MovieChat Forums > Hail, Caesar! (2016) Discussion > Star names are terrible

Star names are terrible

posted 8 years ago by mike-2620
5 replies | jump to latest

What were the Coens thinking when they gave out the film star names. I know in tinseltown these days they rarely change actors names although in some cases I think they should.
But if you're making a film about actors set in the fifties then get it right.

BURT GURNEY!!! No one in hollywood in the 1950's would have got by with a name like that. It would have been changed to suit the stars appeal.

BAIRD WHITLOCK - Not exactly clark Gable or Kirk douglas is it.Sounds like an author.

HOBIE DOYLE sounds more like a accomplice of Dillinger's gang than a film star name.
Now Roy Rogers has got a real ring to it. I have never met anyone called Hobie.

Anyone else feel the same on this?

[–] TxMike 8 years ago

Not a Hobie but growing up I had a friend named Hoyle.

I think you are being a bit harsh with this particular criticism. I actually liked the unusual names, they are so different it is easier to sort them out. The Coens probably did this as part of their comedic take on 1950s Hollywood. The humor of them NOT having pretty, lyrical names.

EDIT: Out of curiosity I looked up some real actors in 1940s and 1950s westerns and found such names as Buzz Barton, Fuzzy Knight, Hoot Gibson, Jock Mahoney, Whip Wilson. So Hobie isn't unrealistic at all, is it?

Of course many of them went by names totally unrelated to their birth names, perhaps the most famous being Leonard Franklin Slye who was known by his professional name of Roy Rogers. Or if you like, Marion Robert Morrison who many only know as John Wayne.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.

[–] WoodCheese 8 years ago

The names are satire. It's the whole point. They reference Hollywood stage names, but aren't as grand as the real stuff.

[–] hedgehogged 8 years ago

As Chad Feldheimer, Evelle Snoats, Pete Hogwallop, Garth Pancake, and Barton Fink will tell you, funny character names are a Coen Brothers tradition.

[–] lubin-freddy 8 years ago

As Chad Feldheimer, Evelle Snoats, Pete Hogwallop, Garth Pancake, and Barton Fink will tell you, funny character names are a Coen Brothers tradition.

H.I. McDunnough, Nathan Arizona (Sr. and Jr.), Sidney J. Mussburger, Waring Hudsucker, Freddy Riedenschneider, Larry Gopnik, Johnny Caspar, Walter Sobchak...., and lest we forget, Roderick Jaynes.

What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.

[–] EmmaPopell 8 years ago

Kookie Burns, Tab Hunter, Rock Hudson. Duh.

It's clear you really don't know what you are discussing, Mike, except it "bothers" you. lol. Those names are great. They make most people smile, just reading them.