What If: ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Was a 1960’s Epic?

We’ve all had those fun little conversations, “What if this happened instead of this?” Whether it’s a major historical question like, “What if the Axis had won World War II instead of the Allies?” or just the fun little ones like, “What if Buddy Ebsen did play the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz?” That’s what the subject of this series of articles will be about — fun “what if’s?” involving mid-century pop culture. I’ll give a fake historical scenario as how it would happen and what might happen as a result. Will this make sense and fit perfectly in the regular timeline? Probably not, but like I said, this all for the sake of fun.

For this first installment, we’ll take a look at what would happen if one of the most popular fantasy sagas was adapted during the golden age of Epic movies: what if The Lord of the Rings was a 1960’s Epic?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy trilogy caught the eye of many people throughout time, one of which was legendary filmmaker and grandfather of the Hollywood Epics, Cecil B. DeMille. He became interested in the project when his friend and fellow filmmaker, Billy Wilder, gave him a copy of the set in 1955. DeMille managed to read through all three books in almost record time, fell in love with the story, and began to write notes for a possible film adaptation, but given how he was about to start filming The Ten Commandments (1956), Middle-earth would have to wait.

After production ended on The Ten Commandments, DeMille vowed that The Lord of the Rings would be his next and best film, but sadly the journey to get the film made would be as long and treacherous as Frodo and Sam’s quest to destroy the ring. DeMille struggled to get approval for the film despite his almost consistent success and fought an uphill battle to get the rights from Tolkien — until December 1958 when he got approvals on both fronts, a moment in which DeMille declared, “Merry Christmas to me!” Unfortunately, in the early-morning hours of January 21, 1959, Cecil B. DeMille died of heart failure at the age of 77. DeMille’s longtime friend and co-founder of Paramount Adolph Zukor attempted to find a new director to handle the project, including acclaimed filmmakers William Wyler, Anthony Mann, and even John Ford, who reportedly said, “What are you nuts? I ain’t doin’ this goddamn fairy crap.” Sadly, the project was shelved and wouldn’t see the light of day until many years later… in real life.

The “what if” scenario, however, might look a little something like this.

It wasn’t until 1962 when Academy Award-winning director David Lean found out about the idea and decided he wanted to make it. Much like DeMille though, despite his success, he had a hard time getting the proper funding until MGM decided to produce the film, but even then, the budget didn’t meet what Lean had speculated. That is, until a certain “uncle” reached out his helping hand. Walt Disney had heard about the trouble Lean was facing and decided to help, and through negotiations with MGM, the two entities came to a joint agreement to produce the film.  The first issue to tackle was adapting the three-volume fantasy into a screenplay. To do this, they recruited James R. Webb, who had just finished writing another large scale film, How the West Was Won (1962). He managed to narrow the film down to a movie barely reaching four hours.

The first person to hop onto the production cast-wise was Charlton Heston, who essentially begged Lean and Disney for the role of Aragorn. Heston wanted the part because he wanted to tribute to his friend and colleague Cecil B. DeMille. Disney reassured him that he need not fret; they were going to cast him anyway. Both Disney and Lean knew that Heston could properly portray both aspects of Aragorn: the rugged ranger and the noble king.

When it came to casting the other members of the fellowship, Heston suggested recent Oscar-winning actor and fellow literary lover Gregory Peck for the role of Gandalf. Given Peck’s ability to portray both an authoritative and loving-father presence, there was no doubt that he would fit the role perfectly.

For the bowman elf, Legolas, Disney suggested James MacArthur who had worked in three of Disney’s previous productions: The Light in the Forest (1958), Kidnapped (1960), and Swiss Family Robinson (1960). At first, the producers attempted to cast Kirk Douglas for the part of Boromir, but when he wasn’t available, they instead went with Richard Burton. For the loud and brave dwarf, Gimli, Ernest Borgnine was selected for the part, but there was one problem: how would they make the 5’ 9” actor look smaller than most of co-stars? Disney reassured Lean that they’d fix this through similar special effects used in Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959).

