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Post by Richard Kimble on Jan 13, 2018 0:40:55 GMT
I can think of at least two examples of this.
Young Man With A Horn stars Kirk Douglas, but it would not surprise me to learn that the property was bought for Warners' chip-on-the-shoulder guy John Garfield. He'd already played a similar role in Humoresque.
Gary Cooper looks very uncomfortable in The Adventures of Marco Polo. I'm willing to bet that Goldwyn originally intended this for his previous contract star Ronald Colman.
And related to that, Goldwyn finally filmed his longtime dream project Hans Christian Anderson w/ Danny Kaye in 1952, but it may have gone through several concepts before then, such as a straight drama w/ Cooper or Colman (it plays like a drama that's had songs grafted onto it). Perhaps it even goes as far back as Goldwyn's time w/Eddie Cantor, when it might have been a musical comedy.
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Post by petrolino on Jan 13, 2018 2:53:19 GMT
I caught 'The Adventures Of Marco Polo' on tv once. It also features Sigrid Gurie who gradually walked away from acting and became a great painter.
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Post by koskiewicz on Jan 13, 2018 17:38:25 GMT
...Ridley Scott showed that fact when he replaced Kevin Spacey in "All the Money in the World" successfully...
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Post by marshamae on Jan 13, 2018 17:59:42 GMT
Certainly agree about Marco Polo, and Young Man With a Horn. I can’t think YMWAH was a good fit for Garfield. Humoresque was one of those Unstated Jewish characters, meaning that the ethnicity was not stated but the family was full of yiddishkeit. The fact that Douglas’ first role was as the weak intellectual Walter in Strange Loves Of Martha Ivers tells me that studios did not know what to do with Douglas. YMWAH. Needed a southern vibe .
I really disagree about Danny Kaye. Goldwyn only made a few pictures a year, and he tailored material for Danny Kaye, as he groomed Kaye for the material. It was Goldwyn who made Kaye a blonde, put him in dual roles which gave him a chance to be romantic and comic at the same time. I agree there is something very uncomfortable about HCA. I think it centers around the character of Peter, the orphan boy who parents Hans. He needed a sidekick but it should have been an off beat adult. Peter was both too young and too old. Kaye’s scenes with the other children were among his best, showcasing all his skill at clowning with kids and his empathy with kids that had been marginalized. The wonderful dancing by Zizi Jeanmaire and Roland Petit, and Farley Granger as the harsh Ballet master were excellent .and then there is the score, one of Frank Loesser’s best. It’s too bad this wasn’t made at MGM, though I suppose that would have meant Gene KELLY as the star. Goldwyn’s musicals always had something plastic about them that undercut all the great music and dancing. So I guess what I’m saying is that Kaye was the right star but the film should have been made at MGM. Or Disney.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Jan 14, 2018 2:12:46 GMT
The Conqueror (1956)Mongol chief Temujin battles against Tartar armies and for the love of the Tartar princess Bortai. Temujin becomes the emperor Genghis Khan.
"According to "The Hollywood Hall of Shame," the screenplay was written with Marlon Brando in mind for the lead. John Wayne was about to make the last film of a three-picture deal for RKO Radio Pictures, and Dick Powell had been assigned to direct. They were going over various scripts in Powell's office when Powell was called away for a few minutes. When he returned, he found Wayne enthusiastically looking over the screenplay for "The Conqueror", which Powell had intended to throw away. Powell tried to talk him out of it, but Wayne insisted that it was the film he wanted to make. As Powell later said, "Who am I to turn down John Wayne?" " Would Brando have been any more Genghis Knan than Wayne ?
"John Wayne regretted playing Temujin so much that he visibly shuddered whenever anyone mentioned the film's name. He once remarked that the moral of the film was "not to make an ass of yourself trying to play parts you're not suited for." "
I have never had the privilege of actually seeing the film.  Has anyone reading out there in the dark ?
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Post by Richard Kimble on Jan 14, 2018 10:44:51 GMT
This thread wasn't intended to be about Roles That Were Meant for Someone Else. That's a much more inclusive topic that deserves its own thread.
I'm talking about the much more limited idea of films that just seem like they were meant for someone else. For example, for years I theorized that Gentleman Jim had been meant for another Irish ex-boxer on the Warners lot -- Jimmy Cagney. I mentioned this on another site and a poster disagreed with me, even providing links saying the property had indeed been purchased w/Flynn in mind.
Still whenever I watch GJ it's somewhere in the back of my mind...
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