The Great Recasting Blogathon: Inglourious Basterds

The Great Recasting Blogathon is hosted by Frankly, My Dear and In The Mood, and the idea behind is to recast a post 1965 film with pre '65 stars. Undoubtedly, I immediately wanted to join in this fabulous initiative, but my first problem was: what film to choose? My initial pick was The Devil Wears Prada (2006), but I rejected this thought, since the movie has already been taken, and even though the rules allowed tackling one film by two bloggers, I decided to move on and my final stop turned out to be Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009), a very peculiar and somewhat unfaithful to history war drama, also, one of my favorite films.

However, later on I got other ideas for recent movies to be recast but changing my mind was too late. Besides, Inglourious Basterds seems too much fun to let it down.

Nevertheless, now I clearly see the problem. Inglourious Basterds is a multinational film. There are French, German, British, and American there. Even though I watch more classic films than an average person (not that interested in cinema), I have to admit that I don't possess the knowledge of classic foreign stars, that's why and it's very important, I have nothing else to do but to recast the film with mainly American and British actors. Sorry!

I imagine that the film was made around 1950. Also, please, don't laugh at me, this post is about to become unintentionally hilarious because of my ridiculous choices.

Beware: there are some spoilers.

Lt. Aldo Raine (originally played by Brad Pitt)

Interestingly, some of the characters were not easy to deal with because before I knew I had two or three or even more actors in my mind who could play them and Aldo is one of those film personas. However, my final choice is Gary Cooper because the man definitely could play tough uncompromising people and the more I think about it the more I believe that he's not one of my ridiculous casting choices in this post.

Col. Hans Landa (originally played by Christoph Waltz)

We definitely need someone delusively charming here and Cary Grant seems to me like a perfect choice. He's known for his romantic and comedic roles, but that's why it is so enticing to cast him in a villainous part.

Shosanna Dreyfus (originally played by Melanie Laurent)

Maybe, it's a little bit too senseless to suggest Audrey Hepburn for this role, since WWII brought her much grief, too, but even though the runner-up was the splendid Grace Kelly, I eventually thought that Hepburn would have made a fantastic Shosanna and, once again, the theater finale is not what Audrey would play, that's why I'd be fascinated if she'd handle this role. Both actresses were unknown in 1950, so it even fits the fact that Laurent had her breakthrough with this film.

Bridget von Hammersmark (originally played by Diane Kruger)

This character was the toughest for me to decide on, because I love Bridget and I loved how Diane portrayed her. I had so many actresses in mind that I won't be surprised if I lost count… Nonetheless, I never thought of Marlene Dietrich, since it seems like such an easy and obvious choice. Thus, imagine this beautiful strong-willed double agent played by Katharine Hepburn. I'm not aware of similar parts from the illustrious Hepburn, but I'm sure she'd make it work with her amazing screen presence and subtle yet powerful acting.

Lt. Archie Hicox (originally played by Michael Fassbender)

Charlton Heston. I don't know. At first, I had no idea who would make a good Hicox. But Heston and Fassbender even look a bit similar, and they both are fine actors, so I don't even have anyone else to be a runner-up for this role.

Major Hellstrom (originally played by August Diehl)

One of those small yet important roles goes to James Stewart, who is an unlike choice once again. I noticed that I don't mind seeing actors in roles that are opposite to their usual ones, and you can't blame me for that. Of course, in the past, audiences hated when something bad happened to their favorites in the films or if their favorites turned into villains, but now we love versatility and off the wall thinking.

Fredrick Zoller (originally played by Daniel Brühl)

The character provokes a strange sympathy. He just seems like a normal young man, who could have been just a guy living a regular life, if it wasn't for the war. Besides, in reality he is not proud of his "feat". I really can't give you a reason, but my first and only choice was Montgomery Clift. I think he could render the light suffering that Zoller was overcoming.

What do you think of my casting choices? What actors would you better recommend for these parts?