Casting By

Very education and enlightening, this is the rare documentary that is as edifying as it is entertaining. Fun animations to keep it interesting when the real scene was not possible. Real star power was lassoed in to present their genuine compliments to an underappreciated legend. Original artifacts such as actor "report cards", newspaper clippings, awards ceremony speech recordings, typewritten letters- both personal and professional missives are shared aplenty. All resulting in more than enough insight into this underappreciated role in the film industry.

"Casting By" is as much an inspiring homage to the powerhouse pioneer of Casting as an art form, Marion Dougherty, as it is a historical lesson on the transformation from the practice of choosing stock actors from a laundry list to fit a film- to the far more powerful practice of matching the films that most harmoniously showcase an actor's talents.

The last segment was as tear-inducing as any cornball romantic comedy, hearing, seeing- actually feeling- all the heartfelt letters from the greats in old Hollywood writing to the Academy in support, imploring then to give Marion Dougherty her much deserved honorary Award. And then seeing the words, "Marion Dougherty did not receive the award." She passed away in 2001, without any official recognition by the Academy, and never having received a single title card credit @ 100% font. Because, yes, that is how petty they get. Truly devastating.

Well, 2024 update?

Praise be. Taylor Hackford be damned with your comments about how you are always in charge and casting directors will never be labeled as directors. You are not that great. And the Academy has finally realized the error in its ways, in the first new category established since 2001 over twenty years ago. As clearly shown in this exemplary documentary, it is about time!

2026, Best Achievement in Casting, here we come!

There was a time (mostly gone, now) when acting meant ACTING; when the right Actor could be given the Right Part and the grex would be a remarkable thing to see. Nowadays, of course, a lot of actors are little more than Stand-Ins, who PANTOMINE for cgi that aren't there- MIMES, to be more precise. I've always looked for the name of the Casting Director on movies that boasted particularly memorable performances by competent Actors. Two of the names that I recall seeing on a good many of the most memorable movies I ever saw were Dougherty and Lynn Stalmaster. (In fact, up until I saw this documentary, I thought that Lynn Stalmaster was a WOMAN.) Times have indeed changed (and not for the better), but we'll still have all those old movies with all those Great performances- and we'll always have Marion Dougherty and Lynn Stalmaster to thank for it.

Casting actors and actresses for movies and television shows would seem to be a thankless job, until one realizes that without the proper person in a role, the whole project might seem ill-conceived. East coast casting agent Marion Dougherty and her west coast counterpart, Lynn Stalmaster are the two principles spotlighted here, paving the way for their associates and colleagues to get the recognition they deserve for working with filmmakers in making the best casting choices possible. Despite a terrible early performance on TV's "Naked City", Dougherty took another chance on actor Jon Voight in 1968, sending him to meet with director John Schlesinger for "Midnight Cowboy"; Schlesinger and Jerome Hellman tested Voight but really wanted Michael Sarrazin for the part of Joe Buck, who wasn't available, causing Dougherty to actually push for Voight--as an agent might. This documentary from Tom Donahue includes some surprise commentators and lots of film clips. I would have liked to see more examples of movies in which the casting was off, but Donahue and his subjects are too polite to embarrass anyone. The intention is to shed light on an unsung profession and how it affects the show business world, and this is accomplished with great style. *** from ****

Great story. Historic documentary I'm glad I saw this in my lifetime specially in my early career as a casting director for Arab Actors in Hollywood. Recommended for everybody in this business specially casting people

This is an excellent documentary for any movie buff. This is because although we love directors, actors and perhaps even producers, folks almost never stop to think about the casting director--the person whose job it is to find talent, appropriate talent, for all the film roles. The story primarily focuses on Marion Dougherty and how she created the position while working for Kraft Theater on television and follows her through her brilliant career. It also focus to a lesser extend on Lynn Stahlmaster who created this sort of role in Hollywood. It's all very, very informative and it was very touching hearing folks talking so fondly of Marion and crediting so much of their success to her. The only thing you DON'T learn is anything about her personal life or those of the other casting directors. And, when you look them up on IMDb, there really isn't much more than their names. Interesting...as if IMDb hasn't noticed or appreciated these folks as well...so perhaps they should see "Casting By".

It's nice to see this film, as often the perception is that Hollywood is so selfish and narcissistic, yet here so many 'heavy hitters' make themselves available for interviews and attribute so much of their success to the casting directors and in particular, Marion.

Superb and well worth seeing.