- Loretta Young, Taxi, 1931. Not difficult to find a co-star for James Cagney… Mackail became Joan Blondell who became Carroll who became… (gulp!)… the lady known variously as Gretch The Wretch and Atilla The Nun.Well, that’s the way it was at Warner Bros. Oh, you’re working, well, we’ll get… oh you’re… Cagney and Blondell still managed seven movies together.
- Ann Dvorak, The Crowd Roars, 1931. The Grey Fox, director Howard Hawks, changed his mind about MGM’s Dorothy Mackail, as James Cagney’s mistress. He replaced her with Joan Blondell as Lee opposite his lover Dvorak (almost a clone of his wife, Athole Shearer) as Anne. They weren’t happy and he switched their roles… with nary a word to the brothers Warner!
- Ann Sheridan, The Man Who Came To Dinner, 1941. Director William Keighley first tested Mackail and Mary Astor for Lorraine Sheldon – based on Broadway’s UK star, Gertrude Lawrence – opposite the titular Monty Woolley.
Birth year: 1903Death year: 1990Other name: Casting Calls: 3