gwtwbooklover Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 Don't know if this has been discussed before but thought it would be interesting. Just read of Tuesday Weld turning down Bonnie and Clyde because of pregnancy which is a very good reason indeed, I'd like to discuss those roles or nearmisses that Hollywood is famous for like Sylvester Stallone originally thought for the Axel Foley role in the Beverly Hills Cop movies that went to Eddie Murphy. I think that is correct sorry if my info is wrong. Also Tom Selleck who was considered for The Raider's of Lost Ark series? Also if I am incorrect in this info I am sorry. But what I am most sure of is the replacing of Judy Garland with Betty Hutton in Annie Get Your Gun. I just can't imagine Judy in this role at all and I love Judy. Betty does a fantastic job. I have not seen the other versions with Merman and Stanwyk(non-musical of course) or the Broadway versions with Reba McEntire or Susan Lucci. On my VHS is the scenes Judy did shoot and they are good but the movie screams BETTY, BETTY,BETTY. I would love to hear the musical numbers sung by Judy she recorded all the songs Betty did and her singing of I'm an Indian Now is Better than Hutton's but the role to me couldn't be the same without Betty Hutton IMHO. Anyway can anyone else relate opinions of role changes or refusals of roles leaving one to wonder why they turned that down??? Thanks BTW Garland left Annie Get Your Gun because of health reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenixmckeon Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 I'm a huge fan of hepburn so I'll speak about her I think originally Elizabeth Taylor and I forget the man were set up for Roman Holiday, but since Elizabeth Taylor was busy doing another film, they had to find someone else.... then they found a young Audrey Hepburn. In Breakfast At Tiffanys, Truman Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Holly Golightly but I think Monroes agent told her it was a bad idea and it would hurt her reputation she was trying to build. Audrey Hepburn decided to do the role and Truman Capote hated the film as a result. Audrey was also approached to do Gigi but she refused the film because she was working on another film, trying to have a kid and she felt she was too old to play Gigi after playing it on Broadway 8 years ago. Audrey was also approached to do Diary Of Anne Frank, she refused because it would bring back terrible memories of the war for her. One of the more popular controversies was the role of Eliza Doolittle in 1964s My Fair Lady..... she tried to get Jack Warner to take Julie Andrews but he said she wasnt well known enough to play this important role. So she decided if he's just gonna give it to some celebrity it might as well be her LOL so she took and unfortunately because of the Marni Nixon dubbing got snubbed at the Academy Awards. As a result she was disapointed There was another film that she was considered for during the Two For The Road and Wait Until Dark years but I forget what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgedrv Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 DeMille badly wanted Hepburn to play Nefeteri in his remake of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, but when he saw her in the costumes he decided Hepburn was all wrong for the role and replaced her with Anne Baxter a more voluptuous woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgedrv Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 DeMille badly wanted Hepburn to play Nefeteri in his remake of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, but when he saw her in the costumes he decided Hepburn was all wrong for the role and replaced her with Anne Baxter a more voluptuous woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgedrv Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 DeMille badly wanted Hepburn to play Nefeteri in his remake of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, but when he saw her in the costumes he decided Hepburn was all wrong for the role and replaced her with Anne Baxter a more voluptuous woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgedrv Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 DeMille badly wanted Hepburn to play Nefeteri in his remake of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, but when he saw her in the costumes he decided Hepburn was all wrong for the role and replaced her with Anne Baxter a more voluptuous woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgedrv Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 DeMille badly wanted Hepburn to play Nefeteri in his remake of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, but when he saw her in the costumes he decided Hepburn was all wrong for the role and replaced her with Anne Baxter a more voluptuous woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgedrv Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 DeMille badly wanted Hepburn to play Nefeteri in his remake of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, but when he saw her in the costumes he decided Hepburn was all wrong for the role and replaced her with Anne Baxter a more voluptuous woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgedrv Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 DeMille badly wanted Hepburn to play Nefeteri in his remake of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, but when he saw her in the costumes he decided Hepburn was all wrong for the role and replaced her with Anne Baxter a more voluptuous woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicsfan1119 Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 I've heard that someone wanted Spencer Tracy in the lead for "Ship of Fools", and as much as I love Spencer Tracy, I'm glad that never happened! ;)ML Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brackenhe Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 Weren't Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan considered for the lead roles in Casablanca? I just cannot imagine anyone but Bogart and Bergman, even though she was a foot taller than him. And Judy Garland in Annie Get Your Gun, from the clip I've seen, she looked on the verge of a nervous breakdown, like she always did in her last 6-8 movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 This is an intriguing topic, gwtwbooklover. In Robert Sklar's book, City Boys, he states that George Raft was the original choice for the part of Rick in Casablanca. Raft was also the first choice of the studio for the lead in High Sierra. I guess that Humphrey Bogart should've thanked the persnickety Mr. Raft for his career choices. Cary Grant, according to Billy Wilder, was the first choice for The Major and the Minor, Sabrina, and, according