Filichia's "Hollywood Blew It" List

[Enjolras77]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 1:47pm

I always enjoy reading Filichia's columns and this week he unveiled his list of the top 50 instances where the Broadway originator of a role was mistakenly passed over for the movie version. They are counted down from #50 to #1. He does give himself guidelines to work by (for instance if the originator was too old or deceased by the time the movie version was made). He makes some very interesting choices, some that I agree with and others I don't. I would highly recommend following the link to the actual column to read his reasonings behind each choice. Here is his list:

50. Betty Buckley, 1776

49. Bob Hope, Roberta

48. Charlotte Rae, L’il Abner

47. Charles Nelson Reilly, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying

46. David Burns, Hello, Dolly!

45. Reid Shelton, Annie

44. Isabel Bigley, Guys and Dolls

43. David Burns, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

42. Paula Laurence, Something for the Boys

41. Maria Karnilova, Fiddler on the Roof

40. Lotte Lenya, Cabaret

39. Kay Medford, Bye Bye Birdie

38. Hildegarde Knef, Silk Stockings

37. Stephanie Mills, The Wiz

36. Nancy Walker, On the Town

35. Barbara Cook, The Music Man

34. Gwen Verdon, Can-Can

33. Walter Huston, Knickerbocker Holiday

32. Sam Levene, Guys and Dolls

31. Mary Martin, One Touch of Venus

30. Bert Lahr, DuBarry Was a Lady

28. Ray Bolger, On Your Toes

29. Ethel Merman, DuBarry Was a Lady

27. Ethel Merman, Panama Hattie

26. Ethel Merman, Something for the Boys

25. Elizabeth Seal, Irma La Douce

24. Danny Kaye, Let’s Face It

23. Betty Comden and Adolph Green, On the Town

22. Vera Zorina, I Married an Angel

21. Georgia Brown, Oliver!

20. Glynis Johns, A Little Night Music

19. Carol Channing, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

18. Richard Burton, Camelot

17. Alfred Drake, Kiss Me, Kate

16. Zero Mostel, Fiddler on the Roof

15. Larry Kert, West Side Story

14. Alfred Drake, Kismet

13. Richard Kiley, Man of La Mancha

12. Chita Rivera, Bye Bye Birdie

11. Dorothy Loudon, Annie

10. Gwen Verdon, Sweet Charity

9. Tammy Grimes, The Unsinkable Molly Brown

8. Mary Martin, South Pacific

7. Barbara Harris, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

6. Gertrude Lawrence, Lady in the Dark

5. Julie Andrews, Camelot

4. Carol Channing, Hello, Dolly!

3. Angela Lansbury, Mame

2. Julie Andrews, My Fair Lady

1. Ethel Merman, Gypsy

http://www.theatermania.com/peterfilichia/

[justme2]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 1:53pm

I thought this column was great as well. I, too, am an avid reader of his column and enjoy his insight and well as his quizzes.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 1:55pm

Great list.

Sad that Julie has TWO in the top 10.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 1:59pm

I agree with all of his choices, though I might put Channing's DOLLY in the 1 or 2 slot. Audrey Hepburn wasn't bad as Eliza...she was quite good.

[BroadwayRandy0711]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:00pm

Great list.
I did not think that Julie Andrews was passed up for "My Fair Lady." I thought that she was doing another movie at that time. Also is it her voice for all of the singing parts?

Updated On: 9/27/06 at 02:00 PM

[algy]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:03pm

Julie was passed up. It is not her voice. It is Marni Nixon. I have Andrews on the OLC and believe me, if it was her in the film, you'd know.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:04pm

It is absolutely NOT Andrews' singing voice in MY FAIR LADY. It is, undoubtedly, Marni Nixon's.

[BroadwayRandy0711]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:05pm

Thanks algy for clarifying that. I guess I got them confused. But wasn't Julie Andrews filming "Sound of Music" that same year? Updated On: 9/27/06 at 02:05 PM

[keatonbynumbers]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:05pm

Wow, interesting list. I can't really argue with most of it (although in a lot of cases, I certainly can appreciate the performer used in the movie, but then again -- for a lot of them, I never SAW the original performer and can only imagine how good they must have been).

Ethel Merman appears on the list roughly two thousand times. Hrm.

[algy]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:07pm

My understanding was that she was passed over for My Fair Lady, which left her free for Mary Poppins (for which she won the Oscar). The Sound of Music was later.

Her first ever scene on film is at the start of the Jolly Holiday sequence in Mary P.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:11pm

and why would Lotte Lenya want that part in the film Cabaret?
They practically cut the part.

I'd put Buckley higher. Danner annoys me in that role.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:11pm

Plus, at that time, Audrey Hepburn was the "it" girl. She was bankable, loveable, and a wonderful actress.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:19pm

"1. Ethel Merman, Gypsy - Did you know that after The Merm died, they found in her closet the actual recordings that Rosalind Russell made as Rose? We’ll never know how often she played them. "

Wow. I can't even image what she thought as she listened to the recordings. Yikes!

[algy]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:20pm

Hepburn was definately the in thing. And she looked gorgeous. I'm a Julie fan myself, but even I can see that Hepburn was great. I do feel sad for her that she didn't get to sing herself, especially as she did record her own tracks. But Nixon is awesome as well. Make that three sad stories from that film: Andrews didn't get it, Hepburn didn't get to sing it, and Nixon doesn't get the recognition she deserves from the vocals.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:25pm

Mary Martin, herself, admitted she was too old to play Nellie Forbush on film.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:26pm

Well she made some money, and she's getting the recognition now!

There are a few spots in MY FAIR LADY that it actually is Hepburn's voice. I believe it's in the beginning of "Just You Wait." You can tell that it's Hepburn, and not Nixon.

[algy]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:29pm

I've only seen the film the whole way through once Munk, so I'll bow to your superior knowledge. It's one of those films that I keep meaning to get on DVD but never spot in an offer at the right time!

On a related note, I should have Camelot coming in the post tomorrow from my rental company!

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 2:54pm

I think Topol was perfect for the Fiddler film. I think Mostel would have been a tad too much for the big screen. Topol grounded it in a more filimc, realistic performance.

Akiva

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 3:10pm

I have to also admit that I love some of these screen performances, even if they arent the originals...especially Roz as Rose.

AND, unless I missed it, there is no mention that Julie as Maria was a misstep on Hollywood's part. Best move they ever made was her casting.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 3:41pm

I think Georgia Brown in Oliver should have been closer to #1. Brown was the only one that could bring the heartbreak to "As Long As He Needs Me"

I think that Adrienne Barbeau as Rizzo in Grease should have been listed. Stockard Channing was OK, but it would have been nice to see Barbeau.

I think Robert Lupone in A Chorus Line would have been better than Michael Douglas. Yeah, I know they needed a name star, but Douglas was horrible in the role.

[TheaterJunkie]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 4:07pm

I totally agree with the whole Angela Lansbury should have done Mame thing. Lucille Ball was awful!

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 4:45pm

Merman in Gypsy? She may have been a great belter, but with all her infamous ego, the movie never would have been made.

[JoMarch]

Posted: 9/27/06 at 5:01pm

"Hepburn was definately the in thing. And she looked gorgeous. I'm a Julie fan myself, but even I can see that Hepburn was great."

Yeah, I agree. I was plesantly surprised when Theater Week ran an article on movie musicals once and supported the casting of Hepburn. They said Hepburn's vocals may have been dubbed, but Andrews would have not pulled off the physical transformation on film half as well. I was glad that a theater magazine of all things could look at the casting objectively rather than just whine that the stage actress was robbed.