Ready or Not, Here comes Gatsby

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Brando's Slice. Directors Peter Bogdanovich, Arthur Perm and Mike Nichols were initially interested, but only if Ali MacGraw, whose reputation as an actress was more fire sale than presale, did not play the lead. Warren Beatty (who five years before, hoping to produce Gatsby himself, had offered the role to Bob Evans) was interested, if MacGraw would take the secondary role of Jordan. Jack Nicholson was interested, again if MacGraw was not Daisy. Evans was undaunted. "There was no equivocating," he recalls. "My wife was going to play Daisy."

Evans next turned to his Godfather, but Marlon Brando made a salary-and-percentage demand that Paramount could not buy. "Marlon wanted the moon and the stars," says Evans, "because he was angry about not having a bigger percentage of The Godfather. I told him we did not have that kind of budget, and he said, 'Well, take a slice of Godfather. " Exit Brando.

Debatable Move. The packaging was not going as well as might have been expected, perhaps because the approach was not sufficiently imaginative or even thoughtful. "The fact that Paramount approached Marlon really makes you wonder," says Robert Redford, noting that Brando is almost 50 and Gatsby is 31. "Didn't anyone at Paramount bother to read the novel?"

Another debatable move was hiring British Director Jack Clayton for a story that so subtly reflects American class attitudes. The five films Clayton had previously directed, including Room at the Top and The Pumpkin Eater, were reasonably well received, but he had not made a film in seven years. Nonetheless, Clayton was signed for $315,000, cast approval and the promise of a free hand.

Still searching for a Gatsby with the film's starting date only two months away, Evans met with Clayton and Merrick in Los Angeles. Merrick wanted Robert Redford, but Evans was not sure. Evans suggested Steve McQueen, who was at the time on a Texas location filming The Getaway with MacGraw. His suggestion was received in embarrassed silence. Finally, Clayton said, "No. McQueen cannot speak the language." Gossip about the romance between McQueen and MacGraw had been circulating since The Getaway's first days of shooting. Evans now says, "I guess the easiest man to con is a con man. I didn't believe the rumors."

Redford was finally signed in May, and a few days later the whole Gatsby project was temporarily shelved. Then the one member of the cast who was sure from the start filed for a divorce from Evans. After two months of haggling, MacGraw's agent accepted a $1 check to release her from the movie begun for her.

The search for the new heroine began. Evans received a cable from Mia Farrow in London: "Dear Bob, may I be your Daisy?" Clayton directed Mia in a test in London, and arrived to test "the other ladies" with Farrow's film under his arm and a firmly preconceived notion. The Paramount powers agreed with him. Says Evans, "She brought a mystical quality, a kind of spoiled arrogance, which made her especially interesting."