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Clara Bow,City Streets, 1930. All set to be Clara’s bow at Paramount after five year contract when she had a nervous breakdsown. Carroll refused to pick up Bow’s leavings and director Rouben Mamoulian found Sidney at a loose end, awaiting a start date for Josef von Sternberg take on Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy – promised to her by Paramount production chief BP Schulberg when they fell for each other. Heavily.
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Sylvia Sidney, Street Scene, 1930. For his 25th film, producer Sam Goldwyn wanted Nancy. Paramount’s general manger BP Schulberg offered the ex-Sophie Kosow, discovered by him and his wife on Broadway… and quickly his mistress.
- Mae West, Night After Night, 1931. This was George Raft’s first starring role. And Carroll was to be one of his ladies. Until the Paramount suits caught Mae West in her Broadway plays. (She wrote ’em, too). They gave her a cameo. As a man-eater, of course. “Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!” a hat-check chick tells Mae. “Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.” Well, now you know where itcame from… And a new star was born. “Stealing,” complained Raft, “everything but the cameras!”
- Loretta Young, Taxi! 1931. Should not have been difficult to find a co-star for James Cagney but…. (deep breath)… Mackail became Joan Blondell (his partner in seven other movies) who became Nancy Carroll who became… (gulp !)… the lady known variously as Gretch The Wretch and Atilla The Nun. Cagney is supposed to have said “You dirty rat!” in this film. Not so. What he said was: “Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow-bellied rat or I’ll give it to you through the door!” Just so you know.
- Leila Hyams, Island of Lost Souls, 1931. Paramount’s Plan A: Carroll and Randolph Scott as Ruth and Edward. Plan B: Hyams and Richard Arlen. The thinking was the film belonged to Charles Laughton as Dr Moreau (oh, that island). Except it was stolen (like the poster) by Kathleen Burke in her one and only screen role. Like how do you follow being… The Panther Woman!
- Helen Twelvetrees, My Woman, 1932. The working title was Going to Town. Exactly what Carroll did – to another town. She decided on a vacation as shooting began. MGM pulled Twelvetrees from Fury of the Jungle to replace her; likewise Victor Jory to sub Carroll’s leading man, Donald Cook. Carroll was reportedly so difficult that her career ended because no one would hire or work with her.
Birth year: 1904Death year: 1965Other name: Casting Calls: 6