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Hepburn snubbed by 'Wind' producers
HOLLYWOOD ... There was never a casting search to equal the hunt for Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind." Katherine Hepburn wanted to play Scarlett. So did Bette Davis. (So did every other actress in Hollywood.) After her test, Hepburn wasn't considered sexy enough to play Scarlett. Loretta Young was considered, but she refused to test for the role, so she was out. Then the search was on all over the country for maybe an unknown actress. No go.
So back to Hollywood again where Jean Arthur, Miriam Hopkins and Susan Hayward were considered. All tested. All were wrong. Even Tallulah Bankhead let it be known she would give anything to play Scarlett. She was later offered the role of Belle Watling, the Atlanta madam, but turned it down. Two and one half years later, David S e l z n i c k was forced to start production without a Scarlett.
Joan Bennett, Katharine Hepburn and Frances Deo were still in the running, and so was Paulette Goddard, but none of them were right. Selznick went on record as saying that "if push came to shove they would go with Hepburn." On the night the burning of Atlanta was being shot, Selznick's brother Myron (a Hollywood agent) appeared with British actress Vivien Leigh, introducing her to his brother as Scarlett O'Hara. She was immediately tested, proved to be perfect even down to her Southern accent, and she was signed to play Scarlett O'Hara. The rest of that is also screen history.
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When "Gone With the Wind" was about to be made, not only was the search on for an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara, it was also on for Rhett Butler. Producer, director, et al. wanted Clark Gable from the beginning, BUT Gable himself didn't "Wanna." When he was first offered the role he turned it down and suggested Ronald Colman. Colman was avid for the role, but producers wanted only Gable, who finally capitulated because he fell madly in love with Carole Lombard. Trouble was, he was already married to Rhea Langdom, who demanded a fortune for a divorce. The only way Gable could get that fortune was to take the role of Rhett and "get the gelt." "Gone With the Wind" is still the most popular movie ever made, and at this writing is owned by Ted Turner.
MORE CASTING: Would you believe that Mae West was Billy Wilder's first choice to play Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard"? BELIEVE. Her reaction was just short of violent. Highly insulted for being asked to play a mad woman, she immediately turned Wilder down, making perhaps the worst decision of her career. Then, believe it or not, America's sweetheart Mary Pickford was approached. She also turned it down, finding the character and the story "perverted and cruel." Then screen siren Pola Negri was sought for the part. She didn't want to play a washedup old actress. Gloria Swanson was finally approached. She said, "Yes," which was the smartest move of her career. The rest is movie history.
And speaking of "Sunset Boulevard," did you know that Montgomery Clift refused the role that went to William Holden because he felt the premise of a younger man living with an older woman would hurt his image. But then in real life Clift lived with singer Libby Holman, who was twice his age.
(c) 2006 King Features Synd., Inc.
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