Barry Lyndon sights on Thackeray's 1844 "satirical picaresque about the fortune-hunting of an Irish rogue," "Barry Lyndon", the setting of which allowed Kubrick to take advantage of the copious period research he had done for the now-aborted "Napoleon". At the time, Kubrick merely announced that his next film would star Ryan O'Neal (deemed "a seemingly un-Kubricky choice of leading man") and Marisa Berenson, a former "Vogue" and "Time" magazine cover model, and be shot largely in Ireland. So heightened was the secrecy surrounding the film that "Even Berenson, when Kubrick first approached her, was told only that it was to be an
The Man Who Played God (1932 film) meet him immediately. "My excitement and joy were indescribable ... An Arliss film was a prestige film – a far cry from "The Menace", and yet Murray Kinnell of "The Menace" cast had suggested me for the part ... Out of all bad comes some good. I have always believed this." At age sixty-three, more than ten years older than the character, Arliss knew he was too old for the role and was concerned the age difference between him and the actress cast as Grace Blair would be ridiculous unless she were played by someone who could convey both love