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In classic and new wave Hollywood, women’s roles in the entertainment industry were sparse and often reduced to gender stereotypes. Like so many other businesses, Hollywood was a patriarchy; man was king and women were mere mortals. The highest status a female could achieve was “Sex Goddess”, although once the “goddess” became a certain age, or got pregnant, that title would wear off and often she would slip through the cracks. Director Tom Donahue (Washington Heights) has made a film that is about a woman who was a remarkable exception to the rule.

Casting By is a professional documentary of Marion Dougherty (1923-2011), an ingenious casting director who gave great roles to even greater stars. Dougherty worked with the likes of Jeff Bridges, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall and Al Pacino. She was unrivaled during her career, often having executives lunge at her feet, begging her to stay when other companies would offer her a job.

The director certainly does a good job at showing how brilliant Dougherty was and intelligently dissects the importance of the casting director. Donahue takes a job that is not normally seen as glamorous and portrays it as the most interesting job in the world. Certainly his subject is an impressive woman who makes her job into an art form; choosing authenticity and talent over star power, which eventually concludes with a better overall picture.

Unfortunately Casting By is not perfect; the audience isn’t shown the negative side of the business and the director doesn’t go into much detail about Dougherty’s struggles as a woman in a man’s industry. We also aren’t told about her failures, which would be important lessons on the way to the top. She is portrayed as a nearly perfect being, and while there is truth to her genius, it’s inconceivable to think that she never made a mistake. Despite this, Casting By is still a pretty good documentary and is a must see for behind-the-scenes lovers.

Published in Volume 68, Number 7 of The Uniter (October 16, 2013)