The idea of Lana Turner playing Lee Remick's role in "Anatomy of a Murder" is one hell of a thought. I can only imagine what that would have looked like. I think it would have been a very different film, and it's hard to say if for better or worse. I know the "story" was that Turner had conflicts with the character's costumes, which ultimately led to her splitting from the project, though we'll likely never know if that was the actual case.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 350 | July 12, 2021 6:40 AM |
Woody Allen fired Mia Farrow's mother (so sort of his mother in law) after a few days of filming September and replaced her with Elaine Stritch.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | June 27, 2021 6:16 AM |
I don’t like where this thread is headed.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | June 27, 2021 6:21 AM |
This person was brought in to replace an actor who was misbehaving.
But was the original actor?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 3 | June 27, 2021 6:25 AM |
A fascinating one is Thomas G. Waites was fired in the shortly into shooting of The Warriors. They left his scenes in and had him suddenly get killed by a subway. They then moved Michael Beck up to the leader of the gang and the romantic leading man of the film.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | June 27, 2021 6:31 AM |
Marilyn Monroe was replaced by Doris Day in Something's Got To Give -eventually released as Move Over, Darling. Dean Martin was replaced by James Garner.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | June 27, 2021 6:33 AM |
Sean Young was fired from Dick Tracey and replaced with Glenne Headley.
Warren Beatty supposedly agonized over this since he knew it would pretty much end Young's career.
There was a recent bio of Beatty that described it all. Other people in the film said they could tell from the beginning Young could not play maternal. They said when the were having auditions with her and the kids up for the part of the boy she'd sort of become a mother too, Young would say stuff like this kid stinks. One producer said she didn't have a maternal bone in her body which became apparent a few days into filming but Beatty wanted her.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | June 27, 2021 6:35 AM |
Music of the Heart - Director Wes Craven and the film's star, Madonna, sparred over the direction her character was to take. Mr. Craven, wanting to show he could succeed outside the horror genre, put his foot down, forcing Miss Ciccone to drop out. She was replaced with Meryl Streep.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | June 27, 2021 6:37 AM |
Joan Crawford allegedly dropped out of "From Here To Eternity" because she hated the drab costumes and wanted to enlist Sheila O'Brien to design her wardrobe instead. However, the real reason, I have read, is that she wanted her role expanded and the film to focus more on her character and less on the war. Director Fred Zinnemann balked and Crawford walked. And in came Deborah Kerr.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | June 27, 2021 7:02 AM |
Judy Garland was fired from "Annie Get Your Gun" and replaced with Betty Hutton.
Judy Garland was fired from "Valley of the Dolls" and replaced with Susan Hayward.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | June 27, 2021 7:07 AM |
Judy Garland was fired by CBS and replaced by Grandpa Munster and Gilligan.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | June 27, 2021 7:08 AM |
Michael Keaton was fired from The Purple Rose of Cairo and replaced by Jeff Daniels.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | June 27, 2021 7:10 AM |
R9 Garland was too busy living "Valley of the Dolls" to be a part of the film.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | June 27, 2021 7:12 AM |
Harvey Keitel was replaced by Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now. I cannot imagine Keitel in the role.
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | June 27, 2021 7:19 AM |
Every role John Travolta turned down given to Richard Gere- Travolta turned down the leads for Days of Heaven (1978), American Gigolo (1980), An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and Chicago (2002), all of which went to Gere.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | June 27, 2021 7:21 AM |
Thank God we didn't get Richard Gere's Edna Turnblad.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | June 27, 2021 7:23 AM |
R14, thank God. Gere may be a dull actor but I cannot imagine Travolta in any of those roles. And I find Gere way more physically attractive than Travolta.
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | June 27, 2021 7:24 AM |
Actually, Lee Remick first replaced Marilyn Monroe in Something's Got to Give before Doris Day. She was hired for about “2 hours” as she put it. They put her in Monroe’s costumes, took pictures, and she left. She never even filmed a scene. Dean Martin walked off the film when he learned of Remick’s hiring because he hadn’t been consulted and had co-star approval. He also said that the story wouldn’t work with Remick as the woman he lives his “new” wife for.
Remick had a thing for being sloppy seconds…..
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | June 27, 2021 7:30 AM |
and interestingly Remick was recast with Elizabeth Ashley for the Broadway production of Agnes of God.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | June 27, 2021 7:32 AM |
I heard a story from a former Disney employee that Yvette Mimieux's role in [italic]The Black Hole[/italic] was supposed to have gone to Jennifer O'Neill, but she kept showing up to the set drunk so she was fired.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | June 27, 2021 7:32 AM |
Meg Tilly hurt her foot and had to be recast for Amadeus.
It was so tragic for her. It happened the day before she was about to start shooting. If she had shot one scene the insurance would have covered her and they could have waited.
Odd that Milos Foreman flew three women over to try out to replace her Diane Franklin, Rebecca De Mornay and Elizabeth Berridge. Franklin and Berridge were really only known for horror films and DeMornay for Risky Business.
I don't know what happened with Elizabeth McGovern. There's an Amadeus documentary on youtube and she's all in costume clearly rehearsing or testing for the role. She was a classical actress and had received an Oscar nomination for Forman's Ragtime. You'd think he'd have just went with her.
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | June 27, 2021 7:36 AM |
Mandy Patinkin was fired from Heartburn and replaced with Jack Nicholson.
That recent Mike Nichols book made it seem like everyone (including Meryl) was shocked but Nichols wanted him gone for some reason. I forget why.
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | June 27, 2021 7:41 AM |
How is Elizabeth McGovern a classical actress? Because she moved to England?
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | June 27, 2021 7:53 AM |
OP, Turner would have been almost 40 when the movie was made, whereas Remick was about 25. I don't remember what age the character in the book was, nor the age of the woman in the real life murder case on which the novel was based. Remick was so perfect in the role that I really can't imagine it with a middle-aged character instead. Not that Turner couldn't play a great tramp, as she did in "The Postman Always Rings Twice", but she was almost 15 years younger then.
| by Anonymous | reply 23 | June 27, 2021 7:55 AM |
R21, Patinkin was friends with Carl Bernstein, whom the character he was playing was based on, and was playing him more sympathetic than he was written. This ticked off Nichols, who kept telling Mandy to play him more like how Jack Nicholson would play him. After two weeks of filming, Nichols had had enough, fired him and hired Jack Nicholson. Nora Ephron called Mandy humorless and unbelievably difficult.
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | June 27, 2021 7:55 AM |
Because she went to Julliard and did a lot of classical roles while there and afterwards r23
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | June 27, 2021 7:56 AM |
R25 Patinkin had a reputation for being horrible to work with.
| by Anonymous | reply 27 | June 27, 2021 11:10 AM |
Christopher Plummer replacing K Spacey was drastic. It made me wonder if the allegations against Ansel didn't fizzle out, if Spielberg would CGI another young actor's head on his body (as he couldn't have reshot all of 'West Side Story').
| by Anonymous | reply 28 | June 27, 2021 11:29 AM |
Babs Streisand fired an ill Dudley Moore from her piece-of-shit ego fest "The Mirror Has Two Damn Ugly Faces". He was replaced by George Segal. Moore reportedly had trouble remembering his lines as his illness had started to affect him already.
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | June 27, 2021 12:09 PM |
I agree with R23 about Lana being much too old for that part. Same goes for Crawford in "Eternity." She was almost 20 years older than Kerr.
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | June 27, 2021 1:05 PM |
Vertigo would have been quite different if Vera Miles hadn't become pregnant and was able to do the roles of Madeline and Judy. Miles was a good actress, but lacked Novak's commanding star charisma and sex appeal that can make one believe that Scotty could become so easily obsessed with Madeline.
| by Anonymous | reply 31 | June 27, 2021 1:23 PM |
[quote] Because she went to Julliard
Oh, dear.
Speaking of Hitchcock, he cast Anita Björk in I Confess but Jack Warner made him replace her with Anne Baxter after Björk arrived to Hollywood with her lover, writer Stig Dagerman, and their child. She married Dagerman shortly after but the marriage didn't last long because he killed himself about a year later by filling his car with carbon monoxide. Evidence showed he changed his mind in the last moment and tried to get out of the car but there was already too much poisonous gas in the air for him to make it. Björk, who obviously had a thing for writers, started an affair with Graham Greene soon after.
| by Anonymous | reply 32 | June 27, 2021 2:08 PM |
R30, the age difference between Joan Crawford and Deborah Kerr does support the casting of that role. But I do believe R8's story that Crawford would have tried to steal scenes from the bombing of Pearl Harbor, because that's the kind of gal she was!
| by Anonymous | reply 33 | June 27, 2021 3:19 PM |
Remick could act circles around Turner. So could Jane Wyman...witness Lana's turn in Falcon Crest.
| by Anonymous | reply 34 | June 27, 2021 3:35 PM |
Vertigo could've really benefitted from a charismatic actress in the female role. Someone who could explain why middle-aged Jimmy Stewart was so obsessed with her. Novak wasn't it, and Vera Miles would have been bland.
I'm thinking Marilyn or Elizabeth Taylor.
| by Anonymous | reply 35 | June 27, 2021 4:00 PM |
[quote]R1 Woody Allen fired Mia Farrow's mother (so sort of his mother in law) after a few days of filming September and replaced her with Elaine Stritch.
I believe he recast half the movie and reshot those scenes after the original filming was done. It wasn’t just Maureen O’Hara who was replaced.
| by Anonymous | reply 36 | June 27, 2021 4:52 PM |
Sofia Coppola taking over for Winona Ryder on Godfather III.
| by Anonymous | reply 37 | June 27, 2021 4:57 PM |
[quote]R22 How is Elizabeth McGovern a classical actress? Because she moved to England?
She attended Juilliard.
| by Anonymous | reply 38 | June 27, 2021 4:57 PM |
R36, Mia Farrow's mother was Maureen O'Sullivan (Jane in the Johnny Weissmuller "Tarzan" movies) -- she was a slight woman, like her daughter but curvier. Maureen O'Hara was a full-figured gal with red hair, co-star with John Wayne in "The Quiet Man". I don't know what color O'Sullivan's hair was, since I've only ever seen her in black and white movies.
| by Anonymous | reply 39 | June 27, 2021 4:59 PM |
^^ THANK YOU!
I don’t mix up their films - their names in print [bold]: (
| by Anonymous | reply 40 | June 27, 2021 5:03 PM |
I think Novak was perfect in "Vertigo." A beautiful empty vessel as Madeline, and then so touchingly aware of her inadequacies when she's Judy.
| by Anonymous | reply 41 | June 27, 2021 5:03 PM |
[quote] I don’t mix up their films - their names in print : (
JUST their names in print!
Okay, I’m going now.
| by Anonymous | reply 42 | June 27, 2021 5:05 PM |
What I always heard about Nicholson replacing Patinkin in "Heartburn" was that the last straw for Nichols was when Patinkin started giving Meryl Streep notes on their scenes. I don't think Meryl objected that much (she is just not a prima donna), but Nichols was shocked since Streep had done "Sophie's Choice" and "The French Lieutenant's Woman" and was widely considered the best actress in the US even then. That's probably also why Mandy gave her notes in the first place (because he is so incredibly insecure and wanted to cut her down to size).
