Kelly Marsh subplot

I worked on "Casey's Shadow" as the Unit Publicist and now, nearly 40 years later, remember being disappointed that, in editing the rough cut down to a 117-minute release print, Susan Myers' role as Kelly Marsh was drastically shortened. The scenes of her "puppy-love" romance with Steve Burns were delightful but mostly deleted, as was a subplot depicting her rebellious relationship with her father. Alexis Smith also had a more substantial role, much of which wound up on the cutting room floor. And I lost track of all the different endings that were filmed and then discarded (many of them too downbeat) until the writer, Carol Sobieski, came up with the satisfactory one used in the final cut. That being said, I must add that working on "Casey's Shadow" was a total joy; I know this sounds corny, but the actors (Walter, Alexis, Andy, Steve, Susan and 9-year-old Michael), the director (Marty Ritt, a great guy) the much-feared producer (Ray Stark, who turned out to be a lovely, funny man)and the entire crew were some of the nicest people I'd ever met and like a real family. Ray was so high on the movie he announced plans to do a sequel. Unfortunately, when the movie (which we shot in 1976) opened on Easter weekend of 1978, another movie Matthau had done in the interim, "House Calls", opened on the same day. As a result, and despite mostly wonderful reviews, "Casey's Shadow" was a commercial failure and was pulled from most theaters after two weeks. Need I add that the proposed sequel was canceled.

I was thinking that she was going to achieve a racing career. And I kept wondering about her wrist that she injured. But her character just turned out to be a bit of randomness and didn't really contribute to the movie. It's hardly a subplot really.