WI: Elizabeth Taylor killed in plane crash with Mike Todd?

OTL, Taylor had a cold, so she didn't take the trip with him. Suppose she had gone anyhow?

To start, it means they'd need to reshoot "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (she was 2wk into shooting). It also means she doesn't do "Butterfield 8" (which earned her an Oscar) or the notorious fiasco "Cleopatra".

So who gets "Butterfield 8", instead? Personally, I'd love it going to Marilyn.:cool::cool: (I doubt the studio would love it...) It's a role that would let her show she actually can act--& getting her an Oscar could only help prevent depression later on, not least with better roles. (Her death could have been a suicide; it might also have been accidental... Either way, I like the idea of her being an Oscar winner.:))

"Cleopatra"? How about Ann-Margaret? Ava Gardner? Ursula Andress?

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"? (This earned Taylor her best reviews.) So what about Joanne Woodward? Or Candy Bergen? (The thought of it going to Raquel Welch or Sharon Tate makes me smile.:openedeyewink:)

Any other thoughts? Career effects on the substitues?
 
I do. She was a great actress and beauty. :(

Ava Gardener might be too old for Cleopatra.
It's losing the icon I'm thinking of. Are their cultural effects beyond her just being in some movies?

As for Ava, if not her, I'm open to suggestions. Indeed, I'm open to ideas for any of Taylor's films after 1958.

I can't help think Marilyn might get at least a couple of them. If you're trying to cast one of the most beautiful women alive... And that could be huge for Marilyn's career & self-esteem. That's why I picked her for "Butterfield 8". Like "Bus Stop", it casts against type & lets her show she can actually act.

Is there some minor starlet who never got a chance that might get an opportunity, if Taylor wasn't cast in the choice roles she was?
 
Butterfield 8 was a project that Elizabeth Taylor had to do to fulfill a contract with MGM, so that movie would not be made.

Cleopatra, I think it wouldn't have been made as there wasn't a big enough bankable actress to justify the initial budget for 20th Century Fox (it went way over budget because of the Burton- Taylor affair).

The marriage of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher may have lasted a couple of years more, even through I always thought that Eddie Fisher was a sleeze.

Richard Burton may have had a better film career as he wouldn't had to do bad movies for the paychecks.
 
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Butterfield 8 was a project that Elizabeth Taylor had to do to fulfill a contract with MGM, so that movie would not be made.
Not by Taylor (&, after looking up, probably not Marilyn, signed to Fox, either...). However, the book had been optioned, so there's a reasonable chance it gets made; does MGM want it made badly enough to pay Fox for the use of Marilyn?
Cleopatra, I think it wouldn't have been made as there wasn't a big enough bankable actress to justify the initial budget for 20th Century Fox (it went way over budget because of the Burton- Taylor affair).
Reasonable. It eliminates a major Hollywood budget bungle... Am I right there were no career-making performances?
The marriage of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher may have lasted a couple of years more, even through I always thought that Eddie Fisher was a sleeze.

Richard Burton may have had a better film career as he wouldn't had to do bad movies for the paychecks.
Those look like small changes without significant butterflies of their own.
 
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