[js2]

> Their mouths looked so stiff and unnatural and out of sync with their expressions that all me and my wife could talk about was how bad it looked.

Everything old is new again. Classic Italian films were almost always dubbed by their original actors, to the point that Fellini sometimes didn't even write portions of the dialog till after filming was done. The actors just said random stuff during filming. Originally this was mainly a technology limitation (sets were too noisy), then it became a cost-savings measure and cultural tradition to how films were made in Italy.

I always find it a bit of a distraction when I haven't watched an Italian film in a while, but eventually get used to it.

[petters]

Dubbing by the original actors is very common when making movies. But usually the dialog is the exact same so it’s not noticed

[js2]

> But usually the dialog is the exact same so it’s not noticed

That's not the case for the films I'm describing. Here's the start of La Strada:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jSewbxyHYM

Quinn isn't even speaking Italian during the shooting:

As was the common practice for Italian films at the time, shooting was done without sound; dialogue was added later along with music and sound effects. As a consequence, cast members generally spoke in their native language during filming: Quinn and Basehart in English, Masina and the others in Italian.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Strada#Sound

It's even more clear in this scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7fmvA_KG6U

[MoonGhost]

Caligula et Messaline 1981 exist in two close but significantly different versions played by the same actors at the same time.