I think about strange things sometimes, and recently one of those strange things was a question concerning the Lord of the Rings films. I was thinking about who I might cast if I could cast only actors and actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood (pre–1960). There are so many greats to choose from. With a good bit of help from my lovely wife (and now also with the help of some readers), I have tentatively settled on the following cast.
Thomas Mitchell as Frodo Baggins
Burgess Meredith as Samwise Gamgee
Alastair Sim as Gandalf
Henry Travers as Bilbo Baggins
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. as Aragorn
Ray Bolger as Merry
Donald O'Connor as Pippin
Tony Curtis as Legolas
Walter Matthau as Gimli
Errol Flynn as Boromir
Montgomery Clift as Elrond
Gene Tierney as Galadriel
Laurence Olivier as Theoden
Gary Cooper as Eomer
Ingrid Bergman as Eowyn
The Talking Tree from The Wizard of Oz as Treebeard
Okay, I'm kidding about this one. However . . . when it comes to the voice of Treebeard, since James Earl Jones wasn't working in the Golden Age of Hollywood, what about . . .
Max von Sydow as Treebeard (voice)
Lionel Barrymore as Denethor
Paul Newman as Faramir
Jimmy Stewart as Beregond
Vivien Leigh as Arwen
Oliver Hardy as Barliman Butterbur
Joan Blondell as Rosie Cotton
Marie Dressler as Lobelia Sackville-Baggins
Barry Fitzgerald as the Gaffer
And since my imaginary film version will include the Old Forest:
Edmund Gwenn as Tom Bombadil
Grace Kelly as Goldberry
And last, but not least, the villains . . .
Basil Rathbone as Saruman
Peter Lorre as Gollum
John Carradine as Bill Ferny
Lon Chaney as Wormtongue
Boris Karloff as the Witch King/Lord of the Nazgûl
Bela Lugosi as Sauron
So, what do you think? Do you have better suggestions for any or all of the above roles?