The Hardy Boys and the Case of the Might Have Beens
Whilst browsing youtube I found that SabCat a film stock footage company, has posted some of the unreleased screen tests for the casting o the leads in the 1970's Hardy Boys series. Just a little scene to gauge the chemistry of the actors. It looks like they had already decided to get Shaun Cassidy in as Joe, and were trying out other Frank's.
So we have Richard Bekins & Shaun Cassidy
Gosh 70's shirt collars could be very intimidating, couldn't they?
Richard Bekins has had a fifty year career as a character and soap actor.
Then we have Radames Pera & Shaun Cassidy
I've never heard of him, but "Radames Pera" is an AMAZING name and it turns out amongst other roles, he played "Grasshopper", the young version of Richard Carradine's "Caine" seen in the many flashbacks of the early 70's "Kung Fu" series,
There's even one where they try Shaun as Frank!
Shaun Cassidy & Leif Garret
Looking at how tiny Leif is, you can see why it wouldn't work the other way round.
Before finally getting to their eventual choices:
Parker Stevenson & Shaun Cassidy
Parker seems to have eschewed the scary collar and gone for something a little more laid back and restrained.
