When Swede Warner Oland was hired to play Asian characters Charlie Chan and Dr. Fu Manchu in the 1930’s, it was because at the time Hollywood was reluctant to hire authentic Asians as leads. You’d think in the years since, casting agents would leap at the chance to prove how much progress we’ve made. You’d [...]
Ten Bizarre Ethnically-Challenged Casting Choices
May 4th, 2008 29 Comments
Tags: Akim Tamiroff · Al Pacino · Bernardo Bertolucci · Breakfast at Tiffany's · Charlton Heston · Christopher Lambert · Dick Van Dyke · Fu Manchu · Highlander · John Wayne · Keanu Reeves · Little Buddha · Marlon Brando · Mary Poppins · Mickey Rooney · Mike Myers · Pete Postlethwaite · Peter Sellers · Ricardo Montalban · Scarface · Sean Connery · Space Seed · Star Trek · Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan · The Conqueror · The Teahouse of the August Moon · The Usual Suspects · Tony Montana · Touch of Evil · Walt Disney · Warner Oland
Tilting at Windmills: The Outrageous Fortune of Terry Gilliam
March 31st, 2008 10 Comments
A look at the on-set trials and tribulations of maverick director Terry Gilliam, and how he’s managed to roll with the punches that the studio system–and God–has thrown his way.
Film directing is a profession often fraught with impossible challenges. Woody Allen once said being a director meant “the truck of fresh compromises pulls up each [...]
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