mr Lee) managed to match the timbre of Christopher Plummer's voice - great job Mark - this is the first time I've heard it sung all the way through by Christopher Plummer!
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  • Emi Thresh 7 months ago
    I think he sounds good. I can't really tell the difference, its like they didn't even dub his voice in the movie.
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  • Sarah Taylor 4 months ago
    When he starts singing with Charmian Carr, he's a lot stronger. Its a very good attempt for someone whose not a singer.
    After hearing this, I can see what a wonderful job Bill Lee did in the film. It's a wonderful match.

    The extract from his autobiography is so sweet!
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  • Heather Li 18 days ago
    Even though Plummer doesn't sound terrible, he's definitely an amateur, especially next to Julie Andrews! You can compare with the original dub here: youtube.com/watch?v=VcTAEhweey8
  • Mark 10 days ago
    Looks like that clip is gone. Here's another:

    youtube.com/watch?v=mZhU2OBcNrM
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