- Cedric Hardwicke, The Moon Is Down, 1942. All the major studios fought for John Steinbeck’s praised/vilified novel/play about the Nazi occupation of Norway. (It was, in fact, superb propaganda for anti-Nazi resistance). Fox chief Darryl F Zanuck won because of how he made Steinbeck’s previous book, The Grapes of Wrath. (The then highest price of $300,000 helped, too). There were eight possibilities for Colonel Lanser: Kortner, Charles Laughton, Paul Lukas, Broadway’s Alfred Lunt, Otto Preminger, George Sanders, Conrad Veidt, Orson Welles.
- Akim Tamiroff, For Whom The Bell Tolls,1942. There was a veritable A List for important support roles: Edward Arnold, Wallace Beery, Lee J Cobb, Charles Laughton, Thomas Mitchell and Edward G Robinson. Plus two graduates of Vienna’s Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts: Oscar Homolka and Fritz Kortner – and the Spanish-born opera singer-playwright-novelist-composer Fortunio Bonanova.
Birth year: 1892Death year: 1970Other name: Casting Calls: 2