10/31/2008 4:19 PM
posted awhile ago
Re:Recast GARDEN STATE (2004)
Turner Classic Movies: Garden State (1956)
How did James Dean ever assemble this amazing cast? See below.
James Dean ... Andrew Largeman
Natalie Wood ... Sam
Marlon Brando ... Mark (the gravedigger)
Dick Miller (who'd be younger than in this photo) ... Jesse (the flaming arrow archer)
Humphrey Bogart ... Gideon Largeman
Ingrid Bergman (she'd be 41, older than in photo) ... Carol
Chuck Berry ... Diego
Hot off the success of Rebel Without a Cause, the now-megastar James Dean becomes confident enough to pitch his script of a very different kind of coming-of-age story. He approached director Nicholas Ray (with whom Dean developed a special rapport throughout the filming of Rebel), and Ray instantly saw Dean's Garden State script was exploding with potential.
As far as Dean and Ray were concerned, Natalie Wood was the only person who could play Sam. Wood happily joined the project, and suggested Marlon Brando for the role of the morally dubious gravedigger, Mark.
Dean and Ray met with Brando over lunch to give him the pitch. Brando initially hid his excitement (as he would reveal in later interviews); Brando only agreed to join the project on the condition that they cast an unknown actor, Dick Miller, as the eccentric and wealthy Jesse.
Dean and Ray were nervous, but because it was Brando (Brando!) they nervously agreed. When they met Dick Miller the next week, they saw they had nothing to worry about. (Dick Miller of course would go on to star in A Bucket of Blood, the subversive Beat Generation classic).
By now all Hollywood was buzzing about the stable of young stars gathered to make Garden State. A script found its way into the hands of Ingrid Bergman, who read it (in one sitting) and immediately called Dean. "I simply must play your mother," she said, "and I know who must play your father."
It took some convincing to get Bogey on board, but after lengthy conversations with Bergman and Ray, he understood that to invert the Casablanca chemistry he had with Bergman--to play her ex-husband--would be a choice that critics and audiences would talk about for years to come.
Of course this film became (in)famous for portraying divorce, 20s angst, and "questionable morals" in adults and youth alike. It's interesting to see how many of the critics who called the movie "immoral" took major issue with the prevalence of rock and roll in the film. Few audiences at the time were hip enough to recognize Chuck Berry as the bell hop, Diego. Little did they know that within 10 years time, every person in America would be listening to music that he inspired.
Rock and roll became the country's new music, and Garden State became the inspiration for more films than we can count.
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