Mandy could have had a better acting career than he did because he's talented and he was very attractive when he was young. But he kept tripping over his own ego.
| by Anonymous | reply 43 | June 27, 2021 5:06 PM |
Keitel was meant to be in the role Sydney Pollack took in Eyes Wide Shut. There have been rumors that Keitel was inappropriate on set, but that story allegedly comes from Lars von Trier, not known for telling the truth.
Gary Oldman once told a story saying Keitel lost his temper after dozens of takes of a small scene where all he had to do was walk through a door.
Keitel himself says he was fired because he and Kubrick didn't get along.
| by Anonymous | reply 44 | June 27, 2021 5:12 PM |
After reading the fabulous new Mike Nichols bio I got very curious about HEARTBURN and so decided to watch it again. It's a piece of total mediocrity and Mandy might have actually made it a little more interesting. And I'm no fan of Mandy.
According to the bio it became very de rigueur for NIchols to fire someone from his films( and also his plays) after a week of filming or rehearsals. Can't think off the top of my head which ones but there were plenty over the years.
| by Anonymous | reply 45 | June 27, 2021 5:13 PM |
R33, La Crawford was freshly Oscar nominated for "Sudden Fear," so she felt her cachet had gone up and deserved more of a bigger role in this ensemble piece. Crawford never did like that Pearl anyway. She stole headlines.
| by Anonymous | reply 46 | June 27, 2021 5:14 PM |
Lovely Emily Lloyd was replaced in several films, including “Husbands and Wives” (where Juliette Lewis took over.)
She had severe mental health issues and now doesn’t remember wide swaths of her past.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 47 | June 27, 2021 5:20 PM |
R45, Mandy went on to criticize Nicholson's performance, calling it poor and saying he was wrong for the part. In fairness, Jack was a last minute replacement and didn't even know what it was about when he got Mike Nichol's weekend call to report to the set the following Monday. He did it as a favor to Mike, and he was excited about working with Meryl.
| by Anonymous | reply 48 | June 27, 2021 5:25 PM |
[quote]Lloyd was offered the iconic lead role in 'Pretty Woman’ – which, of course, went to Julia Roberts – but turned it down to accept an offer to be in 'Mermaids’ with Cher. But on meeting her on set, Cher decided that Lloyd would not fit the role of her daughter.
[quote]Lloyd told the Daily Mail in 2013: “She had an ego as big as her hair. She stared and stared at me through her ridiculous sunglasses for ages and then finally screeched: ‘You don’t look genetically like me.’
[quote]“I thought this was a bit rich. I looked at her and said: ‘Well you don’t look genetically like you.’
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 49 | June 27, 2021 5:27 PM |
Jack Nicholson is nothing more than Jack Nicholson in HEARTBURN, like it or not.
| by Anonymous | reply 50 | June 27, 2021 5:31 PM |
Then it's good that he wasn't cast in [italic]Annie[/italic]. Once they hired John Huston, there were rumors that he was going to be either Warbucks or Rooster. He was still dating Anjelica Huston at the time. Steve Martin didn't want the job since it meant working with Bernadette Peters again after they had just broken up.
| by Anonymous | reply 51 | June 27, 2021 5:34 PM |
Steve Martin didn't want to be seen as bald.
| by Anonymous | reply 52 | June 27, 2021 5:36 PM |
Jamie Lee Curtis last minute replaced Annette Benning in the Lohan remake of Freaky Friday, it gave her flagging film career a much needed bump.
| by Anonymous | reply 53 | June 27, 2021 5:44 PM |
Angie Dickinson taking over the role of Kate from Lucille Ball in Dressed to Kill
Ann Bancroft taking over for Ball in 'Night Mother
Shirley MacLaine and Bancroft replaced Ann Miller and Ball in The Turning Point
| by Anonymous | reply 54 | June 27, 2021 6:08 PM |
Lucy started shooting “Pretty Baby” with all the gauze filters leftover from “Mame.”
After Week 1 it was decided it just wouldn’t work, and 11-year-old Brooke Shields was handed her big break.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 55 | June 27, 2021 6:13 PM |
[quote] I think Novak was perfect in "Vertigo." A beautiful empty vessel as Madeline, and then so touchingly aware of her inadequacies when she's Judy.
Me too. Someone like Elizabeth would not have worked for the movie. I don't think she would be able to pull off the combination of sensitivity and allure that Novak had in the movie. Yes, obviously Taylor is alluring but she really tends to dominate the screen. That wouldn't work for Vertigo.
| by Anonymous | reply 56 | June 27, 2021 7:41 PM |
[quote] Gary Oldman once told a story saying Keitel lost his temper after dozens of takes of a small scene where all he had to do was walk through a door.
Keitel's performance in Bad Lieutenant really disturbs me. Mainly because it seems real.
| by Anonymous | reply 57 | June 27, 2021 7:42 PM |
[quote] Mike Nichol's weekend call
Oh, dear.
| by Anonymous | reply 58 | June 27, 2021 8:13 PM |
[quote][R33], La Crawford was freshly Oscar nominated for "Sudden Fear," so she felt her cachet had gone up and deserved more of a bigger role in this ensemble piece.
Wrong. "Sudden Fear was shot the year after "From Here to Eternity", and the nominations were even later. Joan might have been quite good in the Kerr role with a touch more desperation and melancholy of an older woman having a torrid romance perhaps for the last time.
I heard she couldn't be assured top-billing by Harry Cohn at Columbia and thought they'd never let her walk. She was wrong.
| by Anonymous | reply 59 | June 27, 2021 8:47 PM |
No, R59. Sudden Fear was 1952 and FHTE was 1953.
| by Anonymous | reply 60 | June 27, 2021 10:06 PM |
R56, I agree, Kim Novak is absolutely perfect in Vertigo. Scottie isn’t obsessed with Madeleine because she’s the most beautiful woman in the world, which Monroe or Taylor might have been. He’s not conventionally attracted to her at all, which is why he isn’t sexually interested in Judy. He’s in love with an illusion, a phantom. He doesn’t want a real woman.
| by Anonymous | reply 61 | June 27, 2021 10:29 PM |
R61, Agreed with almost everything you said but I always thought it was clear he was sexually attracted to her? Hence why she wakes up naked after she jumps into the water.
| by Anonymous | reply 62 | June 27, 2021 10:40 PM |
R48 I've seen Heartburn and I have no idea what it's about. It seems entirely pointless and anecdotal.
| by Anonymous | reply 63 | June 27, 2021 10:44 PM |
Shirley Temple being replaced by Judy Garland in "The Wizard Of Oz".
Garland being replaced by Ginger Rogers in "The Barkleys Of Broadway".
| by Anonymous | reply 64 | June 28, 2021 2:14 AM |
Gordon MacRae replaced Frank Sinatra at the last minute for [italic]Carousel[/italic] because Frank didn't want to do two takes in two different formats. They dropped the dual format shoot once it became possible to reduce CinemaScope 55 to standard 35mm prints for exhibition, but by that time he quit.
| by Anonymous | reply 65 | June 28, 2021 2:17 AM |
R63, "Heartburn" is about author Nora Ephron's revenge on her faithless husband. It may have made her feel good to write it, but that's no reason for the rest of us to watch it or read the book.
| by Anonymous | reply 66 | June 28, 2021 2:24 AM |
Speaking of Mike Nichols, he fired Charles Grodin on The Graduate and replaced him with Dustin Hoffman.
Hoffman was OK, but I think Grodin would've been funnier.
| by Anonymous | reply 67 | June 28, 2021 2:30 AM |
Grodin would have made it too broad and farcial.
| by Anonymous | reply 68 | June 28, 2021 2:32 AM |
[quote]Actually, Lee Remick first replaced Marilyn Monroe in Something's Got to Give before Doris Day. She was hired for about “2 hours” as she put it. They put her in Monroe’s costumes, took pictures, and she left.
She was photographed on a couch with director George Cukor. NO photographs of Remick wearing any of Monroe's SGTG have ever surfaced. And there are some pretty fanatical MM fans who would love to have them if they did exist.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 69 | June 28, 2021 2:37 AM |
I have never met Miss Harbor, R33, and to imply I would steal scenes from her is the mark of a Davis fan!
| by Anonymous | reply 70 | June 28, 2021 2:41 AM |
Irene Dunne was no Marilyn Monroe and yet she more than ably made the role of the shipwrecked wife work in the first version MY FAVORITE WIFE.
| by Anonymous | reply 71 | June 28, 2021 2:42 AM |
Pearl Harbor was an insatiable bottom.
| by Anonymous | reply 72 | June 28, 2021 2:42 AM |
The producers of Forever Amber tried to launch a Scarlett O'Hara-style casting search for an actress to play the heroine in the much-anticipated film version of the scandalous best-selling novel. Eventually, Peggy Cummins a young English actress landed the role. Due to either illness or her inexperience and inability to effectively play the more mature Amber, she was replaced by Linda Darnell. Cummins went on to star as one of the great B-movie femme fatales in 1950's Gun Crazy.
| by Anonymous | reply 73 | June 28, 2021 2:48 AM |
Temple wasn't actually cast, r64, Fox wasn't willing to loan her.
| by Anonymous | reply 74 | June 28, 2021 2:57 AM |
[quote]Mandy Patinkin was fired from Heartburn and replaced with Jack Nicholson. That recent Mike Nichols book made it seem like everyone (including Meryl) was shocked but Nichols wanted him gone for some reason. I forget why.
Probably because Patinkin is such an asshole and is generally hated by everyone who has worked with him
| by Anonymous | reply 75 | June 28, 2021 3:10 AM |
[quote]No, [R59]. Sudden Fear was 1952 and FHTE was 1953.
Yikes! I fucked that up, you're right!
I thought FHTE was in 1951. Well, I feel like a damned fool!
| by Anonymous | reply 76 | June 28, 2021 3:11 AM |
Hasn't that fare box head injury HEALED by now r76?
| by Anonymous | reply 77 | June 28, 2021 3:13 AM |
[quote]I've seen Heartburn and I have no idea what it's about. It seems entirely pointless and anecdotal.
And Mandy Patinkin is a giant annoying boil on the asshole of Hollywood...hated by everyone who has worked with him
| by Anonymous | reply 78 | June 28, 2021 3:26 AM |
Lana Turner was a "Stah".
Lee Remick was an actor.
| by Anonymous | reply 79 | June 28, 2021 3:37 AM |
Anne Bancroft replaced Patricia Neal in John Ford's 'Seven Women' (1966) when Neal suffered a stroke.
| by Anonymous | reply 81 | June 28, 2021 6:03 AM |
yes r36 Sam Waterston replaced Sam Sheppard and Denholm Elliot replaced Charles Durning I believe.
| by Anonymous | reply 82 | June 28, 2021 6:15 AM |
r44 also Jennifer Jason Leigh was replaced in Eyes Wide Shut because it took so long to make that she had shot part of her role but the second part was delayed so much that it ran into her other commitments. Some unknown took over the part and reshot what Leigh had done.
| by Anonymous | reply 83 | June 28, 2021 6:17 AM |
Elizabeth Taylor replaced Vivien Leigh in "Elephant Walk" after Leigh, who was already in a precarious mental state, suffered a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 84 | June 28, 2021 6:24 AM |
Easter Parade was originally to star Judy and Gene Kelly. Kelly, however, broke his ankle playing touch football with friends on his lawn on a Sunday afternoon. In order to get MGM's insurance carrier to cover the costs of the delays to the film, Kelly had to lie and claim he broke his ankle rehearsing.
| by Anonymous | reply 85 | June 28, 2021 6:47 AM |
Grace Kelly replaced Gene Tierney in "Mogambo" after Tierney dropped out due to personal issues. Miss Tierney was engaged to Aly Khan, who was still married to Rita Hayworth. Aly's father, Aga Khan III, strongly opposed his son's plan to marry another actress, which caused Tierney great stress and depression.
