A Classic Era LOTR Movie

[Mister Underhill]

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

Underhill, you're a sadist!

I aim to please.

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Aragorn -- Errol Flynn

I was thinking more like Macbeth-era Welles:



Something about that wild look in the eyes and the nerve it takes to wear a crown fashioned out of a cigar box with such swagger. Laughton as Bilbo is spot on however.

How about Spencer Tracy as Frodo?

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Perhaps James Stewart could double as Treebeard. He has that slow... way... of... talking...

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

I aim to please.

I was thinking more like Macbeth-era Welles:



Something about that wild look in the eyes and the nerve it takes to wear a crown fashioned out of a cigar box with such swagger. Laughton as Bilbo is spot on however.

How about Spencer Tracy as Frodo?

I had Errol as Aragorn merely to have his sidekick, Alan Hale, as Gimli. Great chemistry. The effete Leslie Howard would be a dainty Legolas.

Welles would be a good choice, although a bit more diabolical role seems in the offing for him. Have you ever seen the movie Prince of Foxes starring Welles as Caesare Borgia? He played that role to a tee, and might be a good candidate for the ill-fated Boromir.

Sepncer Tracy is an interesting choice for Frodo. We could add Frederick March and the character actors Henry Daniell and Conrad Veidt to the list somewhere as well.

[Mister Underhill]

Ah yes, of course, I completely overlooked Hale. But now that you mention it, Flynn-Hale as Legolas-Gimli would be a good combo. Flynn has that superhuman athletic ability that would translate well -- you imagine that if he shield-surfed, he would really do it, and it wouldn't be so bad. And of course he was a beautiful man, if you think of elves in that way, but he was a man, not a boy. He could rescue Legolas from that pretty-boy vacuousness that Bloom brought to the role.

Leslie Howard does have a mopiness that generally fits the gloomy side of the Eldar, but he always comes across as impotent too. I think he'd make a good Celeborn.

Mention of Conrad Veidt makes me think, of course, of Casablanca, which makes me think of Paul Henreid as a possible Aragorn, especially if you saw him more as a supporting player than in the central role that he assumes in Jackson's version. He has that sort of uncompromising righteousness down pat. Eh, but he could never stand up to Welles as Boromir. Speaking of which, "diabolical" is the perfect word for that quality that Welles has, not only in Prince of Foxes but in most of the roles he played. He'd make a great Feanor.

I'd say Olivier for Aragorn, but I always thought he was overrated. It's a tough role to cast. I could almost see Clark Gable in the part (think Mutiny on the Bounty), but he's such his own thing. Still, he could do the sly wit as well as the pathos. What about John Wayne?

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

I'd say Olivier for Aragorn, but I always thought he was overrated. It's a tough role to cast. I could almost see Clark Gable in the part (think Mutiny on the Bounty), but he's such his own thing. Still, he could do the sly wit as well as the pathos. What about John Wayne?

Clark Gable does not seem too Aragornish to me. Too much of a smart-aleck and doesn't have a regal look (more like a knave bedding the court wenches ). Although, Gable would have been a huge box office draw, which is really all the studios cared about at the time.

John Wayne? That is funny. I still crack up at his portrayal of Genghis Khan in The Conqueror. Talk about miscasting!

How about Ronald Colman? He can be a rogue (Francois Villon in If I Were King) and lordly (Prisoner of Zenda). And let's not forget one of the greatest of character actors, Basil Rathbone!

[Mister Underhill]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Clark Gable does not seem too Aragornish to me. Too much of a smart-aleck and doesn't have a regal look (more like a knave bedding the court wenches ).

All true. Gable is best when he's being a rascal, so even if he could play it straight, he'd be mostly wasted as Aragorn. Still, he'd have great chemistry with a Spencer Tracy Frodo.

Originally Posted by Morthoron

John Wayne? That is funny.

I'd pay good money to hear his low and slow line-reading of Aragorn's, "I am Aragorn son of Arathorn, and if by life... or death... I can save you, I will."

Originally Posted by Morthoron

And let's not forget one of the greatest of character actors, Basil Rathbone!

I thought of Basil Rathbone, but he's a little too cold and remote for Aragorn for me.

Henry Fonda or Gary Cooper are interesting to think about, but they're both so quintessentially American somehow that neither seems right.

Then again, you could do the John Ford version with his company of players:

Aragorn -- Wayne, natch.
Faramir -- Henry Fonda
Boromir -- Ward Bond
Saruman -- Victor McGlaglen
Gandalf -- John Carradine
Galadriel -- Claudette Colbert
Arwen -- Maureen O'Hara
Merry -- Ben Johnson
Pippin -- William Holden
Sam -- Andy Devine
Frodo -- Richard Widmark
Wormtongue -- John Qualen

But now we're getting really specialized...

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

How about Stewart Granger or Gregory Peck for Aragorn? Granger swashes a good buckle, but Peck does that humble angst so well...

[Mister Underhill]

How could I have forgotten Gregory Peck? Bullseye! Ruggedly handsome, intelligent, unimpeachable integrity, commanding yet vulnerable, tall -- he's the whole package.