MovieChat Forums > Hello, Dolly! (1969) Discussion > Susan Hayward

Susan Hayward

posted 9 years ago by andersenwitbeck
6 replies | jump to latest

It bothers me that Fox didn't consider Susan for the lead. She was the top female moneymaker for the studio in the 50s. She starred in two musicals for Fox; I'll Cry Tomorrow and With a Song in My Heart. Both films were huge box office winners and won Oscar nominations for Susan. Susan would have been the right age for Dolly Levi and she's one star whom Walter Mathau would have enjoyed working with.

It's unfair that she wasn't given this chance to do Hello, Dolly! even as Susan did Fox a favor by playing Helen Lawson in Valley of the Dolls, another box office success. She looked stunning in this film and she was sensational when she performed I'll Plant My Tree.

Director Gene Kelly should have taken notice, and imagined Susan in that gold lame gown making her entrance at Harmonia Gardens to sing the iconic title song. After all, a star is a star is a star!

[–] taptoe 9 years ago

Respect your love of Susan Hayward, she was a magnificent actress, but she was not a singer. Jane Froman did the singing in With a Song in My Heart. Susan is on the soundtrack of I'll Cry Tomorrow, but she didn't like singing or the sound of her own voice. No one could do the Dolly songs better than Barbra and the role required a huge comedy talent. Don't remember Susan being in one - of note.

[–] DryToast 9 years ago

As someone once wrote, Hayward's lightest touch as a comedienne would stun a horse.

[–] murph24 9 years ago

...she was sensational when she performed I'll Plant My Tree.

I like Hayward, but let's not get carried away. Performed? She struck a few poses and lip synced Margaret Whiting's vocals, only to be upstaged by a gigantic plexiglass mobile. "I'll Plant My Own Tree" is one of the most absurdly staged & unintentionally hilarious musical numbers ever put on film.

[–] rrb_1 9 years ago

Ditto, murphy. But what can you expect from a hopeless queen like OP andersenwitbeck? “…a star is a star is a star!” Please. Could she be more giddy? She also posted on the Sound of Music board that Hayward should've been cast as the Baroness. Dear God.

Dolly requires a light, sure comic touch – a description which doesn’t exactly fit La Hayward’s sledgehammer, melodramatic approach.

[–] kevinjameslogan 8 years ago

I think Doris Day would have been a good choice for the film version of Dolly. She could sing, dance, and act. 😃

[–] liscarkat (18605) 5 years ago

Hayward "was the top female moneymaker for the studio in the 50s"

The movie was made in the late '60s. Hayward wasn't a singer.