Joan Fontaine replaced Gene Tierney in "Holiday for Lovers" after Tierney suffered a nervous breakdown and checked back into Menninger Clinic to undergo more shock treatments. However, Miss Fontaine also suffered a nervous breakdown and was replaced with Jane Wyman.
| by Anonymous | reply 86 | June 28, 2021 6:48 AM |
Lauren Bacall was put into two films originally slated for Grace Kelly: “Designing Woman” and “The Cobweb”.
I’ve also read that “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof(ie)” was being prepared with Kelly in mind… which sounds like a terrible idea. Kelly was also the first choice for “Giant,” which makes better sense.
| by Anonymous | reply 87 | June 28, 2021 7:06 AM |
DiCaprio should have played Mank rather than Gary Oldman who in his 60's is 20 years older then that period of Mank's life.
| by Anonymous | reply 88 | June 28, 2021 8:35 AM |
[quote] Joan Fontaine replaced Gene Tierney in "Holiday for Lovers" after Tierney suffered a nervous breakdown and checked back into Menninger Clinic to undergo more shock treatments. However, Miss Fontaine also suffered a nervous breakdown and was replaced with Jane Wyman.
I know that Gene Tierney had chronic mental health issues so I believe this about her. But Joan Fontaine was just a selfish bitch, so I have to wonder if this "nervous breakdown" might just have been an excuse to avoid the role of mother to young adult daughters . It's a stupid movie and sounds like it was snakebit from the start.
| by Anonymous | reply 89 | June 28, 2021 1:08 PM |
Hitchcock wanted Farley Granger for the male lead in The Birds, but he was unavailable so Rod Taylor was hired to play Mitch.
For his next movie, Marnie, Hitchcock planned a big comeback for Grace Kelly, but she eventually bowed out after her husband, Prince Rainier, objected to the story of a sexually repressed thief. So Hitch went with Tippi Hedren, whom he had made a star in The Birds.
Hitchcock wanted The Birds co-star Suzanne Pleshette to play Sean Connery's conniving sister in Marnie. But she turned him down because she wanted the star role. Diane Baker, who had also wanted to play Marnie, accepted the sister role.
| by Anonymous | reply 90 | June 28, 2021 1:29 PM |
As for Grace Kelly originally slated to do CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, if you remember that the role of Maggie was originally created by Barbara Bel Geddes on Broadway and played as kind of an aging and cheerleader to Brick's aging football hero, Kelly was an interesting and logical choice.
| by Anonymous | reply 91 | June 28, 2021 1:33 PM |
June Allyson starred in 4 wretched Hollywood remakes:
LITTLE WOMEN (1949) in which she played Jo March, originally played by Katharine Hepburn in1933
YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM IT (1956) in which she played Ellen Andrews, originally played by Claudette Colbert in IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT in 1934
THE OPPOSITE SEX (1956) in which she played Kay Hilliard, renamed from the original THE WOMEN's Mary Haines played by Norma Shearer in 1939
MY MAN GODFREY (1957) in which she played Irene Bullock, originally played by Carole Lombard in 1936
Somebody seemed to have had an undying confidence in June's abilities, despite all of these remakes bombing at the box office.
| by Anonymous | reply 92 | June 28, 2021 1:47 PM |
R90 Farley Granger was all wrong for "The Birds". No way would Tippi Hendren travel all the way to Bodega Bay to see him nor would Suzanne Pleshette give up her life to be close to him. We are suppose to believe even Mitch's mother wants to fuck him.
| by Anonymous | reply 93 | June 28, 2021 1:55 PM |
Regarding HEARTBURN, the Nichols bio doesn't mention Patinkin giving notes to Streep, so I wonder if that's just a myth. I can't imagine Mark Harris would have left that out.
The book does say Patinkin was questioning many elements of the script regarding his character in an obvious attempt to soften it, and I can believe both Nichols and Ephron weren't having it.
| by Anonymous | reply 94 | June 28, 2021 3:35 PM |
They were having NONE of it!
| by Anonymous | reply 95 | June 28, 2021 3:37 PM |
Don't worry. Cynthia Erivo knows how to deal with Mandy
| by Anonymous | reply 96 | June 28, 2021 3:43 PM |
[quote]We are suppose to believe even Mitch's mother wants to fuck him.
Well, if she was fucking Hume Cronyn, Farley Granger wouldn't be much of a stretch.
| by Anonymous | reply 97 | June 28, 2021 3:52 PM |
Joan Crawford was recast with Olivia dehavilland in Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte. Perhaps the most infamous recast of all time. J.C owns this thread.
| by Anonymous | reply 98 | June 28, 2021 4:05 PM |
No, Sofia Coppola is the most infamous recast of all time.
Crawford is the cuntiest recast of all time.
| by Anonymous | reply 99 | June 28, 2021 4:29 PM |
Sofia Coppola is white het female privilege incarnate.
| by Anonymous | reply 100 | June 28, 2021 4:33 PM |
[quote]Mandy Patinkin was fired from Heartburn and replaced with Jack Nicholson. That recent Mike Nichols book made it seem like everyone (including Meryl) was shocked but Nichols wanted him gone for some reason. I forget why.
I haven't read that book, but I have heard that it pulls punches. The story I heard is that Patinkin was insufferable. One day, during rehearsal, the self-indulgent ham "treats" his director and costars to a full rendition of Soliloquy from Carousel. It's a very long song. And it went on and on and on and had NOTHING to do with the scene they were working on. Both Meryl and Mike were OVER him before he had finished.
| by Anonymous | reply 101 | June 28, 2021 4:56 PM |
[quote] One day, during rehearsal, the self-indulgent ham "treats" his director and costars to a full rendition of Soliloquy from Carousel.
That sounds like torture.
| by Anonymous | reply 102 | June 28, 2021 5:05 PM |
The inclusion of that song is because Nora Ephron's parents wrote the script to the movie of [italic]Carousel[/italic]. Presumably it was their idea to start the film with Billy Bigelow already dead and in Heaven.
| by Anonymous | reply 103 | June 28, 2021 5:06 PM |
I don't know if I buy Mandy being that difficult. He's managed to work with two of the biggest pains in the asses in the industry without any incidents (Streisand and Lupone).
Nora Ephron was married to Bernstein and they had a bitter divorce. Nichols and Ephron were besties. Patinkin was good friends with Bernstein. It wasn't going to work from that alone.
| by Anonymous | reply 104 | June 28, 2021 5:08 PM |
R105 What about Claire Danes, she seems like she’s probably a bitch on wheels on set?
| by Anonymous | reply 105 | June 28, 2021 5:12 PM |
[quote]I don't know if I buy Mandy being that difficult. He's managed to work with two of the biggest pains in the asses in the industry without any incidents (Streisand and Lupone).
Patinkin has gone on record about how difficult he was to work with.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 106 | June 28, 2021 5:17 PM |
I originally wanted Philip McKeon for the flashbacks playing Buck, but his large girth kept him from drowning in the storm scenes. So we hired Scott Doebler instead.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 107 | June 28, 2021 5:32 PM |
Nichols had an ace up his sleeve when he fired Patenkin. Nicholson had always been Nichols' choice for the role. But Nicholson had to turn the part down because he was signed for another film and their schedules conflicted. Nichols knew that the financing on Nicholson's project had fallen apart and it was cancelled. He knew that Nicholson was now available.
| by Anonymous | reply 108 | June 28, 2021 7:04 PM |
Mandy Patankin was Heartburn’s lamb for the slaughter!
| by Anonymous | reply 109 | June 28, 2021 7:11 PM |
Re HUSH HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE:
Vivien Leigh was the first actress to be approached to replace Joan Crawford. She famously replied:
"No thank you. I can just about stand looking at Joan Crawford's face at 6 o'clock in the morning, but not Bette Davis."
| by Anonymous | reply 110 | June 28, 2021 7:12 PM |
Bette Davis replaced Claudette Colbert in "All About Eve," who had seriously hurt her back, causing her to relinquish the part.
[Quote]She only got the lead part in All About Eve when Claudette Colbert — who was all signed up — ruptured a disc while doing a rape scene on another film.
I can't find it, but I remember reading that Claudette was crying over the fact that she lost that role. But she admitted that Bette played Eve like no other actress could have.
Also, Anne Baxter was cast due to her resemblance to Claudette Colbert.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 111 | June 28, 2021 7:29 PM |
^ironic, then, Vivien Leigh died fat.
| by Anonymous | reply 112 | June 28, 2021 7:29 PM |
"But she admitted that Bette played Eve like no other actress could have."
She did, r111? News to me.
| by Anonymous | reply 113 | June 28, 2021 7:32 PM |
Jane Connell replacing The Madeline Kahn in MAME. Kahn purposely acted terribly on set and the bitch Lucille Ball fired her. Kahn then called her good friend Mel Brooks...
Bea Arthur was secretly extremely impressed by the manipulation.
| by Anonymous | reply 114 | June 28, 2021 7:34 PM |
R113 Oops! I meant Margo, of course.
| by Anonymous | reply 115 | June 28, 2021 7:35 PM |
[quote] I don't know if I buy Mandy being that difficult.
Give me a fucking break.
Even Patinkin himself has spoken repeatedly about what a pain in the ass he was on the set of "Criminal Minds," particularly. To his credit, he has expressed regret for it, but he has been very honest he was an asshole.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 116 | June 28, 2021 7:35 PM |
One of the things "unbelievably difficult" Mandy Patakin did on "Heartburn" was dare give Meryl Streep actual notes on her performance. He admitted this a few years ago
| by Anonymous | reply 117 | June 28, 2021 7:35 PM |
Linda Lovelace replaced Joan Crawford in "Deep Throat."
| by Anonymous | reply 118 | June 28, 2021 7:36 PM |
[quote]Jane Connell replacing The Madeline Kahn in MAME. Kahn purposely acted terribly on set and the bitch Lucille Ball fired her. Kahn then called her good friend Mel Brooks...
There is a dispute about that, including from Kahn.
I read that Ball took an instant dislike to Kahn because when she showed up for the table read, she was far prettier than Ball expected. And Ball didn't not want a younger, prettier redhead in HER movie. Also, Kahn worked differently than Ball. She liked to take time to get into a character, whereas Ball froze her performance early. Lucy ordered Kahn, "Do the voice! Do the voice!" And Kahn replied, "I don't work that way." Ball had her fired.
Some say Kahn wanted to be fired but other say it was just because Lucy didn't like her or felt threatened by her. Kahn did say that she ended up being really happy she had been fired, as she ended up in the much more successful Blazing Saddles, which made her famous.
| by Anonymous | reply 119 | June 28, 2021 7:54 PM |
[quote]Linda Lovelace replaced Joan Crawford in "Deep Throat."
Not in the extreme closeups.
| by Anonymous | reply 120 | June 28, 2021 7:55 PM |
Patenkin was indeed giving acting notes to Streep and she wasn't having it any more than Nichols was. Mandy was also pulling other stunts. Nichols blocked his scenes out completely during rehearsals and set the camera angles precisely. When the camera started rolling, Mandy completely ignored his blocking and walked around at random, sometimes walking out of the camera frame.
