For every sure-bet in movie casting, there are scores of questionable decisions on whether an actor can handle a certain role. And that\u2019s where the screen test comes in.<\/p>\n
A screen test provides the opportunity for a director and producer to determine whether a specific part should go to an actor who might not be the obvious choice for the role. David O. Selznick memorably shot scores of screen tests to find the right actors that would bring Margaret Mitchell\u2019s characters to life in the film version of \u201cGone with the Wind\u201d \u2013 except for the role of Rhett Butler, which was always envisioned for Clark Gable. Several decades later, George Lucas brought together a line-up of promising under-the-radar talent to test for his \u201cStar Wars.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Some screen tests offer a rare chance to see legendary actors in unlikely roles. Selznick cajoled theater icons Maude Adams and Laurette Taylor to test for his film \u201cThe Young in Heart\u201d \u2013 this was the only time Adams appeared on film and the only sound film of Taylor \u2013 neither performer was cast in the film, with Minnie Dupree snagging the part. RKO Radio Pictures did several screen tests of the then-new three-strip Technicolor process, with John Barrymore doing two scenes from \u201cHamlet\u201d and Katharine Hepburn in a silent test dressed as Joan of Arc. Neither test led to a feature film.<\/p>\n
While many famous screen tests survive, there are many others that are sadly lost. For your consideration, here are 10 screen tests that have disappeared \u2013 and wouldn\u2019t it be great if we could somehow find them?<\/p>\n
Mary Pickford in \u201cAlice in Wonderland.\u201d <\/strong>Walt Disney\u2019s planned to make his first feature film as a Technicolor version of \u201cAlice in Wonderland\u201d starring Mary Pickford in the title role. Although Pickford was 31 years old at the time and was not eager to resume playing the juvenile roles that made her a superstar in the silent movie era, she agreed to do a make-up and costume test in Technicolor. Disney hoped to have the live-action Pickford playing opposite an animated cast, but the project was dropped when Paramount Pictures began its adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic.<\/p>\n Ginger Rogers in \u201cMary of Scotland.\u201d<\/strong> Blonde bombshell Rogers became the queen of the RKO musicals through her song and dance partnership with Fred Astaire. But she longed to break into dramatic parts and lobbied hard for the key supporting role of Queen Elizabeth I in \u201cMary of Scotland.\u201d With the encouragement of Katharine Hepburn \u2013 who played the title role of Mary, Queen of Scots \u2013 Rogers underwent an extensive make-up regimen to resemble the English monarch and filmed a screen test. By all accounts she was very convincing, but the studio bosses felt the role would not be good for her screen image and gave the part to theater actress Florence Eldridge.<\/p>\n Lena Horne in \u201cCairo.\u201d<\/strong> The sultry nightclub singer long insisted that she would never play a maid while working at M-G-M, but biographer James Gavin uncovered a hitherto unknown exception to Horne\u2019s claim \u2013 she was eager to play the flashy supporting role of Jeanette MacDonald\u2019s maid in the 1942 spy comedy \u201cCairo\u201d and tested for the part opposite Eddie \u201cRochester\u201d Anderson, who was considered as her romantic partner. However, the M-G-M make-up artists and cinematographers tried to match the skin tones of Horne and Anderson \u2013 the lighter-skinned Horne was given a darker make-up that did not compliment her beauty. The studio opted to cast Ethel Waters and Dooley Wilson in the roles \u2013 M-G-M would later figure out how to film Horne and Anderson when they were cast in \u201cCabin the Sky.\u201d<\/p>\n Edna Purviance in \u201cMonsieur Verdoux.\u201d<\/strong> Purviance was Charlie Chaplin\u2019s leading lady in 33 of his silent films. She retired from acting in 1927, but in the mid-1940s Chaplin asked her to test for a role in his comedy \u201cMonsieur Verdoux.\u201d Purviance had no acting experience with dialogue \u2013 she was a stenographer before finding her way into silent movies \u2013 and Chaplin placed her in a scene where she was supposed to be having a conversation during an afternoon tea. Her test was reportedly lamentable for its lack of spontaneity \u2013 and it is believed that she had little interest in coming back to films. For years, rumors persisted that she was an extra in \u201cMonsieur Verdoux\u201d and \u201cLimelight,\u201d but there is no record of her being in either film.<\/p>\n Tallulah Bankhead in \u201cThe Glass Menagerie.\u201d <\/strong>Laurette Taylor\u2019s performance as Amanda in the 1946 Broadway premiere of Tennessee Williams\u2019 \u201cThe Glass Menagerie\u201d was considered one of the greatest achievements in theater history, but Taylor died before the film went into production at Warner Bros. Producer Irving Rapper lobbied hard for Tallulah Bankhead to play Amanda and the star agreed to do a screen test. Rapper claimed, \u201cI was absolutely floored by her performance. It’s the greatest test I’ve ever made or seen in my life.