Voices in the dark

Sight and sound: The former site of the Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio on Yongjia Road; some of its current dubbing equipment. Photos provided to Shanghai Star

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Film dubbing in Shanghai dates back to the 1930s and 1940s, when major movie theaters in the city were equipped with special simultaneous-translation facilities. A female voice would translate the foreign film into Chinese as it was screened and the audience could listen to the translation with ear-plugs provided.

There were quite a few people in Shanghai at that time who specialized in this art and Liu says this period was the start of the dubbed-over film in China.

A film translation team was established in November 1949 in a building located at the crossing of Jiangxi Road and Fuzhou Road. The first film translated was Russia's Syn Polka in June 1950.

The translation team recruited the first batch of voice actors in September 1950, and 16 Russian movies were dubbed between 1950 and 1951.

The Shanghai Film Dubbing Studio was officially founded in April 1957, and expanded its work to the films from countries including Italy, Britain, Spain, France, Greece, Japan and the United States.

Early voice actors developed a large number of fans among Chinese audiences. Famous dubbed works included Jane Eyre, Zorro, La Grande Vadrouille, and Manhunt.

In 1977, the studio moved to Yongjia Road. The improved working environment and facilities ushered the studio into its golden era throughout the following decade.

In the eyes of Chinese audiences, films dubbed by the studio were of the best quality in China, acting as a yardstick by which to rate all other voice dubbing.