FLiFF Eli Wallach's book "The Good, the Bad and Me In My Anedotage" - CinemaDave

A great addition to your autograph collection, Cinema Dave!

I read that Eli Wallach was considered for the role of Maggio, eventually played by Frank Sinatra in "From Here to Eternity". The producers liked Eli's work but felt the muscular Wallach not scrawny enough for Maggio. Weighing about 120 pounds at the time helped Sinatra get the role.

It is fun to contemplate roles that some actors tried for and did not get, or turned down when requested to play. James Cagney declined an offer to play Don Vito Corleone in "The Godfather". It is one of many fascinating might have beens.

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Eli had no regrets about not portraying Maggio. I think he talks about it on one of the live action avi Videos.

Ironic trivia - Sinatra protested the original "The Godfather" as creating bad stereotypes for Italians. Sixteen years later, Sinatra wanted the role of Don Atobello in "The Godfather Part III." Don Atobell went to ..you guessed it...Eli Wallach.

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Mr. Wallach certainly went on to have a very successful movie career after the Maggio role came and went.

I remember Frank Sinatra being in the news back when he protested stereotypes in "The Godfather". Apparently something changed his mind by the time of "Godfather III". I enjoyed Eli Wallach's Don Atobello, but Sinatra as Don Atobello is also a performance I'd like to have seen.

Years ago I heard some talk of Sinatra playing Joseph Kennedy, the father of JFK in a film but it never materialized. It sounds like the sort of thing Sinatra could have done a lot with.

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Of all the death and dying in "The Godfather Trilogy," Don Antobello's was the most pleasant, listening to opera and eating canoles.

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