He wasn't fired two weeks into filming, as said above. He was fired on the 2nd or 3rd day of shooting, according to which account you read. As mentioned above, Nicholson had suddenly become available and Nichols didn't need a nearly unknown film actor who had been given his big break fucking up his film with grossly unprofessional behavior.
| by Anonymous | reply 121 | June 28, 2021 8:41 PM |
Team Mandy. Meryl needed notes—she was awful in Heartburn, and Nichols’s direction was equally bad.
| by Anonymous | reply 122 | June 28, 2021 8:43 PM |
R16, I think Travolta would have been better in Chicago than Gere was
| by Anonymous | reply 123 | June 28, 2021 8:47 PM |
R123 Are you crazy? Gere was one of the better parts of Chicago. Travolta would have been God-awful (like he is in every movie).
| by Anonymous | reply 124 | June 28, 2021 8:51 PM |
Luis Bunuel's last film, That Obscure Object of Desire, was supposed to have Maria Schneider (Last Tango in Paris) playing the female lead. Then she either walked out or was fired (stories differ on what really happened) and Bunuel decided to recast in the most unusual way, by having the role be played by two actresses (Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina) and switching between them at random throughout the film (sometimes even during the same scene).
| by Anonymous | reply 125 | June 28, 2021 9:01 PM |
River Phoenix was to be the interviewer in Interview with a Vampire, but Christian Slater took over the role and donated his salary.
| by Anonymous | reply 126 | June 28, 2021 9:10 PM |
Did Julie Andrews replace Lucille Ball in "The Sound of Music"?
| by Anonymous | reply 127 | June 28, 2021 9:16 PM |
R124, disagree. Travolta is a better actor, singer, and dancer than Gere (and I say this as someone who thinks Travolta is a closeted phony). Gere is really lucky to still be around, he's not a good actor.
| by Anonymous | reply 128 | June 28, 2021 9:22 PM |
[quote]Bea Arthur was secretly extremely impressed by the manipulation.
So happy she could shit.
| by Anonymous | reply 129 | June 28, 2021 9:32 PM |
[quote]Did Julie Andrews replace Lucille Ball in "The Sound of Music"?
No, Julie replaced Chesty Morgan who had to back out after only one week of filming because of back problems.
She had really added a new layer to "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?"
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 130 | June 28, 2021 9:36 PM |
Her tits were bigger than Julie's head, so the Production Code objected.
| by Anonymous | reply 131 | June 28, 2021 9:38 PM |
I don't know if she was actually cast, but filmmakers wanted Ann(E) Hathaway for Christine in the movie version of Phantom of the Opera, but she was tied to The Princess Diaries 2. They of course went with Emmy Rossum ( who, at 16, barely had a voice).
| by Anonymous | reply 132 | June 28, 2021 9:40 PM |
Joan Collins was originally cast as Cleopatra in what became the Liz Taylor film. It originally had a modest budget and was shooting in London when a studio fire destroyed almost all the sets and costumes, necessitating a shut down and starting over. Rethinking the project, Zanuck and the other Fox suits decided to start over in Rome with an A List budget and paying Liz a million dollars to take over.
In later years, Joan claimed she lost the role because she refused to sleep with a Fox exec, presumably Zanuck. That's bullshit of course. Below is part of her screen test, which is all that remains of the aborted filming.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 133 | June 28, 2021 10:24 PM |
He must have been a fuggo if he was ineligible for the British Open.
| by Anonymous | reply 134 | June 28, 2021 10:27 PM |
[quote]There is a dispute about that, including from Kahn.
Considering Kahn pulled a similar stunt on Broadway a couple of years later, Lucy's story is probably the more reliable of the two.
I think Madeline was blacklisted from Broadway for a while because of her antics in On the Twentieth Century.
| by Anonymous | reply 136 | June 28, 2021 10:36 PM |
R136 what happened on Broadway?
| by Anonymous | reply 137 | June 28, 2021 10:39 PM |
After being congratulated on a brilliant opening night performance, Kahn said to director/producer Hal Prince's top assistant/co-producer Ruth Mitchell "You certainly don't expect me to do that every night, do you?" And she didn't. She was replaced with the much more professional Judy Kaye after a month.
| by Anonymous | reply 138 | June 28, 2021 10:43 PM |
It wasn't just Lucy vs. Madeline. Other people who were there have spoken about it.
Madeline could be very difficult. On The Twentieth Century was her at her most difficult. Some have suggested a cocaine problem contributed to it.
Others have said the score is so difficult (which it is) that it played into all of Madeline's insecurities.
Hal Prince says that after a very troubling set of rehearsals, she was perfect on opening night. He told her that and she scoffed, "You don't think I'm going to do THAT every night do you?"
Her rep on Broadway did suffer. But she came back and won a Tony.
| by Anonymous | reply 139 | June 28, 2021 10:46 PM |
Why didn't she want to do it every night? Isn't that the point of being on stage?
| by Anonymous | reply 140 | June 28, 2021 10:47 PM |
Kahn walked through most of her performances before and after the opening and ruffled many feathers with her Diva antics offstage.
| by Anonymous | reply 141 | June 28, 2021 10:49 PM |
[quote]Why didn't she want to do it every night?
The score is very difficult for the soprano lead. It is as close to opera as Broadway gets. And Kahn thought it was exhausting to do it as written every night. She also was worried about losing her voice or damaging it permanently.
Barbra Streisand was also famous for phoning it in when she didn't want to be there. And then turning it on when someone important was in the audience.
| by Anonymous | reply 143 | June 28, 2021 10:54 PM |
R133, Also, Stephen Boyd and Peter Finch were to play Marc Anthony and Julius Caesar respectively, and both had already started shooting at Pinewood Studios in London. But long delays in production and the 24 months it took for La Liz to recover from pneumonia, forced Boyd and Finch to drop out and commit to other projects. Finch was replaced with Rex Harrison and as for Boyd, "They gave my part to a fellow named Richard Burton. They even gave him my costume, and to this day every time he sees me, he says ‘Jesus, you’ve got big feet!"
| by Anonymous | reply 144 | June 28, 2021 10:56 PM |
R133 I think that handsome man playing opposite Joan Collins as Cleopatra was Scott Forbes who had an odd career on both sides of the Atlantic.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 146 | June 28, 2021 11:04 PM |
[quote] The idea of Lana Turner playing Lee Remick's role in "Anatomy of a Murder" is one hell of a thought. I can only imagine what that would have looked like. I think it would have been a very different film, and it's hard to say if for better or worse
Otto Preminger was an arrogant bully who was sufficiently vain to think he could manage to get something convincing out of Lana Turner.
The only thing Lana Turner knew about was wearing clothes and make-up.
Preminger failed with Turner the same way he failed with that scrawny, twangy-voiced teenager who helped him create that epic failure called 'Saint Joan' two years previously.
| by Anonymous | reply 147 | June 28, 2021 11:19 PM |
[quote]Every role John Travolta turned down given to Richard Gere- Travolta turned down the leads for Days of Heaven (1978), American Gigolo (1980), An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and Chicago (2002), all of which went to Gere.
You didn't quite get the gist of the thread. Theses are movies that were already in production and the actors fired and replaced.
Michael J Fox replaced Eric Stoltz. The scene in the finished movie where Marty goes flying backward with the guitar is the only shot of Stoltz left.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 148 | June 28, 2021 11:20 PM |
Lana also knew about key lights. All good divas know their lighting.
| by Anonymous | reply 149 | June 28, 2021 11:25 PM |
Lana also knew about brassieres.
| by Anonymous | reply 150 | June 28, 2021 11:29 PM |
She also knew about fights since she dated a mobster.
| by Anonymous | reply 151 | June 28, 2021 11:38 PM |
Lana knew many things, wish she would have written a book and not collapsed.
| by Anonymous | reply 152 | June 28, 2021 11:43 PM |
[quote]R147 Preminger failed with Turner the same way he failed with that scrawny, twangy-voiced teenager who helped him create that epic failure called 'Saint Joan' two years previously.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 153 | June 28, 2021 11:44 PM |
R153 = the ever-eloquent George Bernard Shaw.
| by Anonymous | reply 154 | June 28, 2021 11:45 PM |
Claudette admitted that Bette may have got the role of a lifetime but she also got Gary Merrill. Snark?
| by Anonymous | reply 155 | June 28, 2021 11:48 PM |
Bette was nothing but snark. And it grew tedious over 40 years unless she was put in her place by William Wyler.
| by Anonymous | reply 156 | June 28, 2021 11:51 PM |
IIRC, Fox was always the first choice for McFly but he was tied up with shooting Family Ties and wasn't available. Then there were extensive delays on Future, a lot of it due to Stoltz's unusable performance, and with Family Ties nearing the end of its shooting season, Fox became available.
| by Anonymous | reply 157 | June 28, 2021 11:55 PM |
Matthew Broderick was the original choice for that show because NBC had skepticism about Michael J. Fox's ability to sell the role. Brandon Tartikoff is quoted as saying, "I can't picture his face on a lunchbox." When the show became the #2 show on TV, Michael presented a lunchbox with a note inside: "Eat crow, Tartikoff."
| by Anonymous | reply 158 | June 28, 2021 11:58 PM |
Did Julie Andrews replace Lucille Ball in "The Sound of Music"?
Lucy insisted they fire the Baroness and all the girl Von Trapp children for being too young and too pretty.
| by Anonymous | reply 159 | June 28, 2021 11:58 PM |
Lucy was fired because she insisted on turning "So Long, Farewell" into a barbershop quartet number:
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 160 | June 29, 2021 12:03 AM |
Lucy wanted Christopher Plummer to be replaced by Gary Morton
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 161 | June 29, 2021 12:08 AM |
"Elizabeth Taylor replaced Vivien Leigh in "Elephant Walk" after Leigh, who was already in a precarious mental state, suffered a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized."
You can still see Vivien from the back in a shot or two, from a distance. It's unmistakably her.
| by Anonymous | reply 162 | June 29, 2021 12:10 AM |
Didn't Joan Crawford get really sick on Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte and had to get replaced by Olivia De Havilland.
I'm surprised Crawford didn't sue the producers.
| by Anonymous | reply 163 | June 29, 2021 12:19 AM |
Sorry, Crawford was fired by the producers even though she was in the hospital. Wasn't Bette behind the firing as well?
Today, that would have been grounds for a lawsuit. And Crawford probably wound have won.
| by Anonymous | reply 164 | June 29, 2021 12:21 AM |
De Havilland replacing Crawford has been mentioned above (Vivien Leigh was asked first and declined). And Crawford detested working on location with Davis. She was probably thrilled to be off the picture.
| by Anonymous | reply 165 | June 29, 2021 12:33 AM |
Producers placed full page ads in NY and LA newspapers announcing start of production, not just the trades, to announce the start of production.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 166 | June 29, 2021 12:35 AM |
Joan faked her "illness" to get out of the picture, and Bette recruited her friend Olivia to take over the role. Joan's gracious response? "I’m happy for Olivia, she needed a job."
| by Anonymous | reply 167 | June 29, 2021 12:43 AM |
Pretty much everyone of the last five film projects of one Armie Hammer.
| by Anonymous | reply 168 | June 29, 2021 12:46 AM |
I know this thread is talking about actors who replaced other actors prior to the film being made. Some of these films may have shot scenes with the original actor then replaced them, but generally speaking, replaced before filming.
