Roles Stewart Granger Might Have Had

Through my reading of Stewart Granger's autobiography, Sparks Fly Upward, I discovered some high-profile film roles which could possibly have gone to him.  As in the careers of George Raft and John Garfield (HERE), taking on a particular role might have made a monumental difference in Mr. Granger's career.  Of course, it's useless to play the "what if" game, and, in the end, things generally work out the way they are supposed to.  Even so, it's interesting to learn what other roles might have come a star's way.  In Mr. Granger's case, here are a few of the big ones:

Ben-Hur---Originally, according to Sparks Fly Upward, Marlon Brando was wanted for the role of Judah Ben-Hur. When he wouldn't or couldn't, do it, the role was offered to Kirk Douglas, with the Messala role offered to Granger and the Esther role offered to Jean (Simmons).  By the time, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Granger agreed to the roles, they had already been given to others (and the title role had gone to Charlton Heston). His agent railed at him, "Why didn't you say you'd do it last week?  Metro has fixed Stephen Boyd and Haya Harareet."  Even though Mr. Boyd had been loaned out from another studio, the deal couldn't be broken, so Boyd played the part.  "And very good he was too," wrote Mr. Granger.  About the loss of this role, Mr. Granger wrote, "That one week (in getting back to his agent) made so much different to so many lives.  It caused an unnecessary death and I think an unnecessary divorce (his and Jean Simmons'), among other things."


I would have to add a hearty Amen Mr. Granger's words about Mr. Boyd's performance in Ben-Hur.  He was completely and totally brilliant in the role of Messala. (Truly, he ought to have been nominated for and won an Academy Award!)  I can see Stewart Granger in the role, and I think he would have done a great job, but loving that movie as I do, I love it as it is.  Stephen Boyd is Messala to me.

From Here to Eternity---When Harry Cohn (Columbia Pictures boss) tossed the script at him, saying "There you are, you Limey bastard, there's a part for you," Stewart Granger's first response was "Which part?"  When Cohn responded that it was the Marine sergeant lead, Granger was incredulous.  "I can't play an American Marine sergeant. I'm English."  Cohn's response was that Granger was an actor and could, of course, take on such a role.  To Mr. Cohn's amazement, though, Mr. Granger turned the role down, an action about which he wrote, "What an idiot I was.  If I'd played it, nobody would have known how marvellous (sic) Burt Lancaster was going to be and it was such a great part I'd probably have got away with it."


Can you see Stewart Granger in Burt Lancaster's From Here to Eternity role?  Though I love that movie and think Burt Lancaster was absolutely super in the role, I really can see Stewart Granger doing a terrific job as well.  (Portraying an American would not have been a problem for him, I know, as in The Wild North, he put his English roots aside in order to portray a Frenchman.)  Knowing how great the chemistry was between Mr. Granger and Deborah Kerr in The Prisoner of Zenda and King Solomon's Mines and remembering that Mr. Granger said the two of them had once been intimately involved (though Miss Kerr denied that), they may well have had even greater chemistry than that which was between Kerr and Lancaster.

Quo Vadis---Because  Mr. Granger had originally told his agent that he wasn't going to do the film, Robert Taylor had been cast.  By the time Granger said he'd take on the role, the studio refused to replace Mr. Taylor.  Mr. Granger's agent was irritated.  "You told me you weren't going to sign, Jim (Friends and family always referred to Granger as Jim or Jimmy).  If you had, it would have been easy, as you were the first choice."


Given how terrific Mr. Granger was in action/adventure films and Biblical epics, I can easily see him in the role of Quo Vadis' Marcus Vinicius.  He would have looked incredible in the Roman garb (he did in Salome), and the film would have paired him, once more, with Deborah Kerr, with whom he had such terrific chemistry.  I do adore Robert Taylor in this role, though. (Actually, I adore Robert Taylor period---he's among my top 10 faves; however, after a month of watching Granger films, I'm quite high on him too.)  Quo Vadis is the film which brought Mr. Taylor into my life, and it's my 2nd favorite of his films, so imagining anyone but him in the role is a bit of a hardship.

A Star Is Born---This was a film Granger very much wanted to do.  The 1937 Janet Gaynor/Fredric March version of the film had been one of his favorites, and he knew it would be a film which would boost his career.  He was thrilled to learn that he was under consideration to "try and repeat the magnificent performance of Mr. March."  He was thrilled, also, for the opportunity to appear opposite "the legendary Judy Garland."  During rehearsals, though, he found working with director George Cukor to be an exasperating experience.  In the end, he told Mr. Cukor to "take the script and shove it."   "What a shame," he wrote in his autobiography.  "I could have played that part on my head."


I really don't care for the '54 version of A Star Is Born, and it has nothing to do with the male lead.  It has to do with Judy Garland.  I'm not a fan at all, so it matters little whether it was Stewart Granger or James Mason in the Norman Maine role.  Because of Judy Garland, the film wouldn't work for me no matter who the co-star was.


Tell me, can you see Stewart Granger in any of these roles?  Would you even want to?


NOTE:  All information and quoted material derived from Sparks Fly Upward, by Stewart Granger, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1981.