# Is "The Bonfire of the Vanities" the most miscast movie ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 27, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333 "2022-09-27T18:01:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/21 "2022-09-28T17:25:54Z")
> [@Mislav](#): > > [The Bonfire of the Vanities (film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bonfire_of_the_Vanities_(film)) They got Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Kim Cattrall and Morgan Freeman for a total that cheap, and they still lost money?! That boggles the mind! Is it that they were miscast, or is it because the entire movie just truly reeked? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/22 "2022-09-29T01:32:19Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > They got Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Kim Cattrall and Morgan Freeman for a total that cheap, and they still lost money? For 1990 a $47 million budget was relatively respectable. _Dick Tracy_ also was 47 mil. Of the Top 10 box office films of that year only 3 had budgets greater to that (Total Recall, Die Hard 2). So that makes _Bonfire_ look even worse. Hell, _Ernest Goes to Jail_ made ten million more. This suggests to me that this was just a bombing bomb that bombed bombly. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/23 "2022-09-29T01:55:44Z")
Most miscast movie ever: > **[Dragon Seed (1944) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036777/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_34)** > > Dragon Seed: Directed by Harold S. Bucquet, Jack Conway. With Katharine Hepburn, Walter Huston, Aline MacMahon, Akim Tamiroff. The lives of a small Chinese village are turned upside down when the Japanese invade it, and a heroic young woman leads her... “Filmed in 1943 on the MGM lot in Culver City, CA, the film features an unusual assortment of non-Asian actors with odd accents playing Chinese and Japanese: Russian-born and Stanislavski-trained [Akim Tamiroff](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0848667) as Wu Lien; [Turhan Bey](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001947), Viennese born son of a Turkish father and Czechoslovakian mother as the middle son, Lao Er Tan; New England patrician [Katharine Hepburn](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000031) as his wife; American [Aline MacMahon](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0533956)–no longer one of the wisecracking [Gold Diggers of 1933](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024069) (1933)–as the wife of Ling Tang; English-born [Henry Travers](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871287) (best remembered as Clarence the Angel from [It’s a Wonderful Life](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650) (1946)) as the Third Cousin”; Irish-American [J. Carrol Naish](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0619798) as the Japanese Kitchen Overseer; and finally Jewish [Robert Lewis](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0507673), co-founder of the Actors Studio and [Meryl Streep](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000658)’s teacher at the Yale Drama School, as Japanese Capt. Sato." ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/24 "2022-09-29T01:59:33Z")
Micky Rooney in “Breakfast At Tiffany’s”. [Breakfast at Mr. Yunioshi’s - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb3gdUrIC4Q) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/25 "2022-09-29T02:37:54Z")
What makes the movie a shame is that the book of _Bonfire_ was a biting critique of the 80s culture of self-centeredness. And many of us read it in a unique way: Rolling Stone magazine ran it as a serial, a chapter each issue for 27 weeks. When the book came out, I was shocked. The book (that we _thought_ we’d already read) was very different. Wolfe had basically rewritten it before the hardcover was published. And then when I heard they cast… Tom Hanks?!? This is the character who opens the book by feeling threatened by two black kids, and one of them ends up killed by his car. Sherman McCoy is “hemorrhaging cash”, willing to go broke just to keep up the appearance of wealth. Oh, and has been cheating on his wife for years. Very Tom Hanks… sheesh. They had Bruce Willis on set, even he would’ve made a better McCoy. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/26 "2022-09-29T03:28:05Z")
Re: Bonfire, didn’t like the book much and the movie was much worse. I don’t think anything was left of the characters to properly cast them. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/27 "2022-09-29T06:51:37Z")
The most miscast movie of all time was the 2006 **Dead or Alive** movie which was an adaption of the 2000’s era fighting video game. Literally the thing that made the games famous was the bounce physics, and how all the female characters had really big boobs to highlight those bounce physics. So who do they cast in the movie? All hot models, but notably American models with small breasts because they’re traditional Western models. And they still tried to market the movie on cleavage and boob shots, despite the fact their actresses were lacking in that department. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/28 "2022-09-29T08:25:18Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And many of us read it in a unique way: Rolling Stone magazine ran it as a serial, a chapter each issue for 27 weeks. > > When the book came out, I was shocked. The book (that we _thought_ we’d already read) was very different. Wolfe had basically rewritten it before the hardcover was published. Huh. I read the _Rolling Stone_ serialization. I didn’t realize Wolfe rewrote it for publication. