Considering the sleek design of this Les Misérables-and the imperfect vocal abilities of Amanda Seyfried-it will not be surprising if the live vocals are partly masked with post-production mixing and overdubbing. Much of what audiences heard was a “blend” of live and re-recorded singing. During the filming of Mamma Mia!, Meryl Streep insisted on singing live-but, as director Phyllida Lloyd later explained, the movie only included some of those vocals. It’s also fair to wonder at this point how much of the live singing will make it into the final cut. Compare Hooper’s Les Misérables to 1932’s Love Me Tonight, for instance, which recorded the full orchestra and the vocals simultaneously while filming, and you see that the new film is not quite as innovative as they’re suggesting. in Movieland From the start we knew that the stage version would not make a film and that changes would be needed. Soundtracks (48) Look Down Written by Herbert Kretzmer, Claude-Michel Schnberg, and Alain Boublil Do You Hear The People Sing Written by Herbert Kretzmer. As film scholar Lea Jacobs explains, musical numbers at Paramount Studios were recorded live on set “whenever possible” as early as 1931, and RKO recorded singers live-accompanied either by a live orchestra present off-screen or a recording of the score-until 1934’s The Gay Divorcee. Even if you eliminate non-narrative concert and experimental films-which typically record vocals live-there are movie musicals that counter Hooper’s claim.

Les miserables full movie soundtrack