Discovering A Hollywood Star As An Extra

[MissGoddess]

I've always wanted to see the Ladd verison of Gatsby...and agree with everything said about the 70s version. Blah!!! The character of "Jordan" was the only thing I liked about it (the 70s movie, I mean). I can see Ladd as Gatsby, at least his looks seem perfect, and he has vulnerability. I'm looking forward to Lucky Jordan (and Phantom Lady later that night). Never seen it, either.

[JackFavell]

Oh! I just went back and re-read your Gatsby post, Moira! I was so dumb, when you said Maureen O'Sullivan, my mind thought "Maureen O'Hara", even though you teamed her up with John Farrow - that should have been the giveaway. I was trying to figure out how Maureen OHara could possibly have fit in that part. Yes I think O'Sullivan could have been a marvelous Daisy....oooh that works for me. There is something childish about her that could have worked so perfectly in that role - she wouldn't have even had to try.

I just read on a member post on IMDB that Gene Tierney and Tyrone Power were supposed to be the leads, but when the studio decided that Tierney was too beautiful to play Daisy, Power dropped out.

Miss G - I just loved Jordan too. She was the only one in the cast who seemed on the right level. I don't think she had been acting very long either.

[moira finnie]

Oh, gee, I thought perhaps you thought that Maureen O'Sullivan was too old in 1949. I think that Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney would have skewed the movie away from credibility--though Gene was certainly capable of acting like Daisy. I'm not sure that the post-war Ty could have played a fatally naive bootlegger. One scene in particular in the '49 version stands out in my memory.

Gatsby (Ladd) has arranged to have Daisy accidentally arrive at a perfect cottage he has found. He is all alone, moving throughout the room repeatedly to fuss and fix the odd book or to fluff a pillow, make sure that the flowers are in just the right spot. He hasn't seen her in years, but his emotional anxiety as he waits for her builds throughout the scene. It was quite moving when reality intrudes on his ideal. He was very good in the scene, as he often was when he didn't have to speak--though I think that Ladd had a very good speaking voice.

I think that the '49 Gatsby turns up occasionally on youtube, but not for long. I do know that you can find DVD-rs of this movie on the internet, though I've no idea if the quality of the film is any good. Hope that it shows up someday on TCM to see Ladd try the role, even if it wasn't very good overall.

[JackFavell]

I may have to download it, I couldn't find it at any of the sites I usually look at. So far, my downloading has come up with a few good old movies, but almost always with the sound synchronization off. I may try this one, anyway, just to see Ladd. The more I think about it, the more I think he could be really good as Gatsby.

[Uncle Stevie]

I was watching "Cross Country Romance" (1940) with Wendy Barry and Gene Raymond when in the last few minutes of the film a face appeared as a walk on with two speaking lines and I recognized him as the dashing Alan Ladd. He was in a ship's Officer's uniform but the face was unmistakeable. I looked up the credits and he was not there. IMBD listed the full cast and there he was uncredited. I read his awful biography (tough youth and early life) and discovered 1940 was around the time he got his start. He died of alchohol and prescription abuse in his early 50's. He was very popular for a time but got depressed in later life.