I enjoyed Barbara Stanwyck's performance but I always wondered why Agnes didn't take the lead on the big screen. She already did a fantastic job on the radio, I would've liked to have seen her on the big screen as well.
shareI strongly suspect (but am too lazy to research it) that Stanwyck was either under contract to the studio already, was more bankable or a combination of the two reasons.
To my knowledge for the majority of Stanwyck's career she was freelance...I would imagine the same was true for 1948. The reason I would think is that she was a star in films and Moorehead was a supporting character actress. Both of these ladies are among my favorites.
shareI agree. She was awesome in the radio version. It would have been great if she'd done the movie, too.
"As my old pappy used to say, if at first you don't succeed, try something else." - Bret Maverick
Barbara Stanwyck did a great job in this movie but I have to agree. However if Agnes had done it, for me that would've been a little hard to watch because I've seen her on Bewitched, I've seen her in The Bat, I'm used to seeing her play a very strong, very courageous, very determined woman...it would be rather unusual and for me anyway, uncomfortable to see her in such a position, even though I've listened to the radio program as well and she did a terrific job there...but somehow I don't know if it would have worked as well in a movie.
shareYou ought to see Agnes in "The Magnificant Amebersons." Spectacular actress.
shareShe's such a great vixen in "Dark Passage", so coquettish yet vicious. I love seeing her glamorous for a change.
Who'd guess this is the same woman playing the slatternly housekeeper in "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte".
The lady was such a treasure, an amazing actress and very beautiful and elegant. Yet, she was so good at playing ratty-looking women.
*** The trouble with reality is there is no background music. ***
I hope to get a copy of the radio version for an upcoming road trip I have to take. If Agnes had been in the movie, they probably would have needed a younger actress to portray her as a college student. Barbara Stanwyck was pushing it. Burt Lancaster would not have been able to play opposite Agnes. They may have been looking for a picture for him and developed the cast around him (even though it's Stanwyck's performance that is so important and she definitely delivers). Big stars like Barbara Stanwyck had the opportunity to see at least some scripts first and accept or decline them. I've heard that Bette Davis had the right of first refusal at Warner Bros. She got to see the best scripts before Joan Crawford did. She passed over Mildred Pierce and there's the good quote where she said something to the effect of, "How did I let that one get by me?" And, as another person posted, Agnes was not a leading lady. She was a great actress, though. I love the scene in Citizen Kane when she opens the window of the boarding house and yells out young Charles, who's playing in the snow. Her voice and her face say so much in that scene.
shareRegarding Agnes' not being cast in the film version of SWN, here are her own words as told to Eileen Creelman of The New York Sun and published in the 1 September 1948 issue:
Of course I wanted to play it. I did all I could do to get the part. But they had Barbara Stanwyck and I hear she gives an Academy Award performance. It's a fine part and a fine script. When you add a fine actress like Barbara Stanwyck, it should be a great performance. Well, those things happen and it's useless to grow resentful. I did the broadcast eight times, after all, and the records. Wasn't I foolish not to tie it up then, when it had been written for me?
Barbara Stanwyck was also nominated for the Best Actress Award that year for Sorry, Wrong Number, and when I asked Miss Moorehead about this she said sternly: "Of course I wanted to play the Stanwyck part in Sorry, Wrong Number. It had been written for me by Lucille Fletcher, and I must have done it on radio about 18 times. I went to Hal Wallis at Paramount when they were casting it to put my hat in the ring, but he said he owed Barbara a picture and that I could have a supporting role. I said no. I'm not bitter about it, i let the chips fall where they may and go on from there." Then, with a chuckle, she added: "They played my recording constantly on the set."
Thank you for the great post. I've always been a fan of Agnes Moorehead and just heard one of the broadcasts of "Sorry, Wrong Number". She was excellent. I wish she could have done a filmed version of the play (at least so we could see her perform it.)
"What do you want me to do, draw a picture? Spell it out!"
"Barbara Stanwyck was pushing it"
LMAO!
Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation (Eat, Pray, Love)
Agnes's pal Orson Welles wanted her to play the role of the FBI agent stalking his Nazi self in "The Stranger". The role went to the always capable Edward G. Robinson. But wouldn't that have been amazing to see, not only a female, but the wonderful Miss Moorehead?
Yes, sir, I'm going to do nothing like she's never been done before!
Because, let's face it, Moorhead had a face for radio.
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