But I'll still toss in Julianne Moore, who was a replacement for Jodie, of course, as Clarice. Just because that whole movie still seems like such a fever dream. And Julianne was not good and not bad, seriously.
| by Anonymous | reply 169 | June 29, 2021 12:48 AM |
Debra Winger was set to play Dottie in A League of Their Own. She dropped out after Madonna was cast as Mae. Winger said she didn't want to be in an "Elvis movie". She was recast with Geena Davis.
| by Anonymous | reply 170 | June 29, 2021 1:58 AM |
r165 Barbara Stanwyck also turned down Crawford's role, saying she was too loyal to her old pal Joanie.
Loretta Young turned down the role saying her fans would never forgive her if she appeared in a horror movie.
| by Anonymous | reply 171 | June 29, 2021 2:31 AM |
R171. Did Young assume her fans had never seen The Farmer’s Daughter or Come to the Stsble? Talk about horror movies!
| by Anonymous | reply 172 | June 29, 2021 2:40 AM |
Jean-Claude Van Damme was the original titular "Predator," meant to be an agile, ninja-like hunter alien. However, the costume proved to be too cumbersome for Van Damme to maneuver in. He always complained that the monster suit was too hot, and expressed reservations about not being seen on camera sans makeup and prosthetics. He was fired, officially for being too short at 5'9," compared to the Schwarzenegger at 6'2," and replaced with 7'2" Kevin Peter Hall.
| by Anonymous | reply 173 | June 29, 2021 2:43 AM |
Not a recast, but the death of Sir Oliver Reed in Gladiator is just weird. He literally drank himself to death and died in a bar.
| by Anonymous | reply 174 | June 29, 2021 2:54 AM |
The fleshy Oliver Reed was replaced by the pixelated Oliver Reed.
| by Anonymous | reply 175 | June 29, 2021 2:56 AM |
Stuart Townsend spent months of training and a couple of days of shooting "Lord of the Rings," before director Peter Jackson decided that he was much too young to make a convincing and formidable Aragorn. He fired Townsend and replaced him with Viggo Mortenson, who is nearly 15 years his senior.
| by Anonymous | reply 176 | June 29, 2021 3:02 AM |
[quote]“I thought this was a bit rich. I looked at her and said: ‘Well you don’t look genetically like you.’
HA! Major burn on Cher.
| by Anonymous | reply 177 | June 29, 2021 3:05 AM |
I don't buy Emily Lloyd would ever be able to be that clever.
| by Anonymous | reply 178 | June 29, 2021 3:07 AM |
She was bi polar. They’re vibrant and scintillating.
| by Anonymous | reply 179 | June 29, 2021 3:30 AM |
Cher was supposedly a horror on that set.
After she mowed down Emily Lloyd (who had to sue to get her salary) Cher sunk her talons into director Frank Oz. He was replaced by Mr. Nice Guy Richard Benjamin , who had no problem being a doormat.
| by Anonymous | reply 180 | June 29, 2021 3:38 AM |
The Catwoman costume that Michelle Pfeiffer slinked herself into was originally fitted for Annette Bening, but Bening suddenly dropped out of "Batman Returns" after she fell pregnant. Pfeiffer was a last minute replacement, but she assured Tim Burton that he won't be disappointed.
A pregnant Jessica Lange pleaded with director Michael Apted to delay production of "Gorillas in the Mist" until she had her baby, but Apted replied, "I can't wait 10 minutes!" Sigourney Weaver got the part and landed an Oscar nomination. Had Lange done the film, this would have reunited her with special makeup effects man, Rick Baker, who made the ape suits.
| by Anonymous | reply 181 | June 29, 2021 4:06 AM |
R181 Sean Young dressed up in a Catwoman costume and hanged out on set to try to win the role....
| by Anonymous | reply 182 | June 29, 2021 4:09 AM |
Kurt Falcon was fired after only getting to 32 loads during rehearsal weekend and was replaced by Dawson for the final takes.
| by Anonymous | reply 183 | June 29, 2021 4:11 AM |
[quote] Sean Young dressed up in a Catwoman costume and hanged out on set to try to win the role....
Oh fucking DEAR!
| by Anonymous | reply 184 | June 29, 2021 4:16 AM |
[quote]Kurt Falcon was fired after only getting to 32 loads during rehearsal weekend and was replaced by Dawson for the final takes.
It's been said in the industry, that Kurt Falcon had a "small" bussy - he tried but he just didn't have Dawson 50 gallon capacity
| by Anonymous | reply 185 | June 29, 2021 4:22 AM |
[quote] Sean Young dressed up in a Catwoman costume and hanged out on set to try to win the role....
She also went on Joan RIvers' talk show in the Catwoman costumer and trashed Tim Burton.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 186 | June 29, 2021 4:29 AM |
Sean Young reminds me of Elsa Lanchester.
(Big eyes, perhaps nutty)
| by Anonymous | reply 187 | June 29, 2021 4:31 AM |
One could say La Dunaway replaced Ali MacGraw in “Chinatown” and Mia Farrow replaced her in “The Great Gatsby”.
Both projects were developed with MacGraw in mind until she left studio head Robert Evans for Steve McQueen.
After that little stunt, Evans was having [italic]none of it!
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 188 | June 29, 2021 4:35 AM |
Olivia de Havilland was perfect in "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte." The character she played was sweet, like Miss Melanie (Gone with the Wind), on the outside. But in reality, a conniving, backstabbing woman.
| by Anonymous | reply 189 | June 29, 2021 4:36 AM |
[quote] Lana knew many things, wish she would have written a book
Do you think Lana Turner knew how to string a sentence together?
She needs to know that a sentences needs things called nouns and other things called verbs.
| by Anonymous | reply 190 | June 29, 2021 4:37 AM |
Lanchester was just on Dick Cavett tonight, r187. Along with Alexis Smith, Gloria Swanson and Jeanette Rankin.
| by Anonymous | reply 191 | June 29, 2021 4:42 AM |
Debra Winger replaced Raquel Welch in CANNERY ROW.
But she was like, “Oh no you DIDN’T!” and won millions at trial.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 192 | June 29, 2021 4:42 AM |
[quote]R190 Do you think Lana Turner knew how to string a sentence together?
She actually did, but the incessant cocks in her mouth most often prevented that.
| by Anonymous | reply 193 | June 29, 2021 4:47 AM |
Silly Lana Turner messed up the role in Otto Preminger's 'Anatomy of a Murder' and she also messed up in that William Faulkner melodrama called 'The Sound and the Fury' in 1959.
One good thing was that the role was given to the always-interesting, English stage star Margaret Leighton who's never properly appreciated here on this side of the Atlantic.
The final film wasn’t very good and all three of the stars seemed rather uncomfortable.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 194 | June 29, 2021 4:48 AM |
Came really close to having Leonardo DiCaprio playing Patrick Bateman. Originally the role went to Christian Bale. But after Titanic, Leo could have any role he wanted. And that was American psycho. So they fired Christian Bale. And gave the role to Leo. Then, Leo had second thoughts about the material. Especially when feminist groups were trying to go after the book. So the part went back to Christian.
| by Anonymous | reply 195 | June 29, 2021 4:51 AM |
Debra Winger quitting A League of their Own over Madonna is an urban myth.
She had a whole bunch of salary and creative demands. The first time they tried to make the movie she and Penny Marshall teamed up on the demands and the film didn't get made.
The second time Marshall abandoned Winger and signed on because she really wanted to do the film.
Winger held out and was given until five PM on Friday to show up on the set. It was all so dramatic and covered in the trades.
When she didn't show up they put Geena Davis on a plane the next day. Davis had secretly been approached for the role and was hot off the success of Thelma and Louise.
Winger never really recovered career wise.
| by Anonymous | reply 196 | June 29, 2021 4:54 AM |
Bob Hoskins was originally cast as Al Capone in The Untouchables, but then director Brian DePalma's old pal Robert DeNiro decided that he'd like to play the role. The role was recast, and Hoskins was paid his full salary.
Also, DeNiro was originally cast in an early version of The Goodbye Girl (then it was called Bogart Slept Here); original director Mike Nichols immediately saw that he was all wrong. He was later replaced by Richard Dreyfuss, who won an Oscar.
| by Anonymous | reply 197 | June 29, 2021 5:06 AM |
Rosie O'Donnell had a breakdown and backed out of Agnes Browne which Angelica Huston was directing. Huston took the role herself which she said she later regretted because spending all that time in post production staring at herself made her very insecure.
| by Anonymous | reply 198 | June 29, 2021 5:10 AM |
Gail Strickland was originally cast in the Jane Alexander role in Kramer Verus Kramer. Dustin Hoffman's antics made her so nervous she developed a stammer and nervous tics.
When the called Alexander (who had worked with Hoffman before) they told her this is going to be a rough shoot but Alexander felt she could handle Hoffman.
| by Anonymous | reply 199 | June 29, 2021 5:12 AM |
I can handle the Hoffman.
| by Anonymous | reply 200 | June 29, 2021 5:21 AM |
I didn't realize the extent of the work Eric Stoltz had done on BTTF. I thought he had only worked for a couple of weeks before he got fired but it looks like he had done quite a number of scenes. He looks mummified in that footage compared to Fox.
I also wonder what it's like for him to be exposed like this with a side-by-side comparison of his most notorious failure. Yikes.
| by Anonymous | reply 201 | June 29, 2021 6:20 AM |
I’m sure you all have some very juicy story why Susan Olsen wasn’t able to fulfill her Cindy Brady duties in a Very Brady Christmas and this cloying actress had to take over for her. I’ll also accept wildly made up explanations as well.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 202 | June 29, 2021 9:05 AM |
Susan Olsen white trash piece of shit.
| by Anonymous | reply 203 | June 29, 2021 9:07 AM |
Garlarnd wasn't the only cast member who had to be replaced in Annie Get Your Gun. The film began shooting with Frank Morgan (The Wizard in The Wizard of Oz ) as Col. Buffalo Bill but he died midway through filming. All the scenes he had shot had to be redone with his replacement, Louis Calhern.
Likewise, GWTW began filming with Robert Gleckler as Jonas Wilkerson, Tara's Yankee overseer, but he died during production and all his completed scenes had to be reshot with his replacement, Victor Jory.
| by Anonymous | reply 204 | June 29, 2021 12:01 PM |
^ Slightly off topic but Judy was originally set to play Scarlett's younger sister Careen in GWTW but her career was really taking off at that point and MGM pulled her back to star in an Andy Hardy film and Oz.
| by Anonymous | reply 205 | June 29, 2021 12:27 PM |
Did no one mention Buddy Ebsen and Wizard of Oz? Did we all just assume the baby gays knew about that?
| by Anonymous | reply 206 | June 29, 2021 12:50 PM |
You have to wonder why anyone would even approach Debra Winger to be in a movie in 1991 let alone put up with any bullshit from her. She hadn't had a hit since 1982 and she was not right for the role of Dottie, who was suppose to be a beauty, Debra was more a Kit
| by Anonymous | reply 207 | June 29, 2021 1:56 PM |
R205, I didn't know that! Ann Rutherford became Carreen and was also in the Andy Hardy movies as Polly Rutherford, the girl next door. She looked like a budding southern belle, which I don't think Judy Garland ever could have pulled off. Good career move for both of them.
| by Anonymous | reply 208 | June 29, 2021 2:10 PM |
Gail Strickland was also recast on Night Court after the pilot. They brought in Paula Kelly.
| by Anonymous | reply 209 | June 29, 2021 3:07 PM |
R202 Susan was on her honeymoon when Brady Christmas was filmed.
| by Anonymous | reply 210 | June 29, 2021 3:18 PM |
Richard Moll was one of my celebrity partners on $10,000 Pyramid, r209. I asked him why Paula left. He didn't really have an answer and was rather surprised by my question.
| by Anonymous | reply 211 | June 29, 2021 3:26 PM |
Lucy should have been cast as Eliza Doolittle in MFL instead of Anorexy Hepburn.
| by Anonymous | reply 212 | June 29, 2021 3:27 PM |
Lucy should have played Maggie in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and every time Brick refused to fuck her she could have turned to the camera and gone "WHAAAAAAAA!"
| by Anonymous | reply 213 | June 29, 2021 3:32 PM |
Lucy was really the only actress Hollywood needed.
