Mute, dumb, dubbed. Lulu’s silent talkies

This paper examines the role dubbing has played in shaping modes of practice acrossthe film industry. Focusing on the transition from silent cinema to talkies, it sketchesa cultural context for dubbing by detailing the production conditions, textualthematics and reception of two Louise Brooks’ films, The Canary Murder Case and Prix de beauté. In doing so, it connects same-language revoicing or ‘voice doubling’to foreign-language dubbing, seeking to identify how language pragmatics and issuesof interlingual translation are formative, not anomalous, to screen media dynamics. Introducing the concept of ‘to-be-dubbed-ness’, it argues that post-synchronisedrevoicing can impact upon filmmaking at all stages of production and reception, andthat it needs to be acknowledged as more than an after-thought. Finally, it tracesdubbing’s deconstructive edge and its relation to modernist efforts to denature anddemystify filmic illusion.