to William Wyler, for Roman Holiday. He's also said to have turned down the part eventually played by James Mason in A Star is Born, allegedly due to his reluctance to work with the troubled Miss Garland. Entire careers could've been made based on the roles that Grant turned down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bansi4 Posted August 28, 2004 Share Posted August 28, 2004 Moira, I also read that Raft turned down "The Maltese Falcon". There was an actor with poor judgment indeed. Mongo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixmorereasons Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 Designing Woman was orginally intended for Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart. Jimmy was also Hitch's first choice as Roger Thornhill in North by Northwest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwtwbooklover Posted August 29, 2004 Author Share Posted August 29, 2004 Man what a mistake that would have been Stewart and Kelly in Designing Woman. I have to post that I own the CD Minnelli on Minnelli which is wonderful well they list V.Minnelli"s filmography and put Designing Woman down as Designing Women like the TV show. Wonder if anyone else noticed I mean at the factory or record company. The only reason I esp. checked is Robert Osbourne commented on it Emphasing it was Woman not Women one night. That Robert what a teacher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwtwbooklover Posted August 29, 2004 Author Share Posted August 29, 2004 BTW I told my son of the mistake he politely listened-poor children exposed to classic movies and old Country Music-once the kids cornered a green snake and home he went named him Bocephus. Thanks for listening guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimbo3200 Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 I don't know if anyone mentioned it, but I know that Joan Crawford was slated to play Deborah Kerr's role in From Here to Eternity. I think she dropped out because of a dispute over the wardrobe or something. I really can't see Joan Crawford playing that role though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 Mongo, I just read that George Raft also turned down the lead in Double Indemnity. What was he waiting for--a part that could display his range?? Another part that might've been vastly different was that of Margo Channing in All About Eve. The original actress cast in that role? Claudette Colbert. Miss Colbert had injured her back in Three Came Home and had to pass on this plum--much to Bette Davis' good fortune. I believe that Elvis Presley turned down the lead opposite Barbra Streisand in the umpteenth remake of A Star is Born. I guess it was too close to the bone for him. Too bad, it might've given the King his sole memorable movie part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lococardinal Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 Robert Redford turned the role of Midnight Cowboy. One that I am glad about is the fact that Buddy Ebsen lost the role of the Tin Man. I had seen footage of him in the outfit and the other actor I think fit the part much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grsshrp Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 I was just reading a few of the who turned down what and looking back...didn't the right people get the part in the end? George Raft would not have inspired a Woody Allen homage years later...only Bogart. Cary Grant would have been terrible as the self pitying James Mason character in A Star is Born. I know they had to coax Tracy to do The Old Man and the Sea, but who else? Maybe I am writing revisionist history here but...those movies would not be our favorites today if some stars made different choices. Does that sound like Forrest Gump reasoning??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagebrush522 Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 Nobody had to coax Spencer Tracy to do The Old Man and the Sea. He was in partnership with Hemingway and Leland Hayard to do the film right from the beginning. Some other films that Tracy was up for" He pulled out of Ten North Frederick which was filmed with Gary Cooper in it. The reason Tracy decided not to do Ten North Frederick, apparently, was because he objected to working with Suzy Parker who was an extremely inexperienced and inept actor. Through the 30s and 40s and beyond he was mentioned for many many films that he didn't make. They include The Plough and the Stars, Madam Curie (to be made with Garbo), Three Comrades, The Philadelphia Story, Dragon Seed, Robinson Crusoe, Desire Under the Elms, Lust for Life, The Plague, Angels in the Outfield, Jefferson Selleck, various Garson Kanin projects that never got off the ground. Ariel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunderw170 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Robert Osborne said last night when introducing TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD that the role of Atticus Finch was originally to be played by Rock Hudson. (?#!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwtwbooklover Posted August 31, 2004 Author Share Posted August 31, 2004 buderw170-did he rally say that? Wow talk about a missstake Maybe it was a lightheaded moment to cast Rock does anyone know if it was a serious consideration? My stomach turned inside out when I read that bunderw170. I could never get use to Rock's southern accent when he vamped it for Day in Pillow Talk and when he did it seriously for Giant. He was just not built to play an aging southern gentleman it wouldn't have fit him IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardny4me Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 Producer Arthur Freed originally considered Judy Garland for the role of Julie in MGM's "Showboat" remake, her problems with the studio eliminated that role. Lena Horne was up for the same role but of course she did not get it either. Ava Gardner who finally won the role may have had her songs ultimately dubbed by another singer, but I thought she was so perfect in that part. Judy Garland was also thought of for Mama Rose in "Gypsy", but sadly, Warners did not want to risk the expensive project with her history. I think she would have been brilliant in that role. Norma Shearer did not want to play the mother of a grown son, so Greer Garson (thank God and Louie B. Mayer) got "Mrs. Miniver." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunderw170 Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 Yes, gwtwbooklover, he was serious. The original producers wanted Rock Hudson for Atticus Finch. The project changed hands, and the new producers wanted Gregory Peck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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