Cinema BackStory: The Casting Call

The date was December 10, 1938 and a massive two-year search was underway for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in the best selling novel turned film Gone with the Wind. The setting was Hollywood’s 40 Acres backlot where a party was taking place to watch the filming of the burning of Atlanta. 

The burning of Atlanta on the 40 Acres lot

Everyone from studio bigwigs and celebrities to secretaries and firemen watched the sets from King Kong go up in flames while dining on spaghetti, baked potatoes and turkey-a-la-king. Partygoer and talent agent Myron Selznick (and brother of the film’s producer David O.) showed up late – and quite inebriated – for the evening’s festivities with his client, celebrated British actor Laurence Olivier. 

Olivier and Leigh

On the arm of the very married Shakespearean actor was his lover, the dark haired green-eyed beauty Vivien Leigh who was also a Selznick client and dying to play the part of Scarlett. Ever the opportunist and dressed to kill in a mink coat and full stage makeup, David Selznick spots Leigh amid the burning embers as brother Myron remarks, “Hey genius, here’s your Scarlett O’Hara.” Two screen tests and three weeks later, Leigh beats out thirty-two actresses along with thousands of unknowns for the coveted role and the rest was cinematic history.

One of the main contenders was Paulette Goddard who possibly lost the part as Selznick wanted to avoid a scandal revolving around her questionable marital status with Charlie Chaplin. (The situation was ripe with irony as Leigh and Olivier -- both married to other people --  were living together at the time as well). Lana Turner, Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Bennett, Lucille Ball and Katherine Hepburn were also considered.

Paulette Goddard

David Selznick on the set of GWTW 

Many of our favorite films could have taken a different turn due to casting choices. Both Candice Bergen and Robert Redford screen tested for the roles of Elaine Robinson and Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate and were turned down. Redford was told by director Mike Nichols that "he could never play a loser in a million years." The iconic "loser" role launched the career of Dustin Hoffman.

America's quintessential screen virgin Doris Day was considered for the predatory Mrs. Robinson  who remarked, "I cannot see myself rolling around in the sheets with a young man half my age that I'd seduced." Fortunately Anne Bancroft could and received an Academy Award for her effort not to mention a great set of highlights.

The part of Thomas Crown was originally written for Sean Connery by screenwriter Alan Trustman who worried Steve McQueen would not effectively be able to deliver the dialogue. The part was later rewritten with "The King of Cool" in mind who said it was one of his all-time favorite roles.

Hugh Grant was said to be "kicking himself" over the Academy Award winning role in The King's Speech -- a career move that is certainly a head scratcher.

Hugh Grant

Academy Award winning actor Colin Firth

Jeff Bridges was up for the part of Oliver in Love Story (he was also up for Big, Officer and a Gentleman, Taxi Driver, Shawshank Redemption and Indiana Jones) which solidified Ryan O'Neal's place in film. (And speaking of Officer and A Gentleman, John Denver turned down the lead in Officer, imagine him alongside Debra Winger).

a very young Jeff Bridges

Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw. Fresh off of Peyton Place,
co-star Barbara Parkins  auditioned for the role  of Jenny

I love a good backstory and it's always interesting to think what might have been. Tupac turned down Bubba in Forrest Gump?  Christopher Walken as Jesus Christ in The Temptation of Christ? (I can see Saturday Night Live now). And OJ as the lead in The Terminator? Producers feared the former NFL great turned felon would not be taken seriously as a killer  -- and  I promise I did not make that up:).

Photo Credits: Paramount, MGM, Weinstein Company, Embassy Pictures, MGM

Here's to You Graduates (and Mrs. Robinson)

June is graduation month and what a great time to revisit one of my all time favorite movies The Graduate (1967). With its reflective Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack, risque-at-the-time older married woman and young graduate/virgin theme coupled with two sixties keep-up-with-the-Joneses families in southern California, the film was a major statement on the times.