She could play any age, could sing - -
| by Anonymous | reply 214 | June 29, 2021 3:36 PM |
The Lucy stuff has never been funny.
| by Anonymous | reply 215 | June 29, 2021 3:38 PM |
Lucy tried to be funny but Gary talked her out of it.
| by Anonymous | reply 216 | June 29, 2021 3:40 PM |
R215 A thread is never complete without the tedious Joke Police popping in to scold.
| by Anonymous | reply 217 | June 29, 2021 3:41 PM |
[quote]One could say La Dunaway replaced Ali MacGraw in “Chinatown” and Mia Farrow replaced her in “The Great Gatsby”.
Thank god. I can't imagine such a great film as "Chinatown" being stunk up with MacGraw's shitty acting.
The Great Gatsby was already awful enough.
| by Anonymous | reply 218 | June 29, 2021 3:43 PM |
R217 Sometimes the police is right. Don't defund.
| by Anonymous | reply 219 | June 29, 2021 3:54 PM |
Raquel Welch replaced Lucille Ball in "Myra Breckinridge" after Mae West demanded that she tone down the "Ronald McDonald red" to a mousy brown. Lucy was livid and walked, but director Michael Sarne was grateful. The money saved from all those jars of Vaseline allowed production to amp up wardrobe.
| by Anonymous | reply 220 | June 29, 2021 5:07 PM |
[quote] [R202] Susan was on her honeymoon when Brady Christmas was filmed.
Yeah, right.
| by Anonymous | reply 221 | June 29, 2021 5:27 PM |
Well, she was. They were scheduling the film and the only time they could do it happened to coincide with Susan's honeymoon. She asked them to wait, but CBS said they only needed to deliver five of the six kids, so Sherwood told Susan to have a lovely honeymoon.
| by Anonymous | reply 222 | June 29, 2021 5:29 PM |
Well, what do you know. Susan Olsen married 3X. Has a son named Michael who looks just like her. Photo of the son on the linked page.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 223 | June 29, 2021 5:43 PM |
Enough with the Lucy jokes please. They ceased to be funny 100 threads ago.
| by Anonymous | reply 224 | June 29, 2021 5:57 PM |
[quote]The money saved from all those jars of Vaseline allowed production to amp up wardrobe.
Didn't they still need massive quantities of Vaseline for the Raquel-fucks-Roger Herren scene?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 225 | June 29, 2021 6:58 PM |
Raquel might have feared being replaced had she shown up when costar Farrah Fawcett was photographed in all her Theodora Van Runkle costumes during the making of “Myra Breckinridge “.
Aaaaaawkward!
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 227 | June 29, 2021 8:14 PM |
Farrah banished back to her original (boring) wardrobe:
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 229 | June 29, 2021 8:27 PM |
I read this about how r42 might have happened:
[quote] Theodora Van Runkle was once married to photographer Bruce McBroom, the man responsible for snapping the red bathing suit photo of Farrah Fawcett that would go on to become a bestselling poster and fixture on the bedroom walls of an entire gerneration of boys. (L.A. Times blog)
Van Runkle probably wanted pics of the clothes she did for that movie and had her boyfriend/husband Bruce McBroom shoot them on a day off. I highly doubt diva Raquel Welch would show up for something like that, so they likely asked supporting actress Fawcett… who had a sunnier personality and had worked her way up from being a model, anyway.
Fawcett and McBroom must have got along well, and when it was time for her to do her poster she remembered him from the “Myra Breckinridge” session.
| by Anonymous | reply 230 | June 29, 2021 9:19 PM |
What about Jon Finch being replaced by John Hurt in ALIEN?
| by Anonymous | reply 231 | June 29, 2021 9:24 PM |
R1, It wasn’t "after a few days". Woody had completed filming the movie with Maureen and then chose to reshoot it with Elaine.
| by Anonymous | reply 232 | June 29, 2021 9:31 PM |
^^ he recast 2 other actors as well (Sam Shepard and Charles Durning.)
Shepard had himself already been a replacement for Christopher Walken , so clearly the film was a mess from the get go.
| by Anonymous | reply 233 | June 29, 2021 9:41 PM |
R35, I think you misjudge the lush allure that belonged to Kim Novak that could make a man obsess over her.
See: "Strangers When We Meet."
| by Anonymous | reply 234 | June 29, 2021 9:57 PM |
Roy Thinnes was replaced by William Devane in Family Plot. From the IMDb: Roy Thinnes was hired to play Arthur Adamson only because Hitchcock's first choice, William Devane, unavailable. When Devane became available, Hitchcock fired Thinnes and hired Devane. Some key scenes (and publicity stills) had already been shot. Almost everything that had been filmed was reshot. However, the original long shots with Thinnes were kept and used in the final cut of the film.
| by Anonymous | reply 235 | June 29, 2021 10:01 PM |
Instead of Lucy in everything, it should have been Carol Channing in every movie musical. My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Funny Girl, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, Mame, Cabaret and Camelot should have all had Channing as the lead.
| by Anonymous | reply 236 | June 29, 2021 10:06 PM |
r236 I heard she turned down the musical version of "The Corn is Green," for obvious reasons.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 237 | June 29, 2021 10:21 PM |
Not "infamous," but Yul Brynner replaced Tyrone Power in "Solomon and Sheba" after Power died on set.
| by Anonymous | reply 238 | June 30, 2021 8:09 AM |
R178 Yes. It sounds more like something she thought up after the fact or a line that someone told her she should have said.
| by Anonymous | reply 239 | June 30, 2021 8:57 AM |
Ryan Gosling was fired from Lovely Bones. He gained 60lbs to play the Dad. He thought the dad should be heavy. But the Director Peter Jackson didn’t think so. And he replaced him with Mark Wahlberg.
| by Anonymous | reply 240 | July 1, 2021 3:55 AM |
Tuesday Weld was supposed to star in The Stepford Wives but backed out for some reason.
| by Anonymous | reply 241 | July 1, 2021 4:17 AM |
R241, She spoke with Gary Morton.
| by Anonymous | reply 242 | July 1, 2021 4:28 AM |
Meryl Streep was all set to do Evita but had some kind of big falling out with Oliver Stone. She seemed to really want to do it and had recorded the whole score at Sting's studio for Andrew Lloyd Weber's approval. He and Tim Rice were ecstatic with the results.
It must have been really bad between her and Stone. He had the rights though so if it was a him or me thing Streep was the one to go. He tried to do it with Michelle Pfeiffer then (her auditions are on youtube.) Never happened though.
Madonna's version eventually was made and used Stone's script.
| by Anonymous | reply 243 | July 1, 2021 4:32 AM |
After a few weeks of shooting Buddy Buddy Billy Wilder wanted to replace Walter Matthau with Clint Eastwood or maybe Charles Bronson but at that point in his career (the end of it) his power was gone and he was lucky to get anything to direct. (Yes, it would have helped the film a lot)
| by Anonymous | reply 244 | July 2, 2021 4:03 PM |
Not so infamous, but Reba was supposed to play Molly Brown in 'Titanic', but didn't want to leave all her road crew hanging during previously scheduled tour. So she declined James Cameron's offer, and Kathy Bates stepped in. (Kathy Bates can do no wrong, IMHO...not sure Reba could've pulled her weight in that lifeboat.) It would've actually been cheeky to have Debbie Reynolds play Molly Brown yet again.
| by Anonymous | reply 245 | July 2, 2021 4:53 PM |
Kathy Bates was probably a better choice anyway. That one line she has looking at the boat sinking. Something like "oh sweet mother of Jesus" or something of that nature is so well delivered. Plus she has that speech about "its your men out there, I don't stand a one of you." She actually deserved a supporting actress nomination more than Gloria Stuart.
| by Anonymous | reply 246 | July 4, 2021 5:11 AM |
Liza supposedly did a fantastic extended screen test for Evita with Ken Russell directing. Allegedly the financing fell through. People have been looking for it for years but it has never turned up. It would probably have belonged to The Stigwood Organization.
| by Anonymous | reply 247 | July 4, 2021 5:22 AM |
^ This would have been in the late 80s before either Stone or Streep became involved.
| by Anonymous | reply 248 | July 4, 2021 5:30 AM |
George Dzundza was let go from Terms of Endearment after filming started and John Lithgow who was filming Footloose near by was flown in to take the role on his time off from Footlooose.
| by Anonymous | reply 249 | July 4, 2021 5:50 AM |
When "The Avengers" went to film, the character of Emma Peel was cast with an actress who resembled the previous co-star, Honor Blackman. Yes, Diana Rigg was a replacement for an actress named Elizabeth Shepherd, who filmed one episode and a couple of days on another. Shepherd reportedly lacked the requisite light comic touch and she had also tried to rewrite her lines...
| by Anonymous | reply 250 | July 4, 2021 6:14 AM |
Julianne Moore was fired from "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" due to creative differences with director, Nicole Holofcener, and was replaced with Melissa McCarthy.
Edward Norton played Bruce Banner in "The incredible Hulk," but when it came time to do "The Avengers," he was replaced with Mark Ruffalo. The President of Marvel Studios explained their decision was "rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble."
| by Anonymous | reply 253 | July 4, 2021 6:46 AM |
Didn't Richard Dreyfuss drop out of All That Jazz?
Not sure if he filmed anything. I know he had the role for a while.
| by Anonymous | reply 254 | July 4, 2021 7:01 AM |
Was Tom Selleck originally cast as Indiana Jones?
| by Anonymous | reply 255 | July 4, 2021 7:06 AM |
[quote] George Dzundza was let go from Terms of Endearment after filming started
OMG. Debra Winger, right?
| by Anonymous | reply 256 | July 4, 2021 7:07 AM |
Paul Douglas was cast in "The Apartment", but suffered a heart attack and died just before filming was to begin.
Fred MacMurray replaced him.
| by Anonymous | reply 257 | July 4, 2021 7:10 AM |
[quote] Didn't Richard Dreyfuss drop out of All That Jazz?
Dreyfus claims he dropped out but in fact Fosse fired him during rehearsals.
[quote]Was Tom Selleck originally cast as Indiana Jones?
Never actually cast but Lucas wrote the part with him in mind and he and Spielberg desperately wanted him. They offered Magnum PI's producers all kind of incentives to delay their shooting schedule for two or three weeks that season so Selleck could do it but for some reason they refused. And then Indiana Jones came in under budget and under time and if he had signed, he would have been free to start the TV series on time anyway. Selleck was really pissed at his TV producers and really stuck it to them when his multiseason contract came up for renewal later.
| by Anonymous | reply 258 | July 4, 2021 7:29 AM |
r256 I'm guessing.
