Hitchcock Casting

Hi.

I just saw your post, and I actually posted a similar one on the Alfred Hitchcock imdb board in July.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000033/board/thread/246607261?d=246607261#246607261

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Last night, I saw "Diabolique" after a few years, and then looked it up on imbd, where, reportedly, Henri-Georges Clouzot bought the film rights in a matter of hours before Alfred Hitchcock was able to.

Now..."Diabolique" is a great movie, and while I would not change anything, I could not help but wonder what an American or English version - that same year - would have been like if Hitchcock had directed it.

(WARNING: For those who have NOT seen "Diabolique" read no further as the following have some plot points that are spoilers...


Casting possibilities...

Nicole Horner (played by Simone Signoret) --- Barbara Stanwyck (if going for a more mature lady). After turns in "Double Indemnity" and "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers," this would have been natural.
Alternate choice: Grace Kelly - the classic Hitchcock blonde who, in a twist, would turn out to be the classic villainess.

Christina Delassalle (played by Véra Clouzot) --- Audrey Hepburn (keep in mind, this would have been before the fallout over "No Bail for the Judge.") She would have had the perfect vulnerability for this gentle woman.

Michel Delassalle (played by Paul Meurisse) --- Jose Ferrer, Robert Ryan, or Yul Brynner, several actors who excelled at playing magnetic undesirable types.

Alfred Fichet, le commissaire (played by Charles Vanel, who would go on to be featured in Hitch's "To Catch a Thief") --- William Powell, who, along with William Holden, was one of the actors who Hitch always wanted to use, but never got the chance. Had this possibility happened, this role, along with Doc in "Mr. Roberts" would have been the perfect bookend to Mr. Powell's long and distinguished career.

The question I have to ask: given that Clouzot's film bears very little resemblance to the novel (which I read recently), would Hitchcock have stayed much closer to the novel's plot? In which case my choices would be somewhat different. But to get back to the film...

I see Barbara Stanwyck as Nicole; she's tough enough and crafty enough to bring it off. An alternate would be Gene Tierney, whose killer instinct was never in dispute.

As Christina, Jeanne Crain or Teresa Wright, who had made Shadow of a Doubt for Hitch. Clouzot cast his wife in the part, always a dubious practice.

Michel is a weakling, and who better to play him than Ray Milland? Hitch used M. so well in Dial M for Murder.

Apparently Hitchock was inspired to direct Psycho because of the film Diabolique.