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/29 "2022-09-29T11:10:33Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > all the female characters had really big boobs to highlight those bounce physics. > > So who do they cast in the movie? All hot models, but notably American models with small breasts because they’re traditional Western models. This is a parody post? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/30 "2022-09-29T11:10:47Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Hell, _Ernest Goes to Jail_ made ten million more. My God! 😆 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/31 "2022-09-29T12:02:00Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > “Filmed in 1943 on the MGM lot in Culver City, CA, the film features an unusual assortment of non-Asian actors with odd accents playing Chinese and Japanese: Russian-born and Stanislavski-trained [Akim Tamiroff](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0848667) as Wu Lien; [Turhan Bey](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001947), Viennese born son of a Turkish father and Czechoslovakian mother as the middle son, Lao Er Tan; New England patrician [Katharine Hepburn](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000031) as his wife; American [Aline MacMahon](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0533956)–no longer one of the wisecracking [Gold Diggers of 1933](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024069) (1933)–as the wife of Ling Tang; English-born [Henry Travers](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871287) (best remembered as Clarence the Angel from [It’s a Wonderful Life](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650) (1946)) as the Third Cousin”; Irish-American [J. Carrol Naish](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0619798) as the Japanese Kitchen Overseer; and finally Jewish [Robert Lewis](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0507673), co-founder of the Actors Studio and [Meryl Streep](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000658)’s teacher at the Yale Drama School, as Japanese Capt. Sato." As I pointed out in another thread, the movie **Genghis Khan** from 1965 had a remarkable cast – not a single person of Asian ancestry in the lot (you could argue that Omar Sharif’s ancestors were Asian, but, come on) > [@](#): > > - [Omar Sharif](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Sharif) as Temujin, later [Genghis Khan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan) > - [Stephen Boyd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Boyd) as [Jamuga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamuga) > - [James Mason](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mason) as Kam Ling > - [Eli Wallach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Wallach) as [Shah of Khwarezm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah_of_Khwarezm) > - [Françoise Dorléac](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7oise_Dorl%C3%A9ac) as [Bortei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bortei) > - [Telly Savalas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telly_Savalas) as Shan > - [Robert Morley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Morley) as Emperor of China > - [Michael Hordern](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hordern) as Geen > - [Yvonne Mitchell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvonne_Mitchell) as Katke > - [Woody Strode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Strode) as Sengal > - [Kenneth Cope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Cope) as [Subotai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subutai) > - Roger Croucher as Massar > - Don Borisenko as Jebai > - [Patrick Holt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Holt) as Kuchiuk > - [Susanne Hsiao](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Susanne_Hsiao&action=edit&redlink=1) [[de](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susanne_Juhnke)] as Chin Yu > - [George Savalas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Savalas) as Toktoa > - [Gustavo Rojo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustavo_Rojo) as Altan Twenty one years after **Dragon Seed** , but the same casting prejudices. When Nicholas Meyer made **Judge Dee and the Haunted Monastery** for TV in 1974, only nine years later, he made sure of a completely Asian cast. Except, that is, for Khigh Dhiegh, who played the lead. (But that I can understand – Kenneth Dickerson (his real name) had made a career of playing Asian characters, most notably the Red Chinese agent Wo Fat on TV’s _Hawaii Five-0_. I didn’t realize that he was actually Anglo-Egyptian-Sudanese until the Internet came around.) The earlier British TV adaptation of Judge Dee used . I think, all British actors, including Timothy Dalton. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/32 "2022-09-29T14:59:18Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Worst miscasting: Keanu Reeves in **Little Buddha**. I mean, seriously? Nothing against Keanu but wow, that’s a weird way to go with the role of an actual Indian prince and, you know, THE BUDDHA. Or Keanu Reeves as John Constantine. A character whose appearance was originally based on the singer Sting. An Englishman wearing a rumpled tan trench coat and loose tie. It’s an iconic character. [![](https://i0.wp.com/carlosjeguren.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/john-constantine-garth-ennis.jpg) ](https://i0.wp.com/carlosjeguren.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/john-constantine-garth-ennis.jpg) And we ended up with this. [![](https://media.comicbook.com/uploads1/2015/06/constantinepost-138057.jpg) ](https://media.comicbook.com/uploads1/2015/06/constantinepost-138057.jpg) They also turned him into a monster hunter using holy gadgets more than a sorcerer/con artist. His attitude was totally wrong too. He was just a grumpy Keanu Reeves rather than a cynical charming schemer. