Casting The Princess Bride

[Dervag]

Here's the question:

If you had to assemble a cast to do the movie "The Princess Bride" during the Golden Age of Cinema (the 1930s and '40s), who would you use?

About the only guy who comes to my mind immediately is Peter Lorre as Vizzini. And maybe Errol Flynn as either Westley or Inigo.
__________________________

If you prefer, pick a cast from another period (the 1960s? Today?). The real question is who we would use to play those roles in an era where the actors who actually did it are unavailable or too old.

[Dervag]

I'm not going to bump this again, but I really was hoping for at least one or two responses. Or maybe a few sentences explaining why nobody cares.

:smallfrown:

[13_CBS]

Perhaps many of us aren't very familiar with 30's and 40's actors and actresses? :smallfrown:

[FoE]

It's summer, man. The forums are pretty dead right now, if you haven't noticed. We all got better things to do than think about re-casting an old movie with movie stars from yesteryear that's pretty well-cast to begin with. I nearly fell asleep just thinking about it.

[Raistlin1040]

Well, I admit, I'm unfamiliar with 30s and 40s Cinema, so I'll just use today.

Westley - Not really sure.
Buttercup - Keira Knightly
Prince Humperdink - Jensen Ackles
Inigo Montoya - Johnny Depp
Count Rugen - James Marsters
Fezzik - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. (Come on, is there any other choice?)
Vizzini - Mike Myers

[Swordguy]

Here's the question:

If you had to assemble a cast to do the movie "The Princess Bride" during the Golden Age of Cinema (the 1930s and '40s), who would you use?

About the only guy who comes to my mind immediately is Peter Lorre as Vizzini. And maybe Errol Flynn as either Westley or Inigo.


I gotcha. I was just gone for a few days.

Wesley - Errol Flynn. Duh.
Buttercup - Olivia de Havilland (Plus you get the chemistry between her and Flynn - they played Robin and Marion in The Adventures of Robin Hood) OR Judy Garland. I prefer Olivia.
Humperdink - Clark Gable OR Groucho Marx (depending on how you want to take the character, arrogant or incompatent fop)
Inigo - Stewart Granger (remember his swordplay in Scaramouche?)
Rugen - Basil Rathbone. Again, duh.
Fezzik - The Great Antonio Barichievich (you even get a close match in the accent.)
Vizini - Peter Lorre. In complete agreement on that one. Nobody else could play him.
Miracle Max - Mickey Rooney
The Albino - Christopher Lee. :smallbiggrin:

[Ossian]

Hi!
Just finished reading the book, and I loved it so much. It literally healed my soul, no kidding, praise on Morgenstern, sure, but mostly on Goldman ;).

The movie, too, is a cult. Watched it so many times.
Now, I guess you picked up a glorious age of cinema, but a pretty unknown one too, at least to the average playgrounder.

I like the idea of warming up a little Grace Kelly's perfect but a bit cold beauty. You, know, give her a tan, let her hair be a bit less perfect and shiny.

A lot easier to answer with more recent actors. Scarlett Johanson, although a bit too curvaceous for the role, could be a fabulous Buttercup.

O.

[Jimorian]

{kidnaps thread for a related funny story}

I work in a bookstore. The other day I got one of the best phone calls ever.

Customer: What's your return policy on books? I bought The Princess Bride as a present for a friend, but I'm afraid I got the wrong version.

Me: Did you want the hardcover instead of the paperback or vice versa?

Customer: No, the wrong author. Seems I need the full original version by S. Morgenstern. The William Goldman one is abridged.

Me: ... Ummm ...

It takes a bit of explaining, but finally I convince her that she has what she needs.

{puts thread back where he found it}

[Ossian]

{kidnaps thread for a related funny story}

I work in a bookstore. The other day I got one of the best phone calls ever.

Customer: What's your return policy on books? I bought The Princess Bride as a present for a friend, but I'm afraid I got the wrong version.

Me: Did you want the hardcover instead of the paperback or vice versa?

Customer: No, the wrong author. Seems I need the full original version by S. Morgenstern. The William Goldman one is abridged.

Me: ... Ummm ...

It takes a bit of explaining, but finally I convince her that she has what she needs.

{puts thread back where he found it}


HAhahahahaah....I can see your face during the phone call. As for myself, I have been pondering over whether to buy the book or not, the other week. It was, in fact, the "good parts" version, or the "abridged". Being a fan of originls I though, well, maybe I want to read the full story, and then the good parts version. I mean, so much mistery round this book, what do I do? LOL, I bought it, and I am so glad I did, and that I bought the "right" one.

When I discovered (too bad, before Buttercup's baby) some extra details about Goldman, I though he must be a g-d genius.

Totally worth it.

O.

[Tirian]

{kidnaps thread for a related funny story}

I work in a bookstore. The other day I got one of the best phone calls ever.

Customer: What's your return policy on books? I bought The Princess Bride as a present for a friend, but I'm afraid I got the wrong version.

Me: Did you want the hardcover instead of the paperback or vice versa?

Customer: No, the wrong author. Seems I need the full original version by S. Morgenstern. The William Goldman one is abridged.

