The Great Gatsby (1974 film)

The Great Gatsby is a 1974 American romantic drama film distributed by Newdon Productions and Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Jack Clayton and produced by David Merrick, from a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola based on F. Scott Fitzgeralds 1925 novel The Great Gatsby.

The rights to the novel were purchased in 1971 by Robert Evans so that his wife Ali MacGraw could play Daisy. After MacGraw left Evans for Steve McQueen, he considered other actresses for the role, including Faye Dunaway, Candice Bergen, Natalie Wood, Katharine Ross, Lois Chiles, Cybill Shepherd, and Mia Farrow. Eventually Farrow was cast as Daisy and Chiles was given the role of Jordan. Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, and Steve McQueen were considered for the role of Gatsby but they were rejected or declined the offer. Beatty wanted to direct producer Evans as Gatsby and Nicholson didnt think that MacGraw was right for the role of Daisy, who was still attached when he was approached. Farrow was pregnant during the shooting and the movie was filmed with her wearing loose, flowing dresses and in tight closeups.Truman Capote was the original screenwriter but he was replaced by Francis Ford Coppola. On his commentary track for the DVD release of The Godfather, Coppola makes reference to writing the Gatsby script at the time, though he comments Not that the director paid any attention to it. The script that I wrote did not get made. ........

Source: Wikipedia