Books

Casting Might-Have-Beens: A Film-by-Film Directory of Actors Considered For Roles Given To Others

Average customer rating:

A Day at the Movies
One that'll never leave your library...
Enjoyable and Interesting Reference Guide
AMAZING REFERENCE GUIDE - READ FOR HOURS!
Utterly vomitous pulp and even more self-aggrandizing

Casting Might-Have-Beens: A Film-by-Film Directory of Actors Considered For Roles Given To Others
Eila Mell
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0786420170

Book Description

Some acting careers are made by one great role and some fall into obscurity when one is declined. Would Al Pacino be the star he is today if Robert Redford had accepted the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather? Imagine Tom Hanks rejecting Uma Thurman, saying that she acted like someone in a high school play when she auditioned to play opposite him in The Bonfire of the Vanities. Picture Danny Thomas as The Godfather, or Marilyn Monroe as Cleopatra. This reference work lists hundreds of such stories: actors who didn't get cast or who turned down certain parts.

Each entry, organized alphabetically by film title, gives the character and actor cast, a list of other actors considered for that role, and the details of the casting decision. Information is drawn from extensive research and interviews. From About Last Night (which John Belushi turned down at his brother's urging) to Zulu (in which Michael Caine was not cast because he didn't look "Cockney" enough), this book lets you imagine how different your favorite films could have been.

Customer Reviews:

A Day at the Movies.......2006-02-09

My son got me this book because I'm always bugging him during movies and saying things like "you know that was supposed to be..." (we just watched Amadeus, and Meg Tilly was supposed to be Mozart's wife in that, but hurt herself a day before filming began); So for me, it was a perfect gift.
A must for movie lovers, or people that never had a problem with the "entertainment" category on Trivial Pursuit.
I loved it, and still do.

One that'll never leave your library..........2006-02-09

This is one of those books (in the vein of a great movie guide, like the ones I love by Leonard Matlin and Pauline Kael) that I'm constantly picking up and just leafing through. No matter where I open it, there's always a find I'm interested in.
After reading the whole thing once, I wanted more. Painstaking research on the author's part makes for a great ride for the film buff. Some "might have beens" I'd heard of, such as Lee Remmick in Mary Tyler Moore's role in "Ordinary People", but many, many others I would have had no idea about.
Not only researched well, but also organized down to the last detail.

Enjoyable and Interesting Reference Guide.......2005-12-17

I have to applaud Mr. Martinez sentiments. I totally enjoyed this book, and found many interesting suprises. This forum should be reviews about the book, not about personal jabs at the author or her readers. I was amazed to see this insulting review posted. There is not one example of why this book is not credible, but yet he attacks the author. May I suggest that Mr. Dobkin re-evaluate himself as a Critic at Large because if you are a critic this was the most assine review I have ever read. Why so Bitchy? Did Ms. Mell do something to you in your past? Do you even know Ms.Mell? Or from the bitchiness of this review, does a "partner" of yours have a problem with her?
I can't even believe that I am responding to such nonesense,but when I saw it, and Mr. Martinez review I couldnt pass up the opportunity to give Mr. Martinez 2 thumbs up...Mr Dobkin 2 Thumbs Down, and Ms. Mell 4 Stars!!!
As for the book I echo Mr. Martinez and Mr. Liotta reviews. It is so fascinating to see what might have been. Would the Graduate have been a classic with Robert Redford? or Could anyone imagine anyone else as Marlon Brando in The Godfather? Some choices you say OK that would have been great, and others you say what were they thinking... It's the perfect book for Film buffs, and Movie Enthusiasts!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!

AMAZING REFERENCE GUIDE - READ FOR HOURS!.......2005-12-15

Have you ever gone to a bookstore, picked up a reference or fun fact book and not been able to put it down? Ms. Mell's work is one of those books.
Chock full of information and exhaustively researched, you'll be amazed at who turned down certain roles or who auditioned for others. Imagine my surprise to discover that Peter Sellers was considered for the part of Leo Bloom in the original "The Producers". Every entry is carefully referenced!
As far as the previous reviewer (Gary J. Dobkin), I can't possibly understand what his personal attack on Ms. Mell is based on. He goes on, not only to criticize a book that he probably hasn't read, but continues his own "self-aggrandizing" review by insinuating that the other positive reviewers for this book aren't intelligent enough to know any better.

To that, I will only say the following: Mr. Dobkin's claim that Ms. Mell is "getting the facts wrong or simply not getting the facts" isn't backed up by any examples or contrary information. It seems Mr. Dobkin's "Critic At Large" title seems to be just that. An extensive Google Search of "Gary J. Dobkin" who proclaims to be "firmly entrenched" in entertainment journalism, yielded absolutely nothing.

Utterly vomitous pulp and even more self-aggrandizing.......2005-12-14

One can't quite be sure of which crime Ms. Mell emerges more guilty with her little tome; getting the facts wrong or simply not getting the facts. One wonders if perhaps she was one of those mindless children who simply spent her days languishing in the prison of fantasy, endlessly casting and re-casting films for her own silly preoccupation by dint of needing to escape some deep, dark secret. Either way, her book emerges as laughable at best and a travesty at worst, and serves to literally and liberally spew poison over cinematic history as we know it. Not only is it not worth the cost, one can only hope that some naive publisher will never, ever see fit to entertain so much as one proposal with regard to her so-called "work." With respect to my fellow reviewers on this page, I'm simply unsure that any of them is of sound enough mind to critique a sure-fire hit, much less this extremely meager excuse for investigative reportage. The literary world in general and the world of entertainment journalism in particular, in which this critic is firmly entrenched, will rest much easier when Ms. Mell has put her wretched example of a career very firmly upon the proverbial back burner.

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