I keep waiting for part 2 of John Lithgow's autobiography. He ended it by saying he would soon get a call to replace another actor on what remains his most popular film but one that when he arrived in the set was in utter chaos. From the dates you can tell it is Terms.
| by Anonymous | reply 259 | July 4, 2021 7:51 AM |
All of you skipped a step with From Here To Eternity. It was not Joan Crawford to Deborah Kerr. It was Joan Crawford to Joan FONTAINE to Deborah Kerr.
In her autobiography, Joan F. really regretted her decision not to do it, she had already proved she was a good match opposite Burt Lancaster in Kiss The Blood Off My Hands which is why they may have thought of her. Only then did they cast Deborah Kerr.
Esther Williams did a huge amount of pre-production work on Athena, which recently was released by the WarnerArchive on bluray. MGM sensed Esther's best days were behind her and replaced her with Jane Powell. This pissed of Esther to no end, which was probably MGM's point.
| by Anonymous | reply 260 | July 4, 2021 8:22 AM |
Royal Wedding started out with Fred and June Allyson. Then Allyson got pregnant so they replaced her with Judy. But Judy was still not well after the Annie debacle and director Charles Walters objected to dealing with her again after nursing her through Easter Parade and Summer Stock. He was expecting Freed to replace her but instead Freed replaced him with Stanley Donen, the first film Donen directed. Meanwhile, Judy kept calling in and MGM finally fired her for good.
It finally went before the cameras with Fred and Jane Powell. Not the best the Freed Unit gave us but it's overall charming with some great individual moments. Too bad someone forgot to renew the copyright and most of the prints out there now are public domain shit, far removed from the original film elements.
| by Anonymous | reply 261 | July 4, 2021 8:50 AM |
[quote] Julianne Moore was fired from "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" due to creative differences with director, Nicole Holofcener, and was replaced with Melissa McCarthy.
Was Nicole fired after that, because Marielle Heller directed Can You Ever Forgive Me?
| by Anonymous | reply 262 | July 4, 2021 9:09 AM |
Charles Walters also took over Annie Get Your Gun for a few days or weeks with Judy after Busby Berkeley was fired but before they shut the whole thing down and started over with director George Sidney and Betty Hutton. So he may well have had enough of Judy at that point. But he did fly to New York in 1951 to stage her legendary first engagement at the Palace Theater, which was a stop on her current concert tour, so who knows what all those relationships were really like?
| by Anonymous | reply 263 | July 4, 2021 9:25 AM |
[quote]R206 Did no one mention Buddy Ebsen and Wizard of Oz? Did we all just assume the baby gays knew about that?
Gale Sondergaard was also originally to play the Wicked Witch (in black sequins), until the producers “went a different way” and decided the villain should be alienating… not alluring.
| by Anonymous | reply 264 | July 4, 2021 9:59 AM |
And the first and second choices for The Wizard were W.C. Fields and Ed Wynn but they both demanded much too much money on a film that was already going way over budget, so MGM went looking among its contract players and found the wonderful Frank Morgan for a fraction of the cost.
Many people think the inspiration for Sondergaard's glamor witch was the beautiful but vain stepmother queen in Disney's Snow White.
| by Anonymous | reply 266 | July 4, 2021 10:11 AM |
They also went the ugly route with Sondergaard, which made her walk, leaving the role open for Hamilton.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 267 | July 4, 2021 10:53 AM |
R262, the project collapsed after Moore's departure. Three years later, it was back in production with a new cast, but Holofcener had prior commitments.
| by Anonymous | reply 268 | July 4, 2021 2:32 PM |
As for ROYAL WEDDING, does anyone know how the casting of Sarah Churchill as Fred Astaire's love interest happened? Such a bizarre choice and an actress with little talent or beauty and no particular chemistry with Astaire.
There must have been scores MGM contract players who could have played that role. Was it all about Churchill's famous last name?
| by Anonymous | reply 269 | July 4, 2021 2:41 PM |
R269, Moira Shearer was the original choice to play Astaire's love interest, but she was newly married and ready to start a family, and wasn't keen on coming out to Hollywood to film. It is also said that Astaire rejected her casting, but who knows.
I don't know why Sarah Churchill was chosen, but the MGM publicity department was forbidden to mention her famous father in their promotional campaigns, forcing the trailer producer to sneer, "Miss Churchill is a fine performer, but photogenically I don't think that she would be that attractive unless people knew that she was Winston Churchill's daughter, and as you suggest, we could not use any such reference."
| by Anonymous | reply 270 | July 4, 2021 3:41 PM |
Where is that quote from?
| by Anonymous | reply 271 | July 4, 2021 3:53 PM |
Thanks, r273. One wonders what comments Mr. Whitbeck made about MGM contract player Dolores Gray in his memos.
| by Anonymous | reply 274 | July 4, 2021 4:37 PM |
Thanks, R268. I'm glad Holofcener had the presence to fire Moore because she's a shitty actress who's given exactly one good performance in her entire life (Boogie Nights) and she would have ruined the movie.
| by Anonymous | reply 275 | July 4, 2021 8:24 PM |
CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? is the more or less true story of writer Lee Israel who succeeded briefly as a plagiarist because she could pass through life as an unnoticed and ordinary middle aged schlump. How could DL fave and femme fatale Julianne Moore ever have hoped to portray her realistically?
| by Anonymous | reply 276 | July 4, 2021 9:59 PM |
r273, thanks for posting that fascinating little AFI article.
| by Anonymous | reply 277 | July 4, 2021 10:00 PM |
[quote] Lee Israel who succeeded briefly as a plagiarist because she could pass through life as an unnoticed and ordinary middle aged schlump. How could DL fave and femme fatale Julianne Moore ever have hoped to portray her realistically?
She was fired because she insisted on wearing a fat suit.
| by Anonymous | reply 278 | July 4, 2021 11:02 PM |
R197 Hoskins would have been great as Al Capone.
| by Anonymous | reply 279 | July 5, 2021 9:50 AM |
Lisa Eichhorn was fired from All Night Long and replaced by Barbra. the story is that star Gene Hackman had an affair with Lisa and then wanted her gone. He had originally wanted Barbra who turned the film down but then later accepted it for the paycheck which was large for the time and with the insistence of her agent Sue Mengers who was married to the director.
| by Anonymous | reply 280 | July 5, 2021 10:50 AM |
It had nothing to do with Hackman. It was about Sue Mengers Streisand's mega agent. Her husband was directing and the whole situation ended Barbra and Sue's relationship.
| by Anonymous | reply 281 | July 5, 2021 2:30 PM |
I was not a great film, but it was one of Barbra's best performances because she isn't being Barbra. Not having to carry the movie seemed to free her.
| by Anonymous | reply 282 | July 5, 2021 4:49 PM |
Yes it did involve Hackman. Lisa Eichhorn talked about their affair.
| by Anonymous | reply 283 | July 6, 2021 12:29 AM |
I’m not even sure what this is saying. Did Redgrave film it and they are digitally inserting Dunaway in her place?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 284 | July 8, 2021 7:06 AM |
Redgrave dropped out several weeks ago before she had shot anything.
| by Anonymous | reply 285 | July 8, 2021 7:15 AM |
Redgrave got tremendous backlash on social media.
I don't think she wanted this to be part of her legacy and maybe her final film if she really is too ill to travel as they are now saying.
Miss Dunaway has nothing to lose.
| by Anonymous | reply 286 | July 8, 2021 7:20 AM |
She's lucky there was no social media in 1977.
| by Anonymous | reply 287 | July 8, 2021 7:54 AM |
Didn't Dunaway back out of this—
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 288 | July 8, 2021 7:57 AM |
The Redgrave/Dunaway role is a small supporting part, not a lead.
| by Anonymous | reply 289 | July 8, 2021 8:14 AM |
Dunaway turned down Redgrave's Oscar winning role in JULIA. She won't be fooled twice!
| by Anonymous | reply 290 | July 8, 2021 8:19 AM |
Redgrave is basically retired at this point due to her health. She had a massive heart attack a few years ago and has severe, debilitating emphysema. Her husband Franco Nero is directing the Spacey film and she only considered doing it because he begged her to. As mentioned above it's an important part in the story but it's small and not a lead.
| by Anonymous | reply 291 | July 8, 2021 8:47 AM |
Nero and Redgrave are married and probably just used her name for publicity and financing. She never shot a foot of film.
| by Anonymous | reply 292 | July 8, 2021 1:55 PM |
Vanessa didn't want "L’Uomo Che Disegno Dio" to be her "Trog".
| by Anonymous | reply 293 | July 8, 2021 2:04 PM |
R293 Rigt, Spacey and Trog have very similar brow lines.
| by Anonymous | reply 294 | July 8, 2021 2:25 PM |
R92 Actually, 5 remakes. Interlude (1957) with June Allyson and Rossano Brazzi, was a remake of When Tomorrow Comes, a 1939 film starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer. Though maybe Interlude wasn't actually terrible.
The role of Annie Hayward in The Birds was intended for Anne Bancroft. Suzanne Pleshette (who had taken over the role of Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker from Bancroft on stage) ended up in the role.
The Yearling (1946) which starred Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman, and Claude Jarman, Jr., began filming around 1940 with the same roles played by Spencer Tracy, Anne Revere, and Gene Eckman. With King Vidor directing (Clarence Brown directed the 1946 version). Mosquitoes, flies, rain and other problems filming in Central Florida shut down the original film.
The role of Waldo Lydecker in Laura (1945) was originally cast with Laird Cregar (who died) and the director was Rouben Mamoulian. Otto Preminger, the producer, took over the film and cast Clifton Webb. Jennifer Jones was first choice for Laura. She was also first choice for the lead in Cass Timberlane, played by Lana Turner.
| by Anonymous | reply 295 | July 9, 2021 6:22 AM |
R295, Preminger wanted to use the song "Sophisticated Lady" as Laura's theme but couldn't get permission, so the song "Laura" was written and became a classic.
| by Anonymous | reply 296 | July 9, 2021 7:16 AM |
Take that, you little Israeli boy!
| by Anonymous | reply 298 | July 9, 2021 4:59 PM |
The role of Jonas Wilkerson, the overseer of Tara, in GWTW, was originally cast with character actor Robert Gleckler. After completing his first senes under the direction of George Cukor, on a Friday, Gleckler went home, and died. He was replaced by Victor Jory (and Cukor was later replaced by Victor Fleming).
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 299 | July 9, 2021 9:12 PM |
(pictured is Victor Jory.)
| by Anonymous | reply 300 | July 9, 2021 9:13 PM |
Victor Jory and Robert Coote appeared in a clumsy heterosexual rom-com in Australia in 1935.
