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In:Reassessing Dubbing: Historical approaches and current trends
Edited by Irene Ranzato and Serenella Zanotti
[Benjamins Translation Library 148] 2019
► pp. 41–61

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Chapter 2
When the Thief of Bagdad tried to steal the show

The short-lived dubbing of Hollywood films into Arabic in the 1940s

 | University of Nantes, France
Published online: 6 August 2019
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.148.02min
Abstract
Between 1946 and 1951, U.S. distributors began dubbing a small number of films in Arabic for the North African and Middle Eastern markets. This experiment seems to have been motivated by an economic interest to penetrate those foreign markets and also in response to rising nationalism. Two models of dubbed versions existed at the time: the colonially-imposed French versions and the economically-motivated Persian versions. Battling against the former, and taking inspiration from the latter, U.S. distributors found themselves facing insurmountable political difficulties and eventually abandoned the practice of dubbing in Arabic. This case study foregrounds dubbing as a specific distribution strategy and highlights the political dimensions of this practice.
Article outline
  • Mapping dubbing and subtitling in 1930s-1950s Arabic-Speaking Countries
  • The language of the colonizer: French-dubbed U.S. films
  • Dubbing into Arabic: An effort to expand Hollywood’s market
  • The success of Persian-dubbed films
  • The demise of the Arabic dubbing strategy
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Filmography
References (51)
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The primary sources quoted in the footnotes come from the following archives:
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Department of State Central Files (RG 59), held in College Park, Maryland.
Centre des Archives diplomatiques de Nantes (Nantes diplomatic archive center), Colonial Administration, held in Nantes, France.
Filmography
Arabian Nights. John Rawlins. USA. 1942.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Caravan. Arthur Crabtree. UK. 1946.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jungle Book. Zoltán Korda. USA. 1942.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Le meravigliose avventure di Guerrin Meschino. Pietro Francisci. Italy. 1952.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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Ruys Blas. Pierre Billion. France/Italy. 1948.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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