# Movies where a singer sings - let me explain **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 8, 2025, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852 "2025-08-08T12:36:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/41 "2025-08-08T21:40:24Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Bette Midler singing “I Put A Spell On You” in _Hocus Pocus_. Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton singing “You Don’t Own Me” in _First Wives Club_. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/42 "2025-08-08T21:54:35Z")
She was clearly doing a take on Marlene Dietrich here. Dietrich was one of several actors who had to sing in a role, despite having no talent whatsoever. Look up “Little Joe the Wrangler” from Destry Rides Again. Betty Grable had to sing in a few movies. She was on key…. but clearly not all that talented. I have the original cast recording of the Addams Family show on Broadway. When I saw it, Roger Rees and Brooke Shields were the leads. Brooke can actually sing pretty well. Bebe Neuwirth, who originally had the role…. well, she was on-key, but she does NOT have a pleasant singing voice. There were a lot of movies “in the olden days” that had musical numbers thrown in just because. And a lot of times they involved a star who was made to sing because they were big names, and of course stars had to be able to sing, right? So this is kind of the opposite situation to what the OP describes, I guess. > [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Mandy Patinkin in Chicago Hope comes to mind, as does Hugh Laurie in House, where the shows give the actors the chance to sing/play just to have an extra opportunity to let their other talents shine on the show for a bit, but otherwise unnecessary to the plot and stories. I didn’t see either of them singing in their shows (Mandy Patinkin sang in Yentl and was quite good), but I recently started binging ER - and John Cullum has a story arc as Mark Greene’s father, and there’s a scene where he is singing karaoke in a bar. He is good! Which I knew already - he was in 1776, and he sang in at least one episode of Northern Exposure. Oh - and getting back to the big name actor being made to sing: William Daniels in 1776. NOT a good singer at all. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/43 "2025-08-08T21:59:05Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I have the original cast recording of the Addams Family show on Broadway. When I saw it, Roger Rees and Brooke Shields were the leads. Brooke can actually sing pretty well. Bebe Neuwirth, who originally had the role…. well, she was on-key, but she does NOT have a pleasant singing voice. Bebe Neuwirth has two Tony awards for musical performances - she’s practically a Broadway legend. If she didn’t sound pleasant that was because she _decided_ not to sound pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/44 "2025-08-08T22:08:42Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Bebe Neuwirth has two Tony awards for musical performances - she’s practically a Broadway legend. If she didn’t sound pleasant that was because she _decided_ not to sound pleasant. [Bing Videos](https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=youtube+bebe+neuwirth+addams+family&mid=714BE82D01C69108B52D714BE82D01C69108B52D&FORM=VIRE) She has a solo at about 1:10. Her voice is grating to me. She is extremely talented - but a better dancer than singer IMO. [Bebe Neuwirth, Patina Miller and Erich Bergen singing For The Longest Time](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fx23Lxvob0)🙂 Also at about 1:10. Her voice isn’t awful, but I just find it unpleasant. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/45 "2025-08-08T22:22:39Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Her voice isn’t awful, but I just find it unpleasant. OK, I see what you mean. It’s a certain style. I’m not a huge fan of it either. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/46 "2025-08-08T22:27:03Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Mandy Patinkin in Chicago Hope comes to mind, as does Hugh Laurie in House, where the shows give the actors the chance to sing/play just to have an extra opportunity to let their other talents shine on the show for a bit, but otherwise unnecessary to the plot and stories. My favorite is when they gave Neil Patrick Harris a full-scale musical number on _How I Met Your Mother_, just for the hell of it: - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z\_AgCzt9zcM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_AgCzt9zcM) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2025, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/47 "2025-08-08T23:20:31Z")
Also, Dominic Chianese in _The Sopranos_. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/48 "2025-08-09T00:22:50Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Dietrich was one of several actors who had to sing in a role, despite having no talent whatsoever. She sings in a number of movies, including _Witness for the Prosecution,_ of all films, and “Falling in Love Again,” from _The Blue Angel_ is a very famous song. The Beatles, Doris Day, and about 15 other very well known singers and bands have covered it, but it is still Dietrich’s song. No one else could sound so sexy while so off-key. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/49 "2025-08-09T00:27:13Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > William Daniels in 1776. NOT a good singer at all. Are you nuts? Daniels would have won a Tony as John Adams, but the rules at the time defined “lead actor" as someone whose name appears above the show title, which _1776_ had none. > [@bump](#): > > I’m usually more intrigued by this situation- where they cast a well known singer, and then _don’t_ have them sing, A good example of this is Idina Menzel in Disney’s _Enchanted_. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/50 "2025-08-09T00:32:52Z")
