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IMDbPro

Casting By

  • 20122012
  • TV-14TV-14
  • 1h 29m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
79,979
151
Marion Dougherty in Casting By (2012)
The surprising, never-before-told tale of the indispensable yet unsung Casting Director - iconoclasts whose keen eye, exquisite taste and gut instincts redefined Hollywood.
Play trailer2:06
1 Video
18 Photos
DocumentaryBiography
The surprising, never-before-told tale of the indispensable yet unsung Casting Director - Iconoclasts whose keen eye, exquisite taste and gut instincts redefined Hollywood.The surprising, never-before-told tale of the indispensable yet unsung Casting Director - Iconoclasts whose keen eye, exquisite taste and gut instincts redefined Hollywood.The surprising, never-before-told tale of the indispensable yet unsung Casting Director - Iconoclasts whose keen eye, exquisite taste and gut instincts redefined Hollywood.
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
79,979
151
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Tom Donahue
    • Stars
      • Deborah Aquila
      • Risa Bramon Garcia
      • Ellen Chenoweth
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Tom Donahue
    • Stars
      • Deborah Aquila
      • Risa Bramon Garcia
      • Ellen Chenoweth
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 10User reviews
    • 23Critic reviews
    • 70Metascore
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 1 nomination

    Videos1

    Casting By
    Trailer 2:06
    Casting By

    Photos18

    Marion Dougherty in Casting By (2012)
    Casting By (2012)
    Casting By (2012)
    Casting By (2012)
    Casting By (2012)
    Marion Dougherty in Casting By (2012)
    Marion Dougherty in Casting By (2012)
    Robert Duvall in Casting By (2012)
    Jon Voight in Casting By (2012)
    Casting By (2012)
    Casting By (2012)
    Marion Dougherty in Casting By (2012)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Deborah Aquila
    Deborah Aquila
    • Self
    Risa Bramon Garcia
    Risa Bramon Garcia
    • Self
    Ellen Chenoweth
    Ellen Chenoweth
    • Self
    Marion Dougherty
    Marion Dougherty
    • Self
    Mike Fenton
    Mike Fenton
    • Self
    Nessa Hyams
    • Self
    Lora Kennedy
    Lora Kennedy
    • Self
    Nancy Klopper
    Nancy Klopper
    • Self
    Ronna Kress
    • Self
    Ellen Lewis
    Ellen Lewis
    • Self
    Linda Lowy
    • Self
    Amanda Mackey
    • Self
    Wallis Nicita
    • Self
    • (as Wally Nicita)
    John Papsidera
    • Self
    Don Phillips
    Don Phillips
    • Self
    Gretchen Rennell
    • Self
    • (as Gretchen Rennell Court)
    Fred Roos
    Fred Roos
    • Self
    David Rubin
    David Rubin
    • Self
    • Director
      • Tom Donahue
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Director Tom Donahue interviewed over 240 people for the film, but only 57 interviews made it into the movie. Sending emails to those who did not make the cut was a heartbreaking experience.
    • Connections
      Features A Star Is Born (1937)
    • Soundtracks
      What Would Izzy Do?
      Written by Thomas Carlo Bo and Anthony Leventhal

      Performed by The Jersey City Jammers

      Produced by Anthony Leventhal

    User reviews10

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Enlightening Look at A Casting Director.
    A kind of professional biography of Marion Dougherty (1923 - 2011), a casting director who began working in New York before moving to Hollywood. She was evidently peerless on the New York scene, able to catch all the shows and picking the right people for roles, like John Travolta for Barbarino, and then sending them to Los Angeles.

    If a movie or a TV series were to be about New York, instead of polished California types, she would ship off REAL New Yorkers, who looked and spoke as if they'd just been pulled in off the streets In the early years, her office was a dilapidated brownstone and she rented out a few rooms to theater people without much money. Later, of course, following her success, the brownstone became a fortress and struggling actors like Ed Lauter had to trick their way inside to see her.

    She did some very important work in Hollywood too. At United Artists, the protocol was to leave the casting director and the movie director alone while they did their jobs. Until Michael Eisner took over at UA. Eisner was apparently hated by everyone. He was the kind of guy who brings pleasure whenever he goes. He was about to fire Dougherty when she received an offer from Warner Brothers. Hearing of that development, Eisner flung himself at her feet and begged her not to leave because they needed her talents so badly. Savvy, by now, Dougherty tells us, "I knew that if I turned down Warners, he would fire me one minute later, so I took the offer." She was apparently well liked, as well as sensitive and skilled, otherwise, why would all these well-known people from both sides of the camera spend their expensive time telling anecdotes about her and praising her?

    I do wish, though, that we'd heard about some examples of her failures. There MUST have been some, because casting directors aren't infallible. For instance, I was once offered the part of the intercontinental chief villain opposite Jacqueline Smith in a miniseries. The casting director took me to the director for his approval. He looked me up and down and said, "Perfect." Something interfered and I couldn't take the part, but I later read the book the miniseries was based on and it described the chief villain as "fat, ugly, and stupid." Well, I happen to be sinewy, handsome, and brilliant, so if THAT'S not an example of miscasting, what is?

    At times, the tribute come perilously close to a polemic against the male establishment but it never quite crosses the line. In the final few minutes, it slips into sloppy sentimentality, with half a dozen big names addressing Marion directly through the camera and telling her how much they love her. Except for that, it's an effective piece. I couldn't agree more with her colleagues who complain that the casting director has become less important because now the production companies simply assign actors to the role. Whether they fit the part or not is irrelevant, as long as it brings in money.

    I don't see how the decline in Hollywood movies can be denied. Late in her career Dougherty tells us that she was given the job of casting a comedy about a funny dog. It was too much of a humiliation after "Midnight Cowboy", "Slaughterhouse 5", and "The Friends of Eddie Coyle." She'd be horrified now. Hollywood is grinding out remakes. Then remakes of remakes. They've copied television series like "The Flintstones". Now they're making movies (I can no longer call them "films") based on video games like "Battleship." The depths of Hollywood's philistinism are plumbless.
    helpful•14
    2
    • rmax304823
    • Aug 26, 2013

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 1, 2013 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site (Japan)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Casting By: Revolution in Hollywood
    • Filming locations
      • Connecticut, USA
    • Production companies
      • CreativeChaos vmg
      • HBO Documentary Films
      • Tashtego Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $18,164
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $5,649
      • Nov 3, 2013
    • Gross worldwide
      • $22,497
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 29 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.78 : 1

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