platinum fallacies

a pictorial odyssey of mid-century movie stars, sex symbols and legends

THE CASTING COUCH #9 

THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)

The film of this beloved stage musical set in motion the star careers of its leads …

… and proved to the world that she was no one-hit-wonder and he was no ne’er-do-well stage actor. 

When it came to casting, 20th Century Fox naturally wanted marquee names for the role of Maria and Captain von Trapp.  So before …

… was cast in the role of the nun-turned-governess, the part was offered to …

… who was originally envisioned as Maria when the film rights were obtained by the studio.  Unfortunately, she was busy filming another splashy Broadway hit.

Next it was offered to America’s Sweetheart and soon to turn 40-year-old …

… who turned it down apparently not wanting to break her hot streak of profitable sex comedies of the early 1960s.  The search for singing leading ladies led producers to that recent Oscar-winner and movie songbird …

… but she was unavailable, as was this bankable musical star …

… who was filming four films back-to-back and not able to commit to starring.

Before the handsome …

… was cast, that aptly autocratic and dynamic star …

… was considered; but despite his overwhelming success in another musical (about a Siamese king), producers passed on this bald-pated charmer.  Next in line for Captain von Trapp was distinguished Welsh thespian and one half of the world’s most celebrated couple … 

… and wouldn’t it have been smashing to get both …

… as a package deal?  Well, maybe not, as the famous antics of the decadent duo ran Cleopatra way into the red.  Who wants to deal with that headache?  Also sought was that swarthy Scotsman and brand new matinee idol …

… but he was busy shooting Goldfinger (literally).  Ultimately the role went to our courtly Canadian and this year’s Oscar winner for best supporting actor.

The coveted ingenue role of Liesel required both singing and dancing talents, and was filled by …

… whose only film this was before retiring to family life.  Prior to her casting, the short list for Liesel included smoldering redhead …

… but she was 86’ed because producers thought she looked too old next to Julie Andrews.  Also considered was Hollywood brat and the future Mrs. Frank Sinatra …

… who actually screen-tested, as did …

… (who was almost cast), and the fateful blonde starlet …

The final casting of all three parts was ideal, although I occasionally relish the image of the King of Siam butting heads with Mrs. Partridge while Elvis’ favorite sex kitten looks on.

SOMETHING’S GOT TO GIVE (1962) This is the unfinished 1962 feature film, directed by George Cukor, starring Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse. A remake of My Favorite Wife (1940), a screwball comedy starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, it was Monroe’s final work.  Its production was disrupted from the beginning by her personal troubles, and after her death on August 5, 1962, the film was abandoned. Most of its completed footage remained unseen for almost 40 years. During it’s brief production, Monroe came upon a novel publicity scheme by doing something no major Hollywood actress had done before. In the pool scene where Monroe’s character Ellen is taking an evening dip, she calls playfully up to Nick’s (Dean Martin) bedroom window and invites him to join her. Nick tells her to get out of the pool when he realizes she is nude. A body stocking was made for Monroe, but she doffed it and swam in just a flesh-colored bikini bottom.  The set was closed to all but the base crew; however, the crafty Marilyn invited photographers in afterwards and posed for them with and without the bikini bottom. Had Something’s Got To Give been completed and released as planned, it would have been the first major Hollywood motion picture release of the sound era to feature a mainstream star in the nude.  That honor almost went to the much younger Natalie Wood, who filmed a brief nude scene in Splendor in the Grass the previous year.  Director Elia Kazan, however, cut all nudity out of the final version.  Ultimately, the distinction goes to Jayne Mansfield in Promises! Promises! (1963). When George Cukor fired Monroe for chronic absence & tardiness, he replaced her with Lee Remick, who was fitted into Monroe’s costumes and photographed on the set.  But Dean Martin had final approval of his leading lady, and refused to continue without Monroe.  He may have believed that there was no other leading lady with Marilyn’s star power, but Martin was a notoriously lazy actor, and starring alongside a less spectacular star like Remick might result in more time and work expended on Dean’s part to carry the film as the sole box-office draw. The overarching decision to fire Monroe was largely influenced by the dreadfully slow progress of Fox’s epic film Cleopatra, also in production that summer in Rome and far over its budget due in no small part to the excesses and indulgences of that other tempestuous superstar, Elizabeth Taylor.  Executives had planned for a Christmas 1962 release for Something’s Got To Give as a source of revenue to offset Cleopatra’s increasing cost.   Fox, worried about losing both Dean and Marilyn, finally relented and re-hired her, even agreeing to pay her more than her previous salary of $100,000; however, she had to agree to make two more films for Fox. She accepted the offer on the condition that Cukor be     replaced with Jean Negulesco, who directed her in  How to Marry a Millionaire 10 years earlier. Filming was set to resume in  October 1962, but work ceased after  Monroe’s death in August. Shortly thereafter, Fox began production on a slightly revised screenplay and utilized some of the sets from the abandoned film, as well as costumes and hair styles designed for Monroe.  Retitled Move Over, Darling, it stars Doris Day, James Garner and Polly Bergen, in the roles intended for Monroe, Martin and Cyd Charisse, respectively, and was released in December 1963.   Doris brought decidedly less overt sexiness to the part than Marilyn would have, and there was certainly no nude pool scene!  But she was at the top of her game in 1963 and a major box-office draw (more so than Marilyn, even), so Move Over Darling became a huge hit worldwide.

SOMETHING’S GOT TO GIVE (1962)

This is the unfinished 1962 feature film, directed by George Cukor, starring Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse. A remake of My Favorite Wife (1940), a screwball comedy starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, it was Monroe’s final work.  Its production was disrupted from the beginning by her personal troubles, and after her death on August 5, 1962, the film was abandoned. Most of its completed footage remained unseen for almost 40 years.

