Lesser Known Tolkien Film Adaptations

October 2, 2002 4:17 PM

Sure, Peter Jackson's might be the most famous, and you've probably all heard of Ralph Bakshi's animated version and the Rankin-Bass one, but did you know that there have been other cinematic adaptations of J. R. R. Tolkien's works? Take a look at this 1960s musical adaptation of The Hobbit, for instance, or a 1940s Warner Bros. version of the complete trilogy. (Movie downloads require Quicktime.)
posted by UKnowForKids (16 comments total)

The first movie was posted by the good folks at the SpinnWebe BBS, and the second was linked from the outstanding Tolkien Sarcasm Page. The Tolkien Sarcasm Page is great fun - where else can you test your knowledge of LOTR trivia, read about the LOTR board game, and research the Arthur Conan Doyle/J. R. R. Tolkien link?
posted by UKnowForKids at 4:21 PM on October 2, 2002

Only having a 56k it's going to take some time to dowload that Wanrer Brothers movie. Fancy giving us the Coles Notes version. Any good?
posted by feelinglistless at 4:38 PM on October 2, 2002

The Warner Brothers is someone's parody, where they take famous movies (such as Casablanca in scene 2) and overdub lines. (given that LOTR was published in the 50s/60's, warner would have been ahead of themselves to release a movie in the '40s.) Not worth a download on 56k..., IMHO.
posted by fragile at 4:48 PM on October 2, 2002

Oh right, I see. Hmm...
posted by feelinglistless at 4:51 PM on October 2, 2002

... I'll stick to 'White Men Don't Wear Plaid'
posted by feelinglistless at 4:51 PM on October 2, 2002

'Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid'
posted by inpHilltr8r at 4:58 PM on October 2, 2002

It worked pretty well as Hobbit Noir meets Godzilla

The story's very applicable...good v. evil, a mission, etc...
posted by amberglow at 5:37 PM on October 2, 2002

Agreed amberglow The Warner Brothers is a hoot. Bogart as a Hobbit he was of course very short in real life .. for a minute I was thinking how did he let that on film.. and Citizen Kane as Sauruman LMAO all done in 1940s B-movie type scene cuts with the occasional Godzilla yet it all somehow works.
posted by stbalbach at 7:41 PM on October 2, 2002

Is that really Lenord Nemoy in the musical?
posted by Grod at 8:15 PM on October 2, 2002

What is a Leonard Nimoy?
posted by PrinceValium at 8:44 PM on October 2, 2002

Sorry about the duplicate link there; the Warner Bros. one was the one I was focused on, so that's all I thought to search the archives for. Oh well, live and learn.
posted by UKnowForKids at 10:08 PM on October 2, 2002

The Hobbit Musical was being restaged when I was in London last year around December. I think it was just cashing in on all the LOTR hoopla.
posted by PenDevil at 2:06 AM on October 3, 2002

Can anyone identify which Bernard Herrmann movie theme is used in the WB parody? It is distinctively in his style, but I can't place it. His music always sends a chill up my spine. The movie is pretty funny and worth the download even on my pitiful 56K (more like 32K actually).
posted by gametone at 5:00 AM on October 3, 2002

It's a mishmash of different BH music. I recognized snaches from "Vertigo," which is one of his most beautiful, haunting scores.
posted by grumblebee at 10:08 AM on October 3, 2002

Thanks grumblebee, but doing a google search for Bernard Herrmann and Warner Brothers I came up with the credits for the LOTR parody. Which led me to realize that the theme I was wondering about was actually by Max Steiner. It's the WB fanfare leading into the music for Casablanca. Steiner and Herrmann two of my faves, imprinted on me as a youth from King Kong (Steiner) and The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (Herrmann).
posted by gametone at 11:41 AM on October 3, 2002

Thanks, UKnow, for a delightful post!
posted by Lynsey at 9:43 PM on October 3, 2002