Some notes about what’s showing this week on Turner Classic Movies:

Interested in musicals? Tuesday morning features two classics, both known for their miscasting.

First up, at 8:30 AM, is My Fair Lady. Audrey Hepburn is lovely as the guttersnipe who passes for uppercrust after learning how to fake the right accent, and Rex Harrison is stodgy and snooty as the Professor who shapes her, but neither one of them are singers. She was dubbed by Marni Nixon (who also covered for Natalie Wood in West Side Story and Deborah Kerr in The King and I), and he talks through his pieces.

Guys and Dolls follows at 11:30 AM, starring Marlon Brando. This film will show you why he was considered such a powerful and magnetic actor at the peak of his career, but he can’t sing either. His showcase number, “Luck Be a Lady”, was later adopted and much better done by co-star Frank Sinatra (in his skinny days). On the other hand, Stubby Kaye does a very impressive rendition of “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat”.

The Human Comedy (Wednesday, 9/12, 6:00 AM ET) — Mickey Rooney as a telegraph boy learning about life in a drama made mid-WWII (1943). I found it interesting, last time I watched it, for his surprisingly affecting performance and the portrayal of small-town life in that era. This film kicks off a day apparently dedicated to high schoolers through the ages, with a variety of settings from 1941 to 1966.

The Last Man on Earth (Saturday, 9/15, 3:45 AM ET) — With the upcoming release of I Am Legend starring Will Smith, you may want to try this earlier version of the story, based on Richard Matheson’s novel. It stars Vincent Price as the titular character, beleaguered by zombie-like plague victims. Reportedly still creepy.

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4 Responses

 

Dave writes:

September 8, 2007 at 7:59 am  

 

Had Sinatra and Brando been cast in the opposite roles in guys & Dolls, this one might now be considered one of the best movie musicals ever. The supporting cast is very good and the production overall is very strong (if memory serves – I haven’t seen it in over 20 years).

 

David Oakes writes:

September 8, 2007 at 3:21 pm  

 

Sinatra had the musical chops, but for all his supposed Mob connections, he never had the threat/presence/gravitas to pull of Sky Masterson. (He did, however, make a very effective Oswald in “Suddenly” and “The Manchurian Candidate”.) And Brando’s inability to sing puts a chink in Masterson’s armor that makes his soft inner core somehow more believable. I think there could have been better actors for the parts, but I never believed the common wisdom that they just switched them.

For that matter, who doesn’t consider G&D “one of the best”? There is a reason it keeps showing up on TV. (Maybe Top Ten and not Top Five, but still.)

 

Rob writes:

September 8, 2007 at 9:58 pm  

 

Of course, the big miscast in My Fair Lady isn’t just that Audrey Hepburn was cast as Eliza, but that she displaced Julie Andrews, who had played the role on Broadway and could sing a little.

As it turned out, because she wasn’t in My Fair Lady Andrews was able to film Mary Poppins instead, which worked out OK for her. (She won an Oscar for that movie, while Hepburn wasn’t even nominated.)

 

Alan Coil writes:

September 9, 2007 at 7:09 pm  

 

I heard/read/imagined? that Sinatra and Brando were originally supposed to be in the other’s role, but they switched for some reason.

 

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