For those of you who have not seen this classic (hard to imagine), a young graduate named Benjamin Braddock (played by a thirty year old Dustin Hoffman) has no clue about what to do with his future and spends the summer embroiled in an affair with his parent's best friend's wife -- and then falls in love with her daughter. Incidentally, Ava Gardner, Judy Garland and Robert Redford and Warren Beatty were up for the roles as Mrs. R and Benjamin respectively while Patty Duke tested for the role of the daughter. Just imagine what a different movie that would have been. The groundbreaking film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, with Mike Nichols winning best director.

I was very fortunate years ago to interview the film's production designer the late Richard Sylbert who also gave us such classics as Chinatown, Shampoo, Rosemary's Baby and Bonfire of the Vanities (and also added head of production at Paramount to his resume). His twin brother Paul was also a production designer whose many credits included Heaven Can Wait, Prince of Tides and Kramer vs. Kramer. Sylbert lived and played hard and always wore a khaki jacket on set as he related movie production work to "being in a war."

Sylbert on the set of Bonfire of the Vanities

The sets for The Graduate revolved around the two families, the Robinsons and the Braddocks. Using the metaphor of the Montagues and Capulets, Sylbert designed two houses  that were identical but the designs are reversed and both in black and white and round versus square shapes. The Robinsons have a round staircase, round arches and a rectangular swimming pool while the Braddocks residence has square or rectangular openings. Both houses are an interplay of contrasts from the marble checkerboard floors to Mrs. R's white shag carpet lair. Even "Mr. Gladstone's" hotel room is white with black accents.

Mrs. R's Bedroom

Anne Bancroft's Mrs. R was costumed in leopard (I love the fact she wears a leopard pillbox hat to her daughter's wedding!) which represents another metaphor, that of a predator (and yes, possibly she was the precursor to "cougars").

                                                       Photo by Bob Willoughby

And the iconic image still so identifiable today....

Movie Poster

Illustrator Harold Michaelson's storyboards

Check out the 40th anniversary edition on DVD, it is still a classic.

Photo Credits: Lillian Michaelson Research Library, United Artists

Movie Art: Collecting Vintage Posters

While commercialism is often front and center in the design of a movie poster, the designs can also be works of art. Since the beginning of film, posters (also known as "one sheets") have been a primary marketing tool used to publicize a film and fill the seats. Vintage posters (along with stills and lobby cards) have become hot collector's items over the years and have been known to fetch anywhere from $500 to $20,000 or more at auction.

At a Christie's auction in London last November, a rare one of three Casablanca posters created for the American ad campaign drew $109,000 while Attack of the 50 ft. Woman sold for $23,900 and the Bond films such as From Russia with Love went for around $22,600. As with any collection, buy what you love and the older and more vintage, the better.

Whether classic or contemporary, the following have made many top lists for both design and popularity as a collectible:

With its iconic image of the little black dress and cigarette holder, the poster for Breakfast at Tiffany's is just as stylish today as it was in l961.

All About Eve (1950) depicts the film's wit and sardonic humor with this design...

Faye Dunaway's iconic image for the Chinatown (1974) poster became a classic...


as did the haunting face of Mia Farrow in Roman Polanski's 1968 horror Rosemary's Baby.

The design for The Graduate (1967) is one of the most instantly recognizable images in film....

while the simplicity and color of the design for Sullivan's Travels (1941) makes this a sought after poster.

Through film posters we can see traces of the styles of the times...

Orson Welles' The Lady From Shanghai was classic forties...


as was A Hard Day's Night in the sixties, Mahogany in the seventies and Moonstruck in the late eighties...

Experts recommend learning everything there is to know about the market and selecting a niche (for example, a genre such as film noir, etc.) and concentrating on that. Foreign posters tend to demand more (a German poster of Breakfast at Tiffany's went for $17,500). While vintage is certainly a hot area, consider how popular a recent release will be in the years to come. Posters can be found at auctions, ebay, and websites such as filmposters.com and emovieposter.com auctions.

Two of the best books on the subject is the Art of the Modern Movie Poster (Judith Salavetz, Chronicle, 2008) and A Century of Movie Posters: From Silent to Art House (Emily King, Barron's, 2003) Both are available on Amazon.