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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 18, 2022 14:08:14 GMT
Tell us an interesting movie factoid you've heard or read lately.
I'll start:
RIL that Natalie Wood was offered The Graduate.
That is, she was offered both the role of Elaine and the role of Mrs. Robinson. Though I don't know if she was intended to play both roles at the same time.
As Mrs. Robinson she would have been younger than the eventual Benjamin.
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Post by marianne48 on Nov 18, 2022 15:30:51 GMT
Tell us an interesting movie factoid you've heard or read lately. I'll start: RIL that Natalie Wood was offered The Graduate. That is, she was offered both the role of Elaine and the role of Mrs. Robinson. Though I don't know if she was intended to play both roles at the same time. As Mrs. Robinson she would have been younger than the eventual Benjamin. So, the year before, in Inside Daisy Clover, she was supposed to be a teenager, and a year later she was considered for the role of a college student's mother? Truly bizarre casting choices. |
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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 18, 2022 15:49:10 GMT
Tell us an interesting movie factoid you've heard or read lately. I'll start: RIL that Natalie Wood was offered The Graduate. That is, she was offered both the role of Elaine and the role of Mrs. Robinson. Though I don't know if she was intended to play both roles at the same time. As Mrs. Robinson she would have been younger than the eventual Benjamin. So, the year before, in Inside Daisy Clover, she was supposed to be a teenager, and a year later she was considered for the role of a college student's mother? Truly bizarre casting choices. Doris Day, the original choice, turned it down, as did Debbie Reynolds (I don't know if this was pre or post-Natalie). I don't know if Elizabeth Taylor was offered it; there were few other bankable female stars at the time. I wonder if Julie Andrews would have played it...
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Post by Isapop on Nov 18, 2022 16:59:48 GMT
So, the year before, in Inside Daisy Clover, she was supposed to be a teenager, and a year later she was considered for the role of a college student's mother? Truly bizarre casting choices. Doris Day, the original choice, turned it down, as did Debbie Reynolds (I don't know if this was pre or post-Natalie). I don't know if Elizabeth Taylor was offered it; there were few other bankable female stars at the time. I wonder if Julie Andrews would have played it... At that time Julie Andrews was the fresh, "eligible for marriage" type ( Thoroughly Modern Millie). Mrs. Robinson? Maybe ten years later.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 18, 2022 17:11:31 GMT
Doris Day, the original choice, turned it down, as did Debbie Reynolds (I don't know if this was pre or post-Natalie). I don't know if Elizabeth Taylor was offered it; there were few other bankable female stars at the time. I wonder if Julie Andrews would have played it... At that time Julie Andrews was the fresh, "eligible for marriage" type ( Thoroughly Modern Millie). Mrs. Robinson? Makes as much -- dare I say it, more -- sense than Natalie Wood
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Post by Penn Guinn on Nov 18, 2022 17:14:50 GMT
At that time Julie Andrews was the fresh, "eligible for marriage" type ( Thoroughly Modern Millie). Mrs. Robinson? Makes as much -- dare I say it, more -- sense than Natalie Wood and similar sense (or lack of it) as Natalie (Russian heritage) as Puerto Rican singer when she (and majority of the rest of the leads) had to be dubbed for West Side Story! Hollywood casting choices .... often a total mystery !
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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 18, 2022 17:38:28 GMT
Makes as much -- dare I say it, more -- sense than Natalie Wood and similar sense (or lack of it) as Natalie (Russian heritage) as Puerto Rican singer when she (and majority of the rest of the leads) had to be dubbed for West Side Story! Hollywood casting choices .... often a total mystery ! I may be old fashioned, but NW in WWS doesn't really bother me. Richard Beymer bothers me much more b/c he's so damn dull. I think of WWS I think of "America", "Cool", plannin' da rumble... I don't think of Beymer at all. Can't be many films like that: an Oscar-winning smash hit that is well-remembered, where the lead has become almost "invisible".
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Post by Penn Guinn on Nov 20, 2022 16:40:34 GMT
Jack Lemmon was offered the lead role in Cool Hand Luke (1967), but turned it down, feeling that it would be better suited to Paul Newman. His production company made the film. WHY ! 
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Post by Penn Guinn on Nov 20, 2022 16:51:55 GMT
also Jack Lemmon He was going to star in Death Wish (1974) with Sidney Lumet directing. He was Blake Edwards' original choice for the lead role in 10 (1979), but he never responded to it. He was considered for the role of Colorado Ryan in Rio Bravo (1959) that went to Ricky Nelson. He was considered for the role of Jordan "Jordy" Benedict III in Giant (1956) that went to Dennis Hopper. He was considered for the lead role in The Straight Story (1999). He was considered for the role of Taylor and Cornelius in Planet of the Apes (1968). Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowall were cast. He was considered for the role of Leonard Vole in Witness for the Prosecution (1957) that went to Tyrone Power. He was originally cast as Halfdan the Black in Erik the Viking (1989), but dropped out. John Cleese replaced him. He was considered for the lead role in All That Jazz (1979), but was deemed too old. He turned down the role of Walt Whitaker in The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966) that went to Carl Reiner. He was considered for the role of George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) that went to Richard Burton. all / most also |
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Post by mikef6 on Nov 20, 2022 17:10:36 GMT
Tell us an interesting movie factoid you've heard or read lately. I'll start: RIL that Natalie Wood was offered The Graduate. That is, she was offered both the role of Elaine and the role of Mrs. Robinson. Though I don't know if she was intended to play both roles at the same time. As Mrs. Robinson she would have been younger than the eventual Benjamin. So, the year before, in Inside Daisy Clover, she was supposed to be a teenager, and a year later she was considered for the role of a college student's mother? Truly bizarre casting choices. Truly  . In 1940 Greer Garson played 20-year-old Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice” but just two years later she was the mother of a grown man and RAF pilot in “Mrs. Miniver.” Hollywood can add and take away years at a producer’s whim.
