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"Great Race Could-a-beens"
Fuel for your fantasies: According to IMDB, Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, Lee Remick, Jane Fonda, Pamela Tiffin and Stefanie Powers were considered for the role of Maggie DuBois. Another entry says Fonda was the first choice.
Now, these "being considered" items that appeared in the Hollywood press of the time were often plants by press agents and had no real basis in fact. Still, we can fantasize.
Now, these "being considered" items that appeared in the Hollywood press of the time were often plants by press agents and had no real basis in fact. Still, we can fantasize.
Wow, I would've loved to have seen Audrey Hepburn messy!
I think the best pick for the role would have been Stefanie Powers because most of the rest, including Natalie Wood had a reputation for being divas on the set and Powers was known to be a more down to earth sport for slapstick fun.
The casting of Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood was a disastrous teaming choice for Blake Edwards. I doubt he had wanted either actor and that decision was made by the producers and studio execs. Placing Curtis and Wood together would be like nitro and glycerine together because both were well known for temper tantrums and unprofessional behavior on film sets.
Wood's past behavior is well known and Curtis was constantly turning up late or not at all and for smoking pot constantly on the set. His work with Roger Moore in "The Persuaders" was infamous...e.g. on the first day of filming he flew into Heathrow Airport and was arrested for carrying drugs and failed to show up for shooting and then the director had to bail him out of jail in order to get him on the set. Roger Moore was very gracious and refused to say anything negative about Curtis except to say in later years...."never again" but their co star in one episode, Joan Collins, went into great detail about how Curtis made that tv series a living hell for Moore and the rest of the crew.
Wood had a similar reputation for film set disruptions. I think The Great Race should have been called The Battle of the Divas...because it was. Blake Edwards managed to persevere and get the film completed, but I think he would have had a much more enjoyable experience if he had Stefanie Powers instead.
There are many "what if" casting changes where you wonder if the film could have been better if the original choice was made, i.e. Shelley Winters only got her role in "The Poseidon Adventure" because the role was written for Esther Williams to be her comeback role. They offered the role to her but she was forced to drop out due to her husband, "You look Mahvelous" Fernando Lamas. Fernando was a macho man who did not want his wife to work any more and forced her into retirement instead. I would have liked to have seen Esther in that film, but Fernando forced her to drop out.
The casting of Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood was a disastrous teaming choice for Blake Edwards. I doubt he had wanted either actor and that decision was made by the producers and studio execs. Placing Curtis and Wood together would be like nitro and glycerine together because both were well known for temper tantrums and unprofessional behavior on film sets.
Wood's past behavior is well known and Curtis was constantly turning up late or not at all and for smoking pot constantly on the set. His work with Roger Moore in "The Persuaders" was infamous...e.g. on the first day of filming he flew into Heathrow Airport and was arrested for carrying drugs and failed to show up for shooting and then the director had to bail him out of jail in order to get him on the set. Roger Moore was very gracious and refused to say anything negative about Curtis except to say in later years...."never again" but their co star in one episode, Joan Collins, went into great detail about how Curtis made that tv series a living hell for Moore and the rest of the crew.
Wood had a similar reputation for film set disruptions. I think The Great Race should have been called The Battle of the Divas...because it was. Blake Edwards managed to persevere and get the film completed, but I think he would have had a much more enjoyable experience if he had Stefanie Powers instead.
There are many "what if" casting changes where you wonder if the film could have been better if the original choice was made, i.e. Shelley Winters only got her role in "The Poseidon Adventure" because the role was written for Esther Williams to be her comeback role. They offered the role to her but she was forced to drop out due to her husband, "You look Mahvelous" Fernando Lamas. Fernando was a macho man who did not want his wife to work any more and forced her into retirement instead. I would have liked to have seen Esther in that film, but Fernando forced her to drop out.
Do unto others, then run
wamtec said: I think the best pick for the role would have been Stefanie Powers because most of the rest, including Natalie Wood had a reputation for being divas on the set and Powers was known to be a more down to earth sport for slapstick fun.
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Great info, thanks. Stephanie Powers would have been amazing in that role. And, yes, easier for the production as well !