Me: ... Ummm ...

It takes a bit of explaining, but finally I convince her that she has what she needs.

{puts thread back where he found it}

I am sympathetic. I've got the 25th anniversary hardcover here on my desk and the dust jacket spares no effort in saying that it is an abridgement of Morganstern's story (including some highly amusing back cover quotes from Morganstern scholars). What the dust jacket doesn't say at all is that the original was written in Florinese, an all but dead language. So we're pretty much stuck with Goldman's version even if you wanted to read the "missing" seven hundred pages (which, by nearly all accounts, you don't).

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

I gotcha. I was just gone for a few days.

Wesley - Errol Flynn. Duh.
Buttercup - Olivia de Havilland (Plus you get the chemistry between her and Flynn - they played Robin and Marion in The Adventures of Robin Hood) OR Judy Garland. I prefer Olivia.
Humperdink - Clark Gable OR Groucho Marx (depending on how you want to take the character, arrogant or incompatent fop)
Inigo - Stewart Granger (remember his swordplay in Scaramouche?)
Rugen - Basil Rathbone. Again, duh.
Fezzik - The Great Antonio Barichievich (you even get a close match in the accent.)
Vizini - Peter Lorre. In complete agreement on that one. Nobody else could play him.
Miracle Max - Mickey Rooney
The Albino - Christopher Lee. :smallbiggrin:

Pretty much seconded on all counts. You, good sir, know your stuff...although I could see Danny Kaye stepping in for a cameo somewhere (mainly because he's so incredible in The Court Jester. I'd probably favor him as Miracle Max over Mickey Rooney, as his old man in the Court Jester is downright hysterical, and I'm not sure how well Rooney would carry it.

[Swordguy]

Pretty much seconded on all counts. You, good sir, know your stuff...although I could see Danny Kaye stepping in for a cameo somewhere (mainly because he's so incredible in The Court Jester. I'd probably favor him as Miracle Max over Mickey Rooney, as his old man in the Court Jester is downright hysterical, and I'm not sure how well Rooney would carry it.

I was thinking about Danny Kaye (for the same reason - GODS I love his schitzo swashbuckler in TCJ), but I figured that he's too animated for the portrayal of Miracle Max I'm envisioning. He's too...bouncy, I guess.

I'd love to see him in the movie, but I'm kinda at a loss of where to include him. Maybe as the preacher at Buttercup's wedding - that might be pretty funny.

Oh, and thank you. It right depresses me when I reference Errol Flynn in my stage combat class, and my students say "who?". :smallannoyed:

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Oh, and thank you. It right depresses me when I reference Errol Flynn in my stage combat class, and my students say "who?". :smallannoyed:

I share your pain. Not ONE person on my college fencing team had seen or read Scaramouche...I was heartbroken. And insisted on a movie night, but that's another story.

Their legacy is dying, my friend. It's up to people like us to bring it back. :smallbiggrin:

That said, Mr. Kaye would be rather entertaining as that priest, but Jimmy Durante could do it as well (that voice of his seems like it might be interesting in the part, and his personality...well...it would be an interesting scene to be sure). HE might also make an EXCELLENT Miracle Max.

[Dervag]

Fezzik - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. (Come on, is there any other choice?)The problem is that for Fezzik, you need a guy who is huge. Fezzik is a gentle giant; that's the entire character right there. Specifically, Fezzik needs to be the biggest guy in the movie by a large margin. He makes Westley and Inigo look small by comparison, and he makes Buttercup and Vizzini look like little children.

Johnson is 6'4". That's more than enough for 'ordinary' huge guys in movies, but for Fezzik? Not good enough. Maybe if he wore platform shoes... nah.

How about Tyler Mane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Mane)? He's 6'8", which is better. Not as big as Andre the Giant, but it's going to be hard to find anyone that big.

The Rock would be a great idea... if only he were bigger.

[chef781]

INCONCIEVALBLE!!
I am Inigo Montoez. you killed my father. prepare to die.
I am Inigo Montoez. you killed my father. prepare to die.
I am Inigo Montoez. you killed my father. prepare to die.

[Ossian]

Westley: Are they going to kill me?
From the Albino: also, nod.

[Manga Shoggoth]

The problem is that for Fezzik, you need a guy who is huge. Fezzik is a gentle giant; that's the entire character right there. Specifically, Fezzik needs to be the biggest guy in the movie by a large margin. He makes Westley and Inigo look small by comparison, and he makes Buttercup and Vizzini look like little children.

...

Not as big as Andre the Giant, but it's going to be hard to find anyone that big.

BRIAN BLESSED (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BrianBlessed)!

And, although they are in different eras, I can see Danny Kaye (I too immediately thought of The Court Jester) pulling off Inigo.

[Dervag]

BRIAN BLESSED (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BrianBlessed)!Brian Blessed is worthy of the role physically, but could he play the character? Fezzik is supposed to be kind of shy and reserved- he relies on other people to do most of the thinking and decision making. Blessed seems to go for much more active, outgoing roles.

[Telonius]

Fezzik - Tor Johnson.