But silly homosexuals claimed it was gay.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 301 | July 10, 2021 1:32 AM |
^ Sorry, should have been r299, see r204.
| by Anonymous | reply 303 | July 10, 2021 1:39 AM |
Oops, I read the first part of that post but missed the second paragraph.
| by Anonymous | reply 304 | July 10, 2021 4:37 AM |
In The Old Maid (1939), Humphrey Bogart was originally cast as Clem Spender, the love interest of Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins. Watching the rushes of a scene where Clem was leaving for the Civil War during a driving rain at a train station, producer Hal Wallis said Bogie "looked like a drowned rat." Not long after, he was replaced by George Brent.
| by Anonymous | reply 305 | July 10, 2021 10:07 PM |
In 1946, David O. Selznick started a remake of Little Women (which he had originally produced in 1933. starring Jennifer Jones. Also in it were Anne Revere (as , Diana Lynn, Bambi Lynn, and Charles Coburn. He called it off and sold the script to MGM, they remade it in 1948 (released in 1949) with June Allyson et al.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 307 | July 11, 2021 12:55 AM |
[Quote] Anne Revere (as , Diana Lynn, Bambi Lynn, and Charles Coburn
Ms Revere was a regular chameleon.
| by Anonymous | reply 308 | July 11, 2021 2:09 AM |
This is the first I'm reading of Emily Lloyd (whom I've never heard of before) being cast in Pretty Woman. I swear every year I hear a new story of some actress being offered that role and turning it down: Molly Ringwald, Jennifer Jason Leigh and now this Emily Lloyd woman. It reminds me of the Alex Forrest role in Fatal Attraction. Supposedly every actress and her mama was offered that part before homely Glenn Close had to beg the casting director to give her a shot. Casting trivia is so funny.
| by Anonymous | reply 309 | July 11, 2021 2:34 AM |
R308 I'm not drunk it's my cheap portable keyboard.
R309 Good English actress who has had a lot of mental health issues.
| by Anonymous | reply 310 | July 11, 2021 2:41 AM |
R309, Emily Lloyd was a hot (as in on fire) young actress for a brief minute. She won accolades for her debut performance in "Wish You Were Here," and Hollywood beckoned. However, mental illness sidelined her career.
| by Anonymous | reply 311 | July 11, 2021 2:53 AM |
Her father was Roger Lloyd Pack.
| by Anonymous | reply 312 | July 11, 2021 2:54 AM |
^ Is he related to homosexual, old Charles Lloyd Pack?
| by Anonymous | reply 313 | July 11, 2021 2:57 AM |
Emily Lloyd sued Orion Pictures for $5 million for breach of contract after being dropped from "Mermaids." She was awarded $175,000.
She then shot two weeks worth of footage for Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives" (as mentioned above), but Woody decided she just wasn't working out and replaced her with Juliette Lewis.
Next she was fired from "Tank Girl" supposedly because she refused to shave her head. Lloyd denied this, saying it was due to personality clashes with director, Rachel Talalay. Talalay called her "difficult." Lloyd says she went to pieces after this, thinking she was cursed.
| by Anonymous | reply 314 | July 11, 2021 3:19 AM |
Ballerina Vera Zorina was cast in For Whom The Bell Tolls opposite Gary Cooper and filmed for two weeks before being replaced by Ingrid Bergman.
| by Anonymous | reply 315 | July 11, 2021 3:31 AM |
[quote] Casting trivia is so funny.
And most of it is made up.
| by Anonymous | reply 316 | July 11, 2021 4:04 AM |
[quote]R307 In 1946, David O. Selznick started a remake of Little Women (which he had originally produced in 1933. starring Jennifer Jones.
Jennifer Jones isn’t a natural fit for Jo. She’s a Meg. It’s just as well the whole thing was jettisoned.
| by Anonymous | reply 317 | July 11, 2021 4:25 AM |
R317 I don't Jones would have wanted to be one in a cast of four. Selznick insisted she be THE star.
| by Anonymous | reply 318 | July 11, 2021 4:49 AM |
Interesting article on Lisa Eichorn being replaced by Streisand.
It doesn't sound like Hackman had an affair with her....it was the opposite. He wanted her gone.
Poor woman's career never recovered. She suffered another big loss when she was one of the tree finalists for Diane on Cheers but lost the role to Shelley Long (Julia Duffy was the third one.)
| by Anonymous | reply 319 | July 11, 2021 5:13 AM |
I couldn't find a link to where Eichhorn said that they had an affair.
[Quote] With Eichhorn cast by Tramont and approved by Hackman, it appeared everyone was on the same page as All Night Long began filming April 14, 1980. “Something happened that I really can’t pretend to know what it was,” J.D. Richter said. “Whether it suddenly occurred to [Hackman] that he needed a more famous name opposite him for his comeback? If he came to that realization, he came to it during production.”
[Quote] About three weeks into production, with only a handful of Eichhorn’s scenes filmed, she was fired. Richter said that Jean-Claude Tramont “was confronted with this horrible realization that Hackman was going to subvert the process because he so resented being opposite Lisa Eichhorn. He would be a pain in the ass to her, do weird little actorish things to her in her closeups, making it hard for her to be at her best. We could tell from the dailies it was not working. He was being cold to her in a weird, subtle way, and none of the Hackman charm was coming through.”
It sounds like there was a personal aspect to cause Hackman's behavior.
| by Anonymous | reply 320 | July 11, 2021 5:22 AM |
[Quote] She's (Streisand) the kind of actress who needs a project written for her, I think.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 321 | July 11, 2021 5:27 AM |
The Streisand site says that Eichhorn hadn't shot much but the production was three weeks into shooting. That's plenty of time for a messy fling.
| by Anonymous | reply 323 | July 11, 2021 5:36 AM |
[quote] It sounds like there was a personal aspect to cause Hackman's behavior.
Hackman is known to be a massive asshole on set. Ask the cast and crew of The Royal Tenenbaums.
| by Anonymous | reply 324 | July 11, 2021 5:45 AM |
Didn’t Sada Thompson campaign hard for the flirty role of Cheryl, too? Hackman was incredibly cruel to her during her screen test. I think he actually mooed at her.
| by Anonymous | reply 325 | July 11, 2021 6:21 AM |
Lisa Eichhorn and Loni Anderson are not two names I expected to read together as finalists for an acting role.
| by Anonymous | reply 326 | July 11, 2021 6:26 AM |
Emily Lloyd did complete production on A River Runs Through it directed by Redford and starring Brad Pitt, which was released in 1992, which would probably be the last A list credit she has on her resume. She also made a couple of high profile bombs, right after moving to Hollywood, including In Country with Bruce Willis and Cookie with Peter Falk.
| by Anonymous | reply 327 | July 11, 2021 7:16 AM |
R317 I think Rhonda Fleming was cast as Meg.
| by Anonymous | reply 328 | July 11, 2021 7:32 AM |
I've never seen Back To The Future because I don't like Michael J. Fox's one-note acting ability, and it always looked juvenile in clips. Stolz may not have been a clown, but he could have brought something substantial to the part instead of "WHOAA!".
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 329 | July 11, 2021 7:33 PM |
Eric Stoltz was replaced after most of the movie was shot. They knew he wasn't working in the part, and apparently wasn't very well liked. Fox was great.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 330 | July 11, 2021 7:58 PM |
R330, Whoa! Never heard this before. - said no one ever
| by Anonymous | reply 331 | July 11, 2021 11:46 PM |
[quote]This is the first I'm reading of Emily Lloyd (whom I've never heard of before) being cast in Pretty Woman.
There was something never quite right about her Pretty Woman claim. At one point, she said she turned down Pretty Woman to play Cher's daughter in Mermaids. Why would you turn down a female lead role to be in a movie where Cher was going to get all of the attention? Perhaps she had auditioned for Pretty Woman but had not gotten the contract and Mermaids was showing more interest?
[quote]s he related to homosexual, old Charles Lloyd Pack?
Her father was Roger Lloyd Pack who played the dim farmer on "The Vicar of Dibley." Her grandfather was Charles Lloyd Pack. Fun fact: Charles added the name "Lloyd" to make him sound posher because he thought it would get him more acting work.
| by Anonymous | reply 332 | July 12, 2021 12:02 AM |
After the floppage of Cookie, I can see why she might want to avoid Pretty Woman. Also, co-starring with Cher would mean that if the movie flopped, Lloyd wouldn't be blamed.
| by Anonymous | reply 333 | July 12, 2021 12:04 AM |
[quote]Also, co-starring with Cher would mean that if the movie flopped, Lloyd wouldn't be blamed.
She still would be blamed. Nobody was going to blame Cher for a flop. Cher is like Dolly Parton, they could be in the worst crap, but nobody is going to hold them responsible.
| by Anonymous | reply 334 | July 12, 2021 12:08 AM |
If that were true, Cher might still have a movie career. (Ditto Dolly Parton)
| by Anonymous | reply 335 | July 12, 2021 12:09 AM |
R313 I assumed he was homosexual because he played a dirty old man in that gay Victim movie. I don't know if that's so.
| by Anonymous | reply 336 | July 12, 2021 12:11 AM |
[quote]If that were true, Cher might still have a movie career. (Ditto Dolly Parton)
Cher could have had a movie career if she wanted one. She's handled herself very well in the movies including Jimmy Dean, Moonstruck and Tea With Mussolini. I think she was happy with being a singer and occasionally dabbling in the movies.
| by Anonymous | reply 337 | July 12, 2021 12:26 AM |
Cher killed her movie career when she had all that ridiculous plastic surgery. Who could she possibly play? Even her small role in Mamma Mia 2 was a joke. She looked ludicrous.
| by Anonymous | reply 338 | July 12, 2021 12:28 AM |
R338, Exactly. I love Cher and think she was a talented actress, but, in the film industry, it was common knowledge that she'd become very difficult to light and shoot. Check out her film Faithful for proof.
| by Anonymous | reply 339 | July 12, 2021 12:33 AM |
Oh God, thank God JJ didn't do Little Women. She always looked 10 years older than she was.
| by Anonymous | reply 340 | July 12, 2021 12:44 AM |
That being said, I think she made the right decision. Yes, she is a good actress, but as women age, the roles dry up. Cher made the decision to go with music and touring and she's had far more success in the past 20 years than she would have had in film, even if she hadn't had so much plastic surgery.
| by Anonymous | reply 341 | July 12, 2021 12:45 AM |
Cher's publicist visits DL, I see.
| by Anonymous | reply 342 | July 12, 2021 12:48 AM |
[quote]Stolz may not have been a clown, but he could have brought something substantial to the part instead of "WHOAA!".
Michael J. Fox and Joey Lawrence aren't the same person, dear.
| by Anonymous | reply 344 | July 12, 2021 2:32 AM |
[quote]I think he actually mooed at her
Big deal. I get that all the time.
| by Anonymous | reply 345 | July 12, 2021 2:33 AM |
I remember Sonny analyzing Cher's film career ending. His theory was that she has a short attention span and filming was tedious for her. Winning the Oscar proved she could do it and then she became less ambitious about it.
She also had problems with directors (Bogdonovitch, Frank Oz, Norman Jewison (?) I remember speculation when she didn't thank him in her Oscar speech.)
Sonny felt that movie making involved too much being told what to do by men and she'd lived thru that with him. He then laughed and said it was all his fault!
| by Anonymous | reply 346 | July 12, 2021 5:33 AM |
And they are not the same person as Keanu Reeves, R344.
| by Anonymous | reply 347 | July 12, 2021 5:35 AM |
Sonny proved he could handle villain roles in [italic]Airplane II: The Sequel[/italic] and [italic]Hairspray[/italic] more than competently.
| by Anonymous | reply 348 | July 12, 2021 5:36 AM |
Umm, didn't Sonny die before Cher's film career did?
| by Anonymous | reply 349 | July 12, 2021 6:33 AM |
no he died like 10 years after her film career died
| by Anonymous | reply 350 | July 12, 2021 6:40 AM |