\u201d However, studio boss Jack L. Warner was uncomfortable with Bankhead\u2019s alcoholism and feared she could be trusted with the assignment. Another theater star, Gertrude Lawrence, was signed for the role and gave a performance that Williams dismissed as a \u201cdismal error.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack Benny in \u201cFather of the Bride.\u201d<\/strong> In Benny\u2019s act, he frequently joked about his inability to secure a niche as a movie star, but he sincerely believed that he would be perfect as the title character in the M-G-M \u201cFather of the Bride.\u201d Benny lobbied producer Pandro S. Berman, who was surprised that a star of Benny\u2019s stature would seek a screen test to prove his worth. Berman tested Benny and rued that the beloved comedian didn\u2019t hit the dramatic aspects of the role. Spencer Tracy was sought for the role and repeatedly swatted it away, but it wasn\u2019t until Katharine Hepburn intervened on Berman\u2019s behalf that he agreed to take the part.<\/p>\n James Dean in \u201cOklahoma!\u201d <\/strong>Fred Zinnemann conducted his screen tests for the film version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical in a suite at New York\u2019s Pierre Hotel. The up-and-coming James Dean was scheduled for a test, but he was late in arriving \u2013 the actor had arrived at the swanky hotel dressed in cowboy clothing that would match the role of Curley, but the hotel\u2019s staff wouldn\u2019t allow him inside because they felt he was a genuine cowboy. Dean managed to sneak into the hotel and came to Zinnemann\u2019s suite, where he shot a test of the \u201cPoor Jud is Dead\u201d number with Rod Steiger. The director recalled that Dean\u2019s presence as an actor was jolting, but he was not at a musical level needed for the score. Gordon MacRae, who had a rich baritone singing voice but strictly okay acting skills, was cast instead.<\/p>\n Elvis Presley in \u201cThe Rainmaker.\u201d<\/strong> Presley had just completed his film debut in \u201cLove Me Tender\u201d when producer Hal B. Wallis arranged for him to test for a supporting role in the film version of the N. Richard Nash drama \u201cThe Rainmaker.\u201d By all accounts, Presley gave a decent performance in the test footage, but Wallace and Presley\u2019s manager (the notorious Col. Tom Parker) felt that the singer would be a wasted in the secondary part in a film with Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn in the leads. Earl Holliman, an up-and-coming actor, got the role instead and Presley went on to star in a skein of commercially successful films, with Parker always rejecting roles where Presley did not have top billing.<\/p>\n Sal Mineo in \u201cLight in the Piazza.\u201d<\/strong> By 1962, Mineo had already secured two Oscar nominations and had a sizable fan base. Nonetheless, he was asked to test for the role of Rosanno Brazzi\u2019s son in the film version of \u201cLight in the Piazza.\u201d According to Mineo biographer Michael Gregg Michaud, the test did not work in Mineo\u2019s favor and he was bypassed in favor of the decidedly non-Italian George Hamilton, who reportedly worked hard to be considered for the role.<\/p>\n Liza Minnelli in \u201cEvita.\u201d <\/strong>After the Andrew Lloyd Weber \u2013 Tim Rice musical opened on Broadway in 1979, talk began to percolate regarding who could play Eva Peron in a film version of the show. Patti LuPone, who starred in the Broadway show, was never considered for the film \u2013 producer Robert Stigwood envisioned Barbra Streisand, who couldn\u2019t see herself in the part. Stigwood then sought out Liza Minnelli, and according to entertainment writer Michael Musto she did a screen test under the direction of Ken Russell. Musto said she did the test \u201cin an ill-fitting wig they stuck on her, plus jeans and a T shirt. And she was astounding.\u201d Russell declared of Minnelli\u2019s Evita: \u201cHere was a woman who could start a revolution and sway a nation.\u201d But the film version became delayed for years, Russell was dropped from the project and Madonna starred in \u201cEvita\u201d for the 1996 film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For every sure-bet in movie casting, there are scores of questionable decisions on whether an actor can handle a certain role. And that\u2019s where the screen test comes in. A screen test provides the opportunity for a director and producer to determine whether a specific part should go to an actor who might not be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":39953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1369],"tags":[2375,3217,2156,3216,1774,1395,1868,2377,2202,1573,3215,2220,1756],"class_list":["post-39952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-list-junkies","category-retro-cinema","tag-charlie-chaplin","tag-edna-purviance","tag-elvis-presley","tag-ginger-rogers","tag-jack-benny","tag-james-dean","tag-lena-horne","tag-liza-minnelli","tag-mary-pickford","tag-sal-mineo","tag-screen-tests","tag-tallulah-bankhead","tag-walt-disney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39952"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39955,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39952\/revisions\/39955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}