_Journey to the Center of the Earth with James Mason and Pat Boone. Pat is constantly singing throughout the film. “My heart is in the Highlands where ever I go_……….” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/51 "2025-08-09T00:48:00Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > > [@bump](#): > > > > I’m usually more intrigued by this situation- where they cast a well known singer, and then _don’t_ have them sing, > > A good example of this is Idina Menzel in Disney’s _Enchanted_. Or Brian d’Arcy James in Spielberg’s _West Side Story._ ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/52 "2025-08-09T01:15:28Z")
I have to disagree with you about _First Wives Club_ - I think it’s important to the plot and not out of place that friends would sing a song they’d sung in their younger days. While the movie could have been written without it, I think it adds another dimension to the characters and their relationship. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/53 "2025-08-09T01:25:21Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Eastwood’s not too bad, and he later made a film in which he played country singer Red Stovall (Honkytonk Man). Eastwood actually made an effort as singer when he was starring in TV’s “Rawhide.” There was an LP of croonin’ Clint in the library at a TV station where I worked. It was hilariously bad as I recall. I wished I’d taken it. It might be worth something today as a quirky rarity. “Honkytonk Man” isn’t one of Eastwood’s most memorable roles, but I liked it and thought his rough, untrained voice fit the character perfectly. Getting back to the original idea of this thread, there was teen idol Pat Boone crooning in “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” Only two songs, fortunately. And Fabian sang in his appearance in John Wayne’s “North to Alaska.” ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/54 "2025-08-09T01:51:06Z")
TV show, not a movie, but John Cullum on _Northern Exposure_ sang in a few episodes. He won two Tony awards for singing roles, and they worked his singing into 2 or 3 episodes. Apparently the show planned at one point to have Barry Corbin (Maurice) lip sync to a Broadway performance and they pulled a bunch of tapes to listen to. One of the finalists was unknowingly a John Cullum piece, but they ended up dropping the idea I think. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/55 "2025-08-09T01:55:53Z")
Trini Lopez: Bramble Bush in The Dirty Dozen. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/56 "2025-08-09T02:08:24Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’m usually more intrigued by this situation- where they cast a well known singer, and then _don’t_ have them sing, or if they do, it’s the credits song or a song that’s not going to be popular. An interesting example of this is _Airplane!_ Randy (the other flight attendant) borrows a guitar and sings to the sick girl. Randy’s actress, Lorna Patterson, turned out to have a fine singing voice - in fact, she later became a cantor for a Jewish synagogue. The character Randy borrowed the guitar from was a nun played by Maureen McGovern, a genuine singer who went to #1 with “The Morning After.” Except for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it gag where McGovern’s nun makes one of the jive-talking dudes throw up with her version of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect”, she doesn’t sing at all. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/57 "2025-08-09T02:25:52Z")
Another TV example: in an episode of _Mad Men_, Bert Cooper (played by former Broadway star Robert Morse) appears to Don from beyond the grave and breaks into a spontaneous song and dance number. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FKgPTkIulEI/hqdefault.jpg "Mad Men: The Best Things in Life Are Free - Bert Cooper") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKgPTkIulEI) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/58 "2025-08-09T02:43:21Z")
Frank Sinatra singing High Hopes in [A Hole In The Head](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Hole_in_the_Head). Not a musical. It’s the only song on the film, apart from For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow, and the song over the credits. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S94Bh3Qez9o&list=RDS94Bh3Qez9o&start\_radio=1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S94Bh3Qez9o&list=RDS94Bh3Qez9o&start_radio=1) - I think Elvis’ first film, [Love Me Tender](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Me_Tender_(1956_film)), counts. Elvis isn’t the top billed, he plays the lead character’s younger brother. It wasn’t written specifically for Elvis, and the part was offered to several other actors first. It’s a Western. There’s a scene with a barn dance to celebrate the return of soldiers from the Civil War. Elvis sings a couple of songs. I suspect they were only included at all because of Elvis. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/59 "2025-08-09T02:50:33Z")
The first thing I thought of was the Marx Brothers movies. There’s plenty of the brothers singing and Chico’s piano playing and Harpo’s harp playing, but I don’t consider them to be true musicals. But there’s also always some crooner, usually depicted as someone who needs just one big break, singing an insipid love song. You know, the part that you fast-forward through. I don’t know who the crooners are, but I assume it’s some singer that the studio is hoping to promote as the next big star. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852/60 "2025-08-09T02:56:51Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I didn’t see either of them singing in their shows (Mandy Patinkin sang in Yentl and was quite good), but I recently started binging ER - and John Cullum has a story arc as Mark Greene’s father, and there’s a scene where he is singing karaoke in a bar. He is good! Which I knew already - he was in 1776, and he sang in at least one episode of Northern Exposure. John Cullum is fantastic. He stole the show in the movie version of _1776._ 2 time Tony Award winner. I can’t find it anywhere but I distinctly remember Patinkin singing a lullaby to a baby at the end of his run on _Chicago Hope._ Also a Tony winner for the original cast of _Evita._ Rosemary Clooney guest starred on her nephew’s show _ER_ as a dementia patient. She was singing while roaming the halls. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-a-singer-sings-let-me-explain/1021852.md?page=4)