A Classic Era LOTR Movie

[Archaic Elf]

I was starting to read the thread about the probability of a LOTR remake happening in the future (I would say that it will more than likely happen be it twenty or thirty years from now...they remake everything in Hollywood). Now, I'm wondering what people would think if a LOTR film had been made at any point from the 30s till a few years before Peter Jackson announced the production of his films. What would you like to see? Who should direct? Who should star in the films? Cross eras if you want, I'm not a film buff anyway.

I think a film adaptation with Bela Lugosi as Saruman would be epic.
Boris Karloff as Grima Wormtongue.
Christopher Lee as the Lord of the Nazgul
Charlton Heston could be Aragorn.
...I'm already tapped on ideas

I would prefer to see more of a dramatic piece than a sword-slasher, so the directing should take cues more from a film like Ben-Hur rather than the Star Wars prequel trilogy. I would also prefer to have the movie be in black and white and completely minimize all special effects.



I imagine a thread like this exists (I looked, but the fantasy casting threads generally pertain to the new Hobbit films or to the Silmarillion). Feel free to merge with another if needed.