As I recall. BE wanted someone like Elke Sommer or Britt Ekland for the role. The studio wanted Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood, but their recent divorce left that idea in the dust. Still, they persisted on Curtis and Wood, which was hell on the production, as previously mentioned.
I can only imagine (and wish) to have seen Powers or Sommer in that role, in the pie fight, wearing even less:more 1960s than 1910s wardrobe. Alas. Maybe in an alternate universe.
wamtec said: There are many "what if" casting changes where you wonder if the film could have been better if the original choice was made, i.e. Shelley Winters only got her role in "The Poseidon Adventure" because the role was written for Esther Williams to be her comeback role. They offered the role to her but she was forced to drop out due to her husband, "You look Mahvelous" Fernando Lamas. Fernando was a macho man who did not want his wife to work any more and forced her into retirement instead. I would have liked to have seen Esther in that film, but Fernando forced her to drop out.
Esther Williams would have been amazing (and it makes so much more sense). Still, it's a small consolation that she outlived Lamas by 30 odd years.
Bringing pleasure to literally tens of people!
PieWriter said:
I can only imagine (and wish) to have seen Powers or Sommer in that role, in the pie fight, wearing even less:more 1960s than 1910s wardrobe. Alas. Maybe in an alternate universe.
I can only imagine (and wish) to have seen Powers or Sommer in that role, in the pie fight, wearing even less:more 1960s than 1910s wardrobe. Alas. Maybe in an alternate universe.
You do not have to imagine an alternate universe any more.
We now have A.I. and DeepFake technology editing tools available that make it possible to remove original faces and substitute them with any face you care to paste in. It would just take a few days of editing trickery in order to make Natalie Wood disappear and for Stephanie Powers to appear in that pie fight. Just look at these face swapping deepfage videos...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PINeQV0LH6k
Do unto others, then run
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True enough about the deepfakes. What a scary, wonderful time we live in.
As far as alternate casting for Ms Dubois, from what I've read, Natalie was the studio's first and only choice for the role. The Great Leslie role was considered for several actors, as mentioned above, but the studio heads insisted on Woods from the get go. She was contractually obligated and the whole production was a chore for her. Shame on all counts.
I, too, count it as the single most erotic three and a half minutes of film ever produced. Blew my mind when I first saw it.
As far as alternate casting for Ms Dubois, from what I've read, Natalie was the studio's first and only choice for the role. The Great Leslie role was considered for several actors, as mentioned above, but the studio heads insisted on Woods from the get go. She was contractually obligated and the whole production was a chore for her. Shame on all counts.
I, too, count it as the single most erotic three and a half minutes of film ever produced. Blew my mind when I first saw it.
I think The Great Race should have been called The Battle of the Divas...because it was. Blake Edwards managed to persevere and get the film completed....
IIRC, Edwards insisted on personally throwing most of the pies directed at Natalie, specifically because she was such a pain in the ass.
I personally am happy with Natalie Wood as DuBois. While I wouldn't have minded (wouldn't mind) seeing 1964's Jane Fonda or Stephanie Powers getting hit with all those pies. Wood was incredibly hot then. Take a look at her previous film, "Sex and the Single Girl"
Biographies of her say that she was upset that Edwards, Curtis and Lemmon picked on her during the filming. She and Curtis did not like each other but the studio apparently felt they had some chemistry, because in this period they were often paired. DuBois and Leslie are scripted to not like each other, too.
Biographies also say she was convinced to do "Great Race" because she was promised "Inside Daisy Clover," which she really wanted. She did take an overdose of sleeping pills at the end of GR's filming -- accidental or intentional? The new documentary (on Max) by her daughter, of course says accidental.
Biographies of her say that she was upset that Edwards, Curtis and Lemmon picked on her during the filming. She and Curtis did not like each other but the studio apparently felt they had some chemistry, because in this period they were often paired. DuBois and Leslie are scripted to not like each other, too.
Biographies also say she was convinced to do "Great Race" because she was promised "Inside Daisy Clover," which she really wanted. She did take an overdose of sleeping pills at the end of GR's filming -- accidental or intentional? The new documentary (on Max) by her daughter, of course says accidental.
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