I don't think the casting of Julie and Billy is the problem. I think the screenplay, direction and design choices were the problems. Garland might have been wonderful as Julie, even with the music in lower keys, but I think Sinatra would have been miscast. I've long felt that despite the reasons given publicly for his quitting, when he got there and really looked at the role closely, he thought, "This is wrong for me. I won't be good. I'll come off badly." I know that even Rodgers and Hammerstein thought Sinatra was good casting, but I think even they were wrong. But we'll never know.
In a way, it's like the Mame film. People so often say that it would have been so much better if Lansbury had been cast. I think it would have been somewhat better with Lansbury, but if the screenplay and director were the same, it still would not have been good. |
