Knights of the Round Table (1953)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writers:

Thomas Malory (based on "Le Morte D'Arthur")
Talbot Jennings (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 January 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama

Plot:

King Arthur establishes the greatest reign England has ever seen, and along for the ride are his indispensable Knights of the Round Table...

Plot Keywords:

Lancelot | Knight | Camelot | England | King

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Robert Taylor	...	Lancelot
Ava Gardner	...	Guinevere
Mel Ferrer	...	Arthur
Anne Crawford	...	Morgan Le Fay
Stanley Baker	...	Modred
Felix Aylmer	...	Merlin
Maureen Swanson	...	Elaine
Gabriel Woolf	...	Percival
Anthony Forwood	...	Gareth
Robert Urquhart	...	Gawaine
Niall MacGinnis	...	Green Knight
Ann Hanslip	...	Nan
Jill Clifford	...	Bronwyn
Stephen Vercoe	...	Agravaine

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

West Germany:6 (f) | Finland:K-12 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #16742) | Sweden:Btl | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Dartmoor, Devon, England, UK

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios

Trivia:

The first film in CinemaScope which was not produced by 20th Century-Fox.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: A truck is visible in the background of a large battle scene.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Grandma's Boy (2006)

An Ill Fated Passion

The Arthur legend gets a grand production here, good photography and rousing battle scenes. The leads kind of go through the motions in their roles though, some of the supporting players really carry this film.

Robert Taylor was never comfortable in those 'iron jockstrap' movies as he called them. But he was the most dutiful employee MGM had and like Errol Flynn with westerns, Taylor just went with the flow. Funny thing is Taylor much preferred doing westerns as he reached his forties.

Was there ever a more beautiful Guinevere than Ava Gardner? I sincerely doubt it. If she never spoke a line in the film, you know this is a woman for whom you toss convention out for. Ava was in the middle of her tempestuous marriage to Frank Sinatra at the time, so I'm sure she was pre-occupied.

And next to Richard Burton on stage and Richard Harris on the screen Mel Ferrer looks positively colorless. Not the guy to command the loyalty the legendary king was supposed to do.

But I did like the performances of Felix Aylmer as Merlin, Anne Crawford as Morgan Le Fay and Stanley Baker as Mordred. Felix Aylmer was never bad in anything he ever did, always a figure of wisdom and dignity in any role. Morgan Le Fay is quite the schemer here and Anne Crawford brings her to life. Sadly Ms. Crawford died only two years later of leukemia at age 36. American audiences probably only know her for this film, but she's fantastic.

But the best performance in the film has to be Stanley Baker. He was a rugged tough man in every film he did, good guy or bad guy. His Mordred has depth and passion and he's unrelenting in his plans to topple Arthur and the Round Table.

If they gave Oscars out for performances by animals than Robert Taylor's horse Varick would have won it that year. Except for Roy Rogers's Trigger, I don't think we've ever had a smarter movie horse. He's obedient and well trained and knight's horse certainly had to be back in the day. And he saves Taylor's bacon on one occasion.

It's a good film, not the best from either of the stars, but I think you'll like it overall.