- Janice Rule, The Swimmer, 1967. Co-star Burt Lancaster called it: “Death of a Salesman in swimming trunks” – as John Cheever’s tragic hero decides to swim home via the pools of his Connecticut friends and neighbours. Burt also accused producer Sam Spiegel of spending more time playing gin than on the production, Sam asked his On The Waterfront director, Ela Kazan, to check the rough-cut – and, ironically, his wife, the leading lady Barbara, refused the sugested new scenes. So did Burt, until his pal, Sydney Pollack (and Slavomir “Ed” Vorkapich) shot them – with Rule. The first director, Frank Perry, was furuous. “Janice Rule may be a dear sweet girl, a lovely person, ” said his wife, the film’s scenarist Eleanor Perry, “but she hasn’t 1/10th the talent of Barbara.” Rule “took less than my normal fee and Sam said: I’ll leave you my Chagall in my will.” He didn’t. “I didn’t mind. That was Sam and I love him for it.” Beauteous Barbara made three films only, two by Kazan and the last, Wanda, directed by herself, in 1971.
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Mrs Elia Kazan was replaced during extensive post-production re-shoots of The Swimmer, 1968. Helmer Frank Perry quit and the replacement scenes of Burt Lancaster and Janice Rule were shot by Sydney Pollack. [© Horizon Pictures (II), 1968]
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2. – Faye Dunaway, The Arrangement, 1969. Writer-director Elia Kazan dropped her next – from herself… the actress based on her in his novel. “Barbara never forgave me. I would pay for what I did many times.” Faye had been Loden’s understudy in Kazan’s stage production of After The Fall (Arthur Miller’s play about his wife, Marilyn Monroe).“You have more faith in Faye than you do in me.” Not really. Loden was fine opposite Marlon Brando, but not with his replacement, Kirk Douglas And Kirk had enough problems. “It’s bad enough having to play the alter ego of a director who’s written a movie based on his own novel, based on his own life, but to also have him be the producer and have to make love to his wife, who was his girlfriend, right in front of him… Thank God she didn’t do it!”
Birth year: 1932Death year: 1980Other name: Casting Calls: 2