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/33 "2022-09-29T15:03:33Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Huh. I read the _Rolling Stone_ serialization. I didn’t realize Wolfe rewrote it for publication. And I read the hardcover and didn’t much care for it. If the serialization was from a more satirical angle, the story could have worked. The book seemed to play it fairly straightforwardly IIRC, and it was offputting and unfunny. I liked the movie _Constantine_, but I never read the comic. The movie worked on its own premises for me. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/34 "2022-09-29T15:36:38Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I liked the movie _Constantine_, but I never read the comic. The movie worked on its own premises for me. That’s kind of how I felt about it too when the movie was the first exposure to the character. But after reading some of the comics, and seeing Matt Ryan’s portrayal (fantastic if you ask me), Keanu’s is portrayal is good, but someone other than the classic John Constantine. Kind of an alternate universe John Constantine maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/35 "2022-09-29T16:59:46Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Kind of an alternate universe John Constantine maybe. Exactly. I actually liked the film _Constantine_ and I even like the idea of a sequel. But that’s not DC’s John Constantine. It’s inspired by him, maybe. And Matt Ryan’s portrayal is spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/36 "2022-10-06T23:41:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Man of la Mancha** – The original stars were available, and perfect, but in quest of “star” power they cast Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren, two non-singers, in the leads. James Coco, as Sancho Panza, had the opposite problem – I thin he sang TOO well. My Fair Lady had the same problem. Julie Andrews didn’t have enough star power. Audrey Hepburn, as it turns out, COULD sing (e.g. Moon River in Breakfast at Tiffany’s) though she did not have the vocal range to do the entire job. And numerous other films, especially in the 40s, where so-and-so was a star. and thus had to sing whether she could do so or not. Betty Grable in several films, though at least she was on key - just not particularly good. Marlene Dietrich in Destry Rides Again - actively BAD (Madeleine Kahn’s Lili von Stupp was clearly a send-up of that role, in Blazing Saddles). ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/37 "2022-10-07T09:42:41Z")
It all kept Marni Nixon gainfully employed for years and years. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/38 "2022-10-07T13:06:35Z")
She also hosted a kids’ TV show in Seattle for awhile. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Yq03X0Dra38/hqdefault.jpg "Boomerang Opening Sequence") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq03X0Dra38) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/39 "2022-10-07T14:01:08Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > My Fair Lady had the same problem. Julie Andrews didn’t have enough star power. Audrey Hepburn, as it turns out, COULD sing (e.g. Moon River in Breakfast at Tiffany’s) though she did not have the vocal range to do the entire job. Lots of movies did this. As Gyrate noted, it virtually gave Marni Nixon a cinematic career – she dubbed a lot of famous actress’ singing voices, starting in 1948. Many more than I had been aware of before I looked up her career on WikipediaShe did appear as herself a couple of times (I think the only one I saw her in was **The Sound of Music** ) > **[Marni Nixon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marni_Nixon)** > > Margaret Nixon McEathron (February 22, 1930 – July 24, 2016), known professionally as Marni Nixon, was an American soprano and ghost singer for featured actresses in musical films. She was the singing voice of leading actresses on the soundtracks of several musicals, including Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, although her roles were concealed from audiences when the films were released. Several of the songs she dubbed appeared Reportedly, Jack L. Warner got so much flack for recasting Hepburn in **My Fair Lady** instead of Julie Andrews that he had the original Broadway cast of **1776** play the parts in the movie. That may be (although it’s a long tiime between My Fair Lady in 1964 and 1776 in 1972), but I’m glad he did it – I saw the Broadway production and liked the cast. But the same year someone else made **Man of La Mancha** , with that inappropriate cast (and while the original actors were not only available, but had been poised to play their roles when a film production was first discussed). That’s why I had to bring up Man of la Mancha as a particularly egregious example. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2022, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333/40 "2022-10-07T15:17:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Reportedly, Jack L. Warner got so much flack for recasting Hepburn in **My Fair Lady** instead of Julie Andrews that he had the original Broadway cast of **1776** play the parts in the movie. That may be (although it’s a long tiime between My Fair Lady in 1964 and 1776 in 1972), but I’m glad he did it – I saw the Broadway production and liked the cast. Hah - we love the movie. I never saw it on Broadway though my husband did, when he was a child. It’s another example of actors having to sing, who clearly had no talent for it - William Daniels (John Adams) was not off-key or anything, but clearly he is not the greatest singer in the world. John Cullum, on the other hand, could carry a tune quite well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bonfire-of-the-vanities-the-most-miscast-movie-ever/972333.md?page=3)