Gwen Verdon: A Life On Stage And Screen - Plot & Excerpts
Levine had purchased the film rights to Sweet Charity following its stage premiere. It was to be produced by Universal Studios, where the head man Lew Wasserman wanted Shirley MacLaine to play the title role. Fosse wanted Verdon for the film and rallied for her. It was reported in Bernard F. Dick’s book, City of Dreams: The Making and Remaking of Universal Pictures that Verdon was originally considered for the film with Jack Lemmon playing Oscar to ensure a box office name. However, this idea was vetoed by Universal who wanted MacLaine because of her box office value. She had just made the successful comic crime thriller Gambit (1966) for Universal. She was also known as a musical-comedy star because of the film version of Can-Can though that film had been a box office flop. The issue of age also presumably came into play. Although Charity’s age in the stage show was not made specific, MacLaine was nine years younger than Verdon. And perhaps George Abbott’s refusal to give Verdon closeups in the film of Damn Yankees was weighed against the idea that MacLaine was considered more camera-friendly.
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