Knights of the Round Table (film)

Knights of the Round Table is a 1953 British-American historical Technicolor film made by MGM in England and Ireland. Directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S. Berman, it was the first film in CinemaScope made by that studio. The screenplay was by Talbot Jennings, Jan Lustig and Noel Langley from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, first published in 1485 by William Caxton.

Knights of the Round Table
Directed byRichard Thorpe
Produced byPandro S. Berman
Screenplay by
Based onLe Morte D'Arthur
1485 book
by Sir Thomas Malory
Starring
Narrated byValentine Dyall
Music byMiklós Rózsa
Cinematography
Edited byFrank Clarke
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • December 22, 1953 (1953-12-22)
Running time
115 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.6 million[1]
Box office$8.1 million[1][2]

The film was the second in an unofficial trilogy made by the same director and producer and starring Robert Taylor, coming between Ivanhoe (1952) and The Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955). All three were made at MGM's British studios at Borehamwood, near London and partly filmed on location. The cast included Robert Taylor as Sir Lancelot, Ava Gardner as Queen Guinevere, Mel Ferrer as King Arthur, Anne Crawford as Morgan Le Fay, Stanley Baker as Modred and Felix Aylmer as Merlin. The film uses the Welsh spelling for Arthur's nemesis, Modred, rather than the more common Mordred.

In addition to the same producer, director and star, the first two films in the trilogy had the same cinematographer (F. A. Young), composer (Miklos Rozsa), art director (Alfred Junge) and costume designer (Roger Furse). The costumes for this film were executed by Elizabeth Haffenden.[3] In 1955 she would take over from Furse as costume designer for the final film in the trilogy, Quentin Durward. Alfred Junge remained as art director.

Plot

Arthur removes the sword from the anvil

With the land in anarchy, warring overlords, Arthur Pendragon (Mel Ferrer) and his half-sister Morgan LeFay (Anne Crawford) meet as arranged by the sorcerer Merlin (Felix Aylmer) to discuss how to end the bloodshed. Morgan maintains that as she is the only legitimate offspring of the late king, the throne belongs to her, but Merlin puts the adversaries to a test to determine England's rightful ruler. Merlin leads them to Excalibur, a sword embedded in an anvil, and says that according to legend, whoever can remove the sword shall be England's true sovereign. Morgan's knight champion and lover Modred (Stanley Baker) tries in vain to extract the sword, but Arthur removes it easily. Modred accuses Merlin of witchcraft, and a hearing is arranged with the Council of Kings at the circle of the stone. After advising Arthur that he must prove himself worthy of the throne by his deeds, Merlin instructs him to return the sword to the anvil.

Lancelot encounters Elaine, Arthur, Modred and Guinevere

Meanwhile, the French Knight Lancelot (Robert Taylor) and his men ride toward the circle of stone, hoping to offer their services to Arthur. On the road, Lancelot encounters a young woman named Elaine (Maureen Swanson), who quickly falls in love with him. They are waylaid by Modred's men, and Lancelot bravely does battle with all of them. Arthur arrives and joins in the battle. Lancelot, claiming he needed no help, challenges Arthur, unaware of his identity. After a long, exhausting fight, Lancelot finally asks his opponent's name, and when he learns that it is Arthur, he breaks his sword against a tree and kneels before him. They are joined by Elaine's brother Percival (Gabriel Woolf), who asks to be Arthur's knight errant.

Later, at the circle of stone, Arthur and Modred debate before the Council of Kings. When the crowd turns against Arthur and Lancelot, they are forced to flee, vowing to take the kingdom on the battlefield. Arthur and his men lie low throughout the cruel winter, then launch their attack against Modred's men in the spring. Despite being greatly outnumbered, Arthur's men win and he is crowned the King of England. In the interest of peace, Arthur immediately pardons all his former enemies, but when Lancelot objects to Modred's pardon, the two men angrily part ways.

Following the battle, Lancelot discovers that the lovely Guinevere (Ava Gardner) has been kidnapped and rescues her, unaware that she is Arthur's fiancée. Following Arthur and Guinevere's wedding, the king's joy is complete when Lancelot arrives at Camelot and pledges his allegiance anew. Arthur swears to join the select group of knights at the Round Table and England enjoys a period of peace and prosperity. One day, Percival brings Elaine to court and asks Guinevere to make her a lady-in-waiting.

Morgan and Modred plot against Arthur and Lancelot

Meanwhile, Morgan and Modred continue to harbor ill feelings against Arthur, and note with interest the growing warmth between Lancelot and Guinevere. Merlin privately warns Guinevere that Morgan will tell Arthur of her suspicions about Guinevere's love for Lancelot. Because of this, Guinevere tells Lancelot she knows of his secret love for her and urges him to marry Elaine. Lancelot proposes to Elaine and asks Arthur to let him go to fight the Picts on the Scottish borders.

One night, Lancelot and Elaine are visited by Percival, who relates how a heavenly