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Ray Milland,Three Smart Girls, 1936. Nedless to say, the British Milland was better syited to Lord Michael Stuart than Hayward. Not that anyone noticed. As Deanna Durbin stole the movie, saved Universal from and had all critics gushing over her debut. “Only on rare occasions has a newcomer scored so powerfully and decisively in an initial vehicle,” said the Film Daily.
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Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, The Corsican Brothers, 1940. Due for the separated conjoined twins Lucien and Mario Franchi in “Alexandre Dumas’ Immortal Classic”… (actually, “a free adaptation of the Dumas story”). There are often two Junior Dougs in medium shots, without any SFX, much less CGI, but by the simple expedient of a double swearing a Doug mask and moustache.
- Cary Grant, Suspicion, 1941. Before Hitchcock got hold of Francis Iles’ book, Before The Fact, it was planned for Hayward, and later for Robert Montgomery or Laurence Olivier.
- John Shepperd, The Loves of Edgar Allen Poe, 1941. Hayward, John Garfield, Claude Rains and Franchot Tone were all in the Poe mix in what The New York Times complained was “no more than a postured and lifeless tableau.” Probably why Shepperd reverted to his (real) Broadway name: Shepperd Strudwick.
Birth year: 1909Death year: 1985Other name: Casting Calls: 4