Who should have played Nellie in South Pacific?

Add my name to the list or I'll hit your peter with a pan!

DL fave Barbara Eden would have been fine.

You might have included Mitzi as one of the choices, for those who think she was the right choice. But did that occur to you? No, it did not.

R3, start your own damned poll, fool.

Day was the obvious choice, but her husband's greed got in the way.

"Both Rodgers and Hammerstein wanted Doris Day for the lead in the film version of South Pacific and she reportedly wanted the part. They discussed it with her, but after her manager/husband Martin Melcher would not budge on his demand for a high salary for her, the role went to Mitzi Gaynor."

[quote]start your own damned poll, fool.

I'm not here to correct your mistakes.

R6, Fool, it wasn't a mistake. The Vivian Vance option is used to vote for none of the other candidates or to disagree with the poll. Fool.

With the exception of Doris Day and perhaps Debbie Reynolds, not a single other woman on that list could have made the part work.

Marilyn Monroe? Too breathy and kittenish.

Betty Grable? All the lyricism of a brass door knocker.

Lucille Ball? You're kidding, right?

Elizabeth Taylor? Completely wrong for the part.

Lauren Bacall? Not unless she blew him away with a snub-nosed .45 instead of washing him out of her hair.

Audrey Hepburn? Too waify.

Kim Novak? Too trampy!

What am I, chopped liver?

R8, what about Vivian Vance?

Based on her topless impalement scene in the pre-Hayes Code "Caligulia: Demon Rapist of the Roman Empire" Viv simply lacked the figure for the bathing suits, R10.

[quote]Elizabeth Taylor? Completely wrong for the part.

She did audition for it, iirc it was in New York. Though she had sung in movies (Cynthia) she dried up at the audition and couldn't sing a note. However the fact is, she was actually considered for it by R & H.

I actually like Mitzi very much but Debbie or Jane Powell would have been fun. Jane later did it in stock opposite Howard Keel.

I'm the epitome of nelly. When the revival comes about, I will be better than any of those other " pseudo-actresses" named.

Helen Hayes would've KILLED it.

Divine. Oh, OK, or Divine's mother. Or father (?).

Shirley MacLaine.

Mitzi was perfect in the role. None of your poll would have sufficed.

I thought Mitzi was fine. Maybe they were confused when Mary Martin turned them down and said “Get Gaynor—she knows her way around MY forbysh!”

This interview of Mitzi shows what a class act she is. She described herself as a fair screen actress.

Who do you think SILLY?

[quote]Marilyn Monroe? Too breathy and kittenish.

If Marilyn Monroe was too kittenish, so was Mitzi Gaynor.

No human being alive was more kittenish than Mitzi Gaynor.

Helen Lawson would have flashed her tits in the shower scene.

Doris Day seems like an obvious choice, but I'm not sure would have been convincing as the naive, knuckle-head Nellie. I've always defended Mitzi as the perfect choice.

R24 Yes, this was supposed to be a somewhat naive young nurse far away from home for the first time. Doris Day was about 36 years old - she was wholesome, but sophisticated. She had already played a mother onscreen several times. However, she was a strong dramatic actress and distinctive singer, while Mitzi was neither. I still think Mitzi was a better choice for this role, though.

Shirley Jones might also have been a good choice but she has just played two other R & H heroines on film.

*had

R25 - Doris Day a strong dramatic actress? Please.

I think Lucille Ball croaking out"I'm as corny as Kansas in August" would be a spectacle for the ears.

Joshua Logan may have been the third most successful homosexual Hollywood director.

But he made some unfortunate casting choices in this weirdly-coloured movie.

Gaynor = too raucous.

Brazzi = too old and languid.

Kerr = too unattractive and a pipsqueak.

1958's Debbie Reynolds would have been perfect.

[quote]Helen Lawson would have flashed her tits in the shower scene.

No, I would've shampooed my bush.

[quote] She described herself as a fair screen actress.

I guess it wasn't a stretch to play this archetypal dumb broad.

Another disappointment from Donen.

I like Mitzi but her cuteness-overreaching is a complete turn-off in SP. She was fine in the TV specials but she gave you diabetes in the movies.

However, we can all agree that Logan chose the perfect person to play Stew Pot in Ken Clark.

Channing Tatum

According to Gaynor - “I think Josh chose me because I was the closest to Mary Martin vocally — and I sang in her key — and I was from the stage, which meant a great deal to him.”

I'm not familiar with these things, but in one interview, the moderator mentioned that the fact that Gaynor sang in the same key as Martin was important financially as well.

You should have, op.

You’re about ready to fly right out of here.

R36. But an octave or two apart

They used to call me that in school: Nelly Fourbush. All pubes, no dick.

Loved Mitzi in Les Girls. She and Gene had great chemistry.

I loved Kay Kendall more.

I like the cynical/sentimental banter preceding the song.

Does he call her a 'Hoot Owl' at 0.40?

R30 Debbie Reynolds lacked sexiness, and she didn't have a lot of ability to be romantic. I'm not sure why but I think it helps to have a Nellie Forbush with sex appeal. (Even Mary Martin still had some, at the time of the show - despite being past her prime). She wasn't a very good singer, either. I think they would have considered her if they thought she was at all right for it.

Doris Day

It’s not a perfect movie but I’m surprised it only got 3 Oscar nominations that year

r1 and r15: Thank you so much for your posts, I cannot stop chuckling at either visual.

Add me to Team Mitzi. She was fine, a good and convincing job of naïveté, tenderness, fear, heartbreak and disillusionment. Doris Day would've been way too center stage. All the actors formed a great ensemble, and all seemed to be on the same level, no one really stuck out. Day would have, killing the mood for me at least.