Speaking of Darby O’Gill, Disney had pleaded for Irish-actor Albert Sharpe to come out of retirement so he could play Bilbo Baggins, but Sharpe declined. So, Disney decided to go with Scottish actor John Laurie who was in Kidnapped with MacArthur as well.

For the rest of the halfling cast, Disney managed to secure another one of his regulars, Tommy Kirk, to play Frodo while David Lean recruited West Side Story’s Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn for Merry and Pippin, and British character actor Bernard Cribbins as the loyal gardener Samwise Gamgee.

For the elves of Middle-earth, David Lean decided to cast Henry Fonda for their leader, Elrond. Lean wanted someone who could portray a commanding, caring, but also world-weary leader, and he felt that Fonda’s previous roles in Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), and 12 Angry Men (1957) would make him a more-than-qualified choice for Elrond. For his Elrond’s daughter and Aragorn’s lover, Arwen, the producers hired Audrey Hepburn, and the final major elf role, Galadriel, went to Eva Marie Saint.

For the other major allies of the Fellowship, Lean attempted to get the lead of his last major epic (Lawrence of Arabia), Peter O’Toole, to play the role of Eomer, but O’Toole declined and instead suggested a young up-and-comer named Michael Caine. Lean and company weren’t sure about this, but O’Toole just simply said, “Trust me.” For Eomer’s sister Eowyn, they went with another newcomer named Julie Andrews, whom Disney had discovered during a televised performance of Camelot and thought she would be perfect for a project he was working on called Mary Poppins (1964). Lean suggested to him that they should test her out with these films to see how the audience responded to her. Disney went the idea even though he knew she would be instantly loved. For Eomer and Eowyn’s uncle, King Theoden, they went with yet another Swiss Family veteran, John Mills. For Boromir’s brother Faramir, Laurence Harvey was chosen, mainly because of his performance in The Alamo (1960).

The trickiest role to fill was for the walking, talking trees known as Ents, especially their leader, Treebeard. Disney jokingly suggested they use the same puppets that were used in Babes in Toyland (1961). The effects team ended up using a combination of makeup, puppetry, and stunt performers, with Sebastian Cabot providing the voice for Treebeard.

When it came to villains of the movie, the producers managed to get Orson Welles as Saruman, who decided to take the role as a way to help fund his production of Don Quixote. For the slimy henchman Wormtongue, British character actor and future Doctor Who Patrick Troughton was selected. For Denethor, the Stewart of Gondor and father to both Boromir and Faramir, legendary actor Laurence Olivier actually campaigned for the role as he thought this role was very similar to a Shakespearean villain. Finally, for the even more tragic and demented Gollum/Smeagol, theater actor Ron Moody was picked — an actor who would years later sing a very Gollum-like song in the movie Oliver (1968). There was some debate about how to make Moody look the part. Disney came up with the idea to dress him very similar to Ben Gunn‘s design in Disney’s Treasure Island (1950).

Filming began in the fall of 1962 and lasted until the winter of 1963 in England, Scotland, Iceland, and Spain. For the soundtrack, Lean recruited Hungarian composer Miklós Rózsa after hearing the music he composed in El Cid (1961), and Disney brought in his songwriting team, Robert and Richard Sherman to adapt the songs that were in the book.

The Lord of the Rings was released in December of 1964 and was met with praise from critics and was a hit at the box office, and wrangled in several award nominations and wins. Years later, Heston would call working on the film one of the hardest but most rewarding projects he’d ever done.

At least that’s how I think it would go.

What are your theories about a 1960s Lord of the Rings Epic? What other “what ifs” would you like to see? Let us know in the comments!

John Hamilton

John Hamilton is a lover of classic cinema from Southern Ohio and has been since he was a tiny little lad growing up on the farm. He's a fan of every type of film out there, especially Westerns and movies from the '60s and '70s. John is also a blogger and freelance writer.