Accents

[rochvelleth]

Last night I watched Long Shot (I'm rewatching Pros all over again with big TV, which is a wonderful experience!), and then by chance today I turned Channel 5 on and the film Rio Bravo was on. And my Mum told me that one of the actors, Walter Brennan, was the very person whose accent Bodie takes off when they're standing on top of the observation

Comments

[heliophile_oxon]

I think I remember that the actor who plays Anita Cabreros in Blood Sports seems to be a very competent Spanish speaker. Sadly my ear is not good enough to pin down her accent; all I can say is that it's definitely not North or Central American or Caribbean, probably not South American (definitely not the north of the continent, but maybe the Conosur), and most likely Spanish (without any strong regional accent). But I'm not sure. The bloke who plays her diplomatic sidekick/minder/toadie/whatever, not so much - his accent is decidedly ropy!

And there's a genuine French actor playing the bounder who seduces (I think) Frances Cottingham - A Hiding to Nothing?

[rochvelleth]

Oh yes, I always wonder about Anita's accent - it sounds Spanish Spanish, as it were, in places, but in others where she actually speaks Spanish it's too slow to be from Spain I think... so I've had trouble pinning it down and assumed she wasn't a native Spanish speaker. Do you know where the actress is from?

The guy who seduces Frances is meant to be Spanish though, isn't he? But he does sound French.

Oh, but Anita's boyfriend Pepé sounds genuinely French - possibly Parisian?

It seems this is another excuse to rewatch *g*

[heliophile_oxon]

Ack, I think I may have got the boyfriends mixed up - I remember thinking there was one actor whose French was so impeccable it must be the real thing, and looking up his name to check, and he was - but I've probably confused one ep for another, and I might have been thinking of Anita's boyfriend after all. I think you're right about probably Parisian (or adopting the French equivalent of BBC received pronunciation *g

[rochvelleth]

Ah, I see what you mean about Anita!

I'm waiting for our lovely German fans to weigh in on the "German" villains now! *bg*

Yes, me too *g* I also find some of the Russian accents particularly unconvincing, of which my favourite has to be the dodgy scheming Russian in Need to Know (I forget the character's name)!

Which languages do you work with, btw? Tell us more! *g*Well, I'm a classical linguist by trade, so Greek and Latin, but my specialist research is on the languages of ancient Cyprus (Greek, Phoenician and some we can't read - I do epigraphy too) and some others around that area, plus I teach Indo-European so have to work with bits of Sanskrit and some other European languages, plus Latin linguistics so it helps to know bits of Romance. Lots of various bits here and there, really

[dawnebeth]

When I got into Pros, one of the things that amused me was Callisto's watchathon, and in particular, she used to highlight the bits in each episode where LC lapsed into his origins--scouse or Liverpudlian. Because, the first episode I listened to, I thought, Bodie sounds like a Beatle. lol And he has such fun mimicking American accents and other voices.

I love hearing accents, and especially trying to suss out the various areas of Britain each character comes from--or is pretending to come from. I think Doyle does a pretty good South African.

[rochvelleth]

It is interesting how accents can vary, isn't it? I mean, most of the time when Bodie is speaking, that is LC's natural accent, I think - certainly it's very close to how he speaks in other things and in interviews. But sometimes he'll say something that unconsciously sounds more scouse[1], e.g. the 'red'ead' reference in In the Public interest.

[1] I'm differentiating scouse and Birkenhead because they're a bit different. At least, I can hear the difference, because I'm from round there, but not everyone will be able to I think!

I do love talking about accents :)

[dawnebeth]

I've been an anglophie all my life--certainly from the age of about ten when I started reading British books and keeping an ear out for British accents. I'll point out a particular British regional accent to a friend when watching something but most Americans simply can't distinguish them at all! I'm not perfect by any means but it amuses me no end that such a small country can have so many different pronunciations.

[snailbones]

I love the way LC changes into a 'posh' Liverpool accent every so often *g*

I always reckoned MS's South African was pretty good, though I've seen it knocked by a few (not fannish) people.

[rochvelleth]

I love the variations in LC's accent! There's the basic Birkenhead, the occasional scousisms, the ability to put on a proper scouse accent if needed (as in Slush Fund!), the posh voice (I often think of this as a phone voice *g*), the proper RP voice... I have some of these tendencies too, and it's lovely watching someone else with them. (I think of myself as a displaced northerner you see, so often feel the pressure to sound posh!)

I'm always impressed with anyone who can do a South African accent! And I think MS does it really well - certainly he sounds a lot like my SA friend who works in the Faculty *g* The guy who plays van Niekerk (did I even spell that right??), I forget his name... even though I had a bit of a crush on him when he was in the Anthony Andrews version of Ivanhoe (he was de Bracy in that)... well yeah, he does it well too!

[sw33n3y]

I like discovering that an actor I thought was a particular nationality (from their role) turns out to be something else, because their assumed accent is so good. ..So that's interesting about Michael Byrne.

Oh now I'll have to go back and check out Bodie's Brennan accent, too. :D

I also like hearing Lew and Martin drift in and out of different British accents for effect. Ooh...and it doesn't half make my heart flutter when Lew does goes into a posh lilt. *g*

[rochvelleth]

I know what you mean! I think Michael Byrne sort of looks German too, which added to the impression.

Oh gosh yes, I love that posh lilt. I think he may have felt he had to put it on in the early Pros episodes, because you hear it more then. The bit in Long Shot where he's talking to the rich guy in his house and he he says 'Now where is he?' makes my heart flutter *g* And earlier on when they're on the observation tower, with 'But damn all protection'. Mmm.

[krisserci5]

The American Texan accent (one of the card players) was anything but in The Untouchables.

[rochvelleth]

Oh yes, I'd forgotten that one!