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Post by marianne48 on Nov 20, 2022 17:28:51 GMT
[quote author=" mikef6" [/quote]Truly . In 1940 Greer Garson played 20-year-old Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice” but just two years later she was the mother of a grown man and RAF pilot in “Mrs. Miniver.” Hollywood can add and take away years at a producer’s whim.[/quote] In real life, Garson would go on to marry Richard Ney, who played her son in the film. |
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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 22, 2022 1:12:40 GMT
Screenwriter Seton Miller sold the story "Pete's Dragon" to the Disney company in 1957 as a vehicle for child actor Kevin Corcoran, to be made as a two-part episode of the Disneyland TV series.
It would remain unmade for two decades, when it was produced as a partly animated feature in 1977.
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Post by Penn Guinn on Nov 22, 2022 2:32:09 GMT
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Post by mikef6 on Nov 22, 2022 2:39:42 GMT
Micky Kuhn also played the young Kirk Douglas in "The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers" (1946). Seems to have been his specialty.  |
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Post by TheGoodMan19 on Nov 22, 2022 4:52:59 GMT
In Double Indemnity, Fred MacMurray's character was originally named Walter Ness. Before filming began, the production company found out that there was a real life insurance salesman in Los Angeles named Walter Ness. Wilder changed the name to Walter Neff (two "f's" like Philadelphia) to avoid a lawsuit.
The immortal song from Casablanca, "As Time Goes By" was ordered to be cut by Warner Brothers. They thought the song too syrupy for the hard bitten Rick Blaine to be fond of. They wanted to reshoot the footage of Bogie and Bergman in Paris while ATGB was playing. But, by then, Ingrid Bergman was shooting For Whom the Bell Tolls. Of course, Bergman's character in FWTBT has very short hair, making the reshoot impossible. If not for a haircut, As Time Goes By might never had been heard. (Seems odd that some iconic songs almost were cut. Paramount tried several times to rip "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's)
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Post by jervistetch on Nov 25, 2022 7:45:00 GMT
I’m currently reading Mel Brooks’ autobiography, “All About Me”. (A very enjoyable read.) Today I learned that Mel originally wanted John Wayne to play the part of The Waco Kid in BLAZING SADDLES. Wayne read the script and said he loved it and it was hilarious but it was just too dirty for his image. Brooks’ next choice was Gig Young but he was worried about Young’s reputation as a drinker. Gig’s agent assured Mel that his client had been sober for over a year and was in fine shape. Mel hired him. On the first day of production, shooting the first scene, Gig was having trouble saying his very first line. Suddenly he started vomiting green vomit all over the place. An ambulance was called. At the hospital Mel was told that Young was suffering from DT’s and would be unable to work for weeks. In a panic, Mel picked up the phone and called Gene Wilder in New York. Wilder said he would be on the first plane in the morning. And the rest is history.  |
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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 27, 2022 18:16:23 GMT
I’m currently reading Mel Brooks’ autobiography, “All About Me”. (A very enjoyable read.) Today I learned that Mel originally wanted John Wayne to play the part of The Waco Kid in BLAZING SADDLES. Wayne read the script and said he loved it and it was hilarious but it was just too dirty for his image. Anything Brooks says is to be taken with a grain of salt. No, make that a salt mine. He may have sent the script to Wayne, but there is no way he expected Wayne to accept the role. Terry Southern told a similar story about offering Wayne the role of Major Kong in Dr Strangelove. It may have happened, but no one seriously thought he would ever accept it. Again, there are two versions of the story. According to a Young bio I read, Young's agent helped raise financing for the film, but insisted Young be cast as The Waco Kid (Wilder was offered Hedley Lamarr, a role far better suited to him, but turned it down). I saw one of those TV tabloid shows (the one w/that AJ Benza guy) which played audio tapes Young made (for his psychiatrist I think). He talked about shooting BS, about going through alcohol withdrawal on the set and Brooks treating him like crap. Young claimed he collapsed on the set, which Brooks saw and made jokes about while Young staggered/crawled to his dressing room w/no help from the crew. Supposedly Brooks actually offered the role to Dan Dailey -- showing he still thought of the character as representing old time Hollywood. Dailey allegedly accepted, then changed his mind the next day and backed out. Personally I think Wilder is horribly miscast in BS -- as Brooks himself seems to imply in the offering-Wayne-the-part story. I wish the role could have been played by an old western tough guy, perhaps someone like Neville Brand or Clint Walker, who had both shown an occasional lighter touch.
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Post by jervistetch on Nov 27, 2022 18:26:53 GMT
I’ve been debunked. I’m flushing my Mel Brooks book down the toilet now.
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Post by Penn Guinn on Nov 27, 2022 18:33:03 GMT
I’ve been debunked. I’m flushing my Mel Brooks book down the toilet now. Shredding it first is said to facilitate total removal from the plumbing system and the possibility of retrieval and reassembly!
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Post by Richard Kimble on Nov 27, 2022 18:39:44 GMT
I’ve been debunked. I’m flushing my Mel Brooks book down the toilet now. I don't believe in book bur-- er, flushing. However I would recommend Funny Man: Mel Brooks by Patrick McGilligan for a considerably different perspective.
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. In 1940 Greer Garson played 20-year-old Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice” but just two years later she was the mother of a grown man and RAF pilot in “Mrs. Miniver.” Hollywood can add and take away years at a producer’s whim.
