- James Mason, The Man in Grey, 1943. When Portman quit, Mason was moved up from a lower role, – and became a literal overnight star for horsewhipping Margaret Lockwood. Portman’s credo: “Acting is like masturbation. One either does it or one doesn’t, but one never talks about it.”
- Alec Guinness, The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1956. Once Charles Laughton departed, director David Lean’s next main choice – “an almost ideal Nicholson” – was stuck on stage. Anyway, producer Sam Spiegel wanted a more international name: Ronald Colman, Noel Coward, James Mason, Ray Milland, Ralph Richardson or Spencer Tracy, who bluntly told Spiegel that the mad Colonel had to be an Englishman. Spiegel to Lean: “What do you think of approaching Guinness again – or do you think that is as wrong as ever.” “I can’t imagine anyone wanting to watch a stiff-upper-lip British colonel for two and a half hours,” said Guinness. So Spiegel took him to dinner. “He was very persuasive.” (Of course, he was. In the 50s/60s, to “Spiegel” was LA parlance meaning: to cajole, manipulate or con. That’s how producer Spiegel won his deals, casts, women – and Guinness. “I started out maintaining that I wouldn’t play the role and by the end of the evening, we were discussing what kind of wig I would wear.”
Birth year: 1903Death year: 1969Other name: Casting Calls: 2