Miscast???

[Bugscuffle]

How many times have you wondered how that actor ever got the role that he has in a western? There are some actors out there that are pretty good actors, but just don’t fit into a western. My picks for the most miscast actors are:
1.   Telly Savalas
2.   Yul Brynner
3.   Fred Macmurray

[PJ Hardtack]

Yul Brynner? Miscast in "The Magnificent Seven"? Who could have played the role better?

[Bugscuffle]

Yul Brynner? Miscast in "The Magnificent Seven"? Who could have played the role better?

Ernest Borgnine

Yul Brynner in that Sabata movie. Donald Duck could have played it better.

[Advertising]

[PJ Hardtack]

Borgnine shone in "The Wild Bunch" but as 'Chris" in 'The M. Seven', no way.

Brynner, Coburn, Bronson, McQueen, Buchholz, Wallach - there was never a better crew in a western! Could only have been better if Lee Marvin had been in it as well. A bunch of misfit ne'er-do-wells that found a purpose and meaning in something worth fighting and dying for.

The only who who were miscast were Robert Vaughn and Brad Dexter. You had to wonder what the hell they were doing there.

Just an opinion ....

[Stillwater]

How many times have you wondered how that actor ever got the role that he has in a western? There are some actors out there that are pretty good actors, but just don’t fit into a western. My picks for the most miscast actors are:
1.   Telly Savalas
2.   Yul Brynner
3.   Fred Macmurray

I agree with you about Telly Savalas and Yul Brynner.

Telly Savalas was so bad, that he degraded every film he was ever in.  Savalas must have slept with all the right people.

Fred Mcmurray was a journeyman actor that was competent in anything he did. However, he did nothing in his career that was outstanding.

What Fred Mcmurray did that was outstanding though, was wind up a billionaire from his Southern California land investments.

Bill

[Stillwater]

Yul Brynner? Miscast in "The Magnificent Seven"? Who could have played the role better?

Lee Marvin could have easily played it better.

Burt Lancaster, even though he was an antigun liberal SOB, would have been so far better than Brynner. The picture, was a very good and entertaining picture, however, it would have been far better than it was, if it would have been made with Lancaster.

Robert Ryan would have been far better.  

William Holden would have been far better.

Those are just a few that come easily to mind.

Bill

[Stillwater]

Ernest Borgnine

Yul Brynner in that Sabata movie. Donald Duck could have played it better.

Agreed...!

Bill

[Stillwater]

Borgnine shone in "The Wild Bunch" but as 'Chris" in 'The M. Seven', no way.

Brynner, Coburn, Bronson, McQueen, Buchholz, Wallach - there was never a better crew in a western! Could only have been better if Lee Marvin had been in it as well. A bunch of misfit ne'er-do-wells that found a purpose and meaning in something worth fighting and dying for.

The only who who were miscast were Robert Vaughn and Brad Dexter. You had to wonder what the hell they were doing there.

Just an opinion ....

Robert Vaughn and Brad Dexter were horribly miscast. Almost as miscast as Brynner was.

[PJ Hardtack]

Got to agree! Now we need some digital genius to cast all these deceased actors in reprised roles; remakes the way they oughta be ....

Think Jack Palance could have fit into a role in "The Magnificent Seven"?

Lee Marvin could have easily played it better.

Robert Ryan would have been far better. 

William Holden would have been far better.

Those are just a few that come easily to mind.

Bill

[Bugscuffle]

Jack Palance was one of the all time best "bad guys" in the movie industry, but I don't know that he would be a believable "good" bad guy. I agree with the assesment of Fred Mcmurray but, his reputation and past roles would have detracted from his pertrayal. It is something like the role that Ida Lupino did in "All's Quiet on The Western front". She was a marvelous actress and did a great job as the mother in that movie, but after it was all shot and ready for the final cut. The sample audience that viewed it laughed out loud so much that they had to reshoot those scenes with another actress. Ida Lupono was such a great comediene that people expected anything that she said to be funny, and they laughed even though she was doing a very touching and tender and dramatic scene.

[Stillwater]

[snip]

Think Jack Palance could have fit into a role in "The Magnificent Seven"?

I think Jack Palance would have worked out admirably well, in the place of Yul Brynner.

Bill

[Mogorilla]

I liked Savalas in McKenna's Gold, but it is more of a Treasure Hunt than a Western.  He had that slimy gold hungry aspect to him.  Plus that Movie has Julie Newmar, OMG she is OMG.   To me MAg 7 is so iconic, I can envision a remake, or a recast of anyone.  I was actually a fan of Vaughn in that movie he seemed like the punk who lost his nerve.  One of the smarter individuals to wander around hollywood (he has  Ph.D.)  Also, I believe the story is he got his friend James Coburn the role, and Coburn was made for that role.

[PJ Hardtack]

Vaughn's tortured character, a man who lost his courage and regained it, was well played. He just looked too damn clean all the time!All of the characters were on a mission of self-redemption. That struck a chord with me .... still working on it .....

Coburn was the epitome of a long, lanky, laconic Cowboy, the kind of man you want near you - as a friend, when the going gets ugly.

"No one throws me my own guns and tells me to ride - no one!"

And McQueen? Perfectly cast opposite Brynner, not a place many would have been comfortable in.

The other I think was perfect in his role was Eli Wallach, just as he was as "Tuco" in TGTBTU.

Did I mention that I like that movie?

[Mogorilla]

Great points PJ.   I have the movie on DVD, still watch it if I find it is being broadcast, and had the theme as my ringtone for a while.  (problem was I always wanted to let it play out, never answered my phone).   It was a great way to see who your peeps were.   People would recognize the song, but often could not place it.   One guy I met recognized it instantly.  We got along pretty well.

My mom seemed to be fond of Brad Dexter, so I do not think she felt him miscast.   
It is a great movie.  Always loved Brenner's saddle bags.  You only see them in a few shots.  If I did not have three pairs of saddle bags already, I would make a copy of them. 
Ah, who am I kidding, I probably will make a pair of them.

p.s.  One of my favorites too!

[Shawnee McGrutt]

How about M.C. Hammer in "Cheyenne"?  Never heard of it?   Wish I could say the same.

[Stillwater]

How about M.C. Hammer in "Cheyenne"?  Never heard of it?   Wish I could say the same.

You keep bring that up and you're gonna make me sick...!

Bill

[Bugscuffle]

How about M.C. Hammer in "Cheyenne"?  Never heard of it?   Wish I could say the same.

Or Chuck Connors as Geronimo!!??

[Stillwater]

Or Chuck Connors as Geronimo!!??

That movie has been on a lot lately. Chuck Connors cast as Geronimo, is miscasting carried to the absurb...!

Nill

[Mogorilla]

Bobbi Phillips in Cheyenne, was not bad though.

[Jack Wilson]

I have to agree that Yul Brynner was horribly miscast in The Magnificent Seven.  I didn't care much for Rovert Vaughn in that movie, either.  I DI agree that Lee Marvin would have made a much better Chris  Pretty much the other actors noted would have all made a better Chris than Brynner.

I also believe that James Coburn was a perfect western-movie character, substituting for the master swordsman (can't think of the actor's name) from Kurasawa's Seven Samurai.

One other movie that comes to mind where an actor (if you want to call him that) was miscast is Tom Conti in the Luis L'amour movie, The Quick and the Dead.  He must be some studio executive's idiot nephew.  Completely unbelievable in the role he played.

The humdrum Fred McMurray diminished virtually every movie he played in, in my opinion, but one that comes to mind that he was believable in is Double Indemnity