- Barbara Britton, Lousiana Purchase, 1940. Change of a Louisiana belle in Bob Hope’s first colour movie – co-starring the German danseuse Vera Zorina, billed as Zorina. Or zero, after a mere seven movies and one TV shot (in 1937!). She had difficulty recognising her Broadway show – nearly all the songs had been cut… !
- Ella Raines, Cry ‘Havoc’, 1943. Hollywood didn’t make many WWI films about women. So they all wanted to be in this female Bataan – “in any role.” For example, Gifford tested for Connie and was given Helen. Also trying to join up as US military or civilians were June Allyson, Eve Arden, Bonita Granville, Marilyn Maxwell, Susan Peters, Donna Reed, Ann Sheridan, Lana Turner, – and Joan Crawford wanted it called The Women Go to War.
- Kay Aldridge, Perils of Nyoka, 1942. Change of the titular serial queen for the second bunch of 15 chapters. Gifford spent 20 years in a Californian mental hospital, before fully recovering from head injuries in a car smash. Aldridge was a lassie from Tallahassee; her hero was played by Clayton Moore, TV’s Lone Ranger, 1949-1957.
- Ann Richards, An American Romance, 1943. Upon losing Bergman from the finale of his “war, wheat, and steel” trilogfy (after The Big Parade and Our Daily Bread), director King Vidor saw Giffford and Ann Sothern before setling on Richards for the ultra US story. Earlier titles had been America, American Miracle, The Magic Land, This Is America, An American Story.
- June Allyson, The Three Musketeers, 1947. The Hollywood Reporter – no Variety – insisted that Gifford had been cast. Presumably as Constance. Not happy in period costumes, Allyson tried to wriggle out of the shoot. But at MGM, stars did what they were told. Or face suspension. Aka no pay-cheque.
Birth year: 1919Death year: 1994Other name: Casting Calls: 5