During it’s brief production, Monroe came upon a novel publicity scheme by doing something no major Hollywood actress had done before. In the pool scene where Monroe’s character Ellen is taking an evening dip, she calls playfully up to Nick’s (Dean Martin) bedroom window and invites him to join her. Nick tells her to get out of the pool when he realizes she is nude. A body stocking was made for Monroe, but she doffed it and swam in just a flesh-colored bikini bottom.  The set was closed to all but the base crew; however, the crafty Marilyn invited photographers in afterwards and posed for them with and without the bikini bottom.

Had Something’s Got To Give been completed and released as planned, it would have been the first major Hollywood motion picture release of the sound era to feature a mainstream star in the nude.  That honor almost went to the much younger Natalie Wood, who filmed a brief nude scene in Splendor in the Grass the previous year.  Director Elia Kazan, however, cut all nudity out of the final version.  Ultimately, the distinction goes to Jayne Mansfield in Promises! Promises! (1963).

When George Cukor fired Monroe for chronic absence & tardiness, he replaced her with Lee Remick, who was fitted into Monroe’s costumes and photographed on the set.  But Dean Martin had final approval of his leading lady, and refused to continue without Monroe.  He may have believed that there was no other leading lady with Marilyn’s star power, but Martin was a notoriously lazy actor, and starring alongside a less spectacular star like Remick might result in more time and work expended on Dean’s part to carry the film as the sole box-office draw.

The overarching decision to fire Monroe was largely influenced by the dreadfully slow progress of Fox’s epic film Cleopatra, also in production that summer in Rome and far over its budget due in no small part to the excesses and indulgences of that other tempestuous superstar, Elizabeth Taylor.  Executives had planned for a Christmas 1962 release for Something’s Got To Give as a source of revenue to offset Cleopatra’s increasing cost.

 

Fox, worried about losing both Dean and Marilyn, finally relented and re-hired her, even agreeing to pay her more than her previous salary of $100,000; however, she had to agree to make two more films for Fox.

She accepted the offer on the condition that Cukor be     replaced with Jean Negulesco, who directed her in  How to Marry a Millionaire 10 years earlier. Filming was set to resume in  October 1962, but work ceased after  Monroe’s death in August.

Shortly thereafter, Fox began production on a slightly revised screenplay and utilized some of the sets from the abandoned film, as well as costumes and hair styles designed for Monroe.  Retitled Move Over, Darling, it stars Doris Day, James Garner and Polly Bergen, in the roles intended for Monroe, Martin and Cyd Charisse, respectively, and was released in December 1963.  

Doris brought decidedly less overt sexiness to the part than Marilyn would have, and there was certainly no nude pool scene!  But she was at the top of her game in 1963 and a major box-office draw (more so than Marilyn, even), so Move Over Darling became a huge hit worldwide.

(via hardyandnelson)

Source audreyandmarilyn

Reblogged from Audrey and Marilyn

1981: TOPS AT THE BOX OFFICE, Part 2

Based on the top 20 domestic box office grosses of 1981, from boxofficemojo.com

Moviegoers watched these ladies the most during 1981.  Counting down from Number 10 …


10.  TIME BANDITS    Shelley Duvall (with Michael Palin)

9.  THE FOUR SEASONS    Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno and Bess Armstrong (with Jack Weston, Alan Alda and Len Cariou)

8.  FOR YOUR EYES ONLY   Carole Bouquet (with Roger Moore)    

Bond Girls

7.  CHARIOTS OF FIRE    Alice Krige (with Ben Cross)

6.  THE CANNONBALL RUN    Farrah Fawcett (with Burt Reynolds)

Tara Buckman and Adrienne Barbeau

5.  STRIPES    Sean Young and PJ Soles (with Bill Murray and Harold Ramis)

4.  ARTHUR    Liza Minnelli (with Dudley Moore) 

3.  SUPERMAN II    Margot Kidder (with Christopher Reeve)

2.  ON GOLDEN POND    Katharine Hepburn and Jane Fonda (with Henry Fonda)

1.  RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK    Karen Allen

1981: TOPS AT THE BOX OFFICE, Part 1

Based on the top 20 domestic box office grosses of 1981 from, boxofficemojo.com

Moviegoers watched these ladies the most during 1981.  Counting down from Number 20 …

20.  BUSTIN’ LOOSE    Cicely Tyson (with Richard Pryor)

19.  HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART I    Madeline Kahn

18.  EXCALIBUR    Helen Mirren

17.  SHARKEY’S MACHINE    Rachel Ward (with Burt Reynolds)

16.  TAPS

15.  TARZAN, THE APE MAN    Bo Derek

14.  THE FOX AND THE HOUND

13.  REDS    Diane Keaton (with Jack Nicholson & Warren Beatty)

12.  ABSENCE OF MALICE    Sally Field (with Paul Newman)

11.  CLASH OF THE TITANS    (L to R) Ursula Andress, Claire Bloom, Maggie Smith and Susan Fleetwood

PART 2, Coming Soon …

Susan George England’s leading teen sexpot of the late 60’s also enjoyed some success in the US.  She starred in the hit films Straw Dogs (1972) with Dustin Hoffman and Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974) with Peter Fonda. George also has the distinction of being the only show business personality invited to the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981 (she dated the groom for a brief time). lifeonmars70s:

Susan George


England’s leading teen sexpot of the late 60’s also enjoyed some success in the US.  She starred in the hit films Straw Dogs (1972) with Dustin Hoffman and Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974) with Peter Fonda.

George also has the distinction of being the only show business personality invited to the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981 (she dated the groom for a brief time).

lifeonmars70s:

(via smashingbird)

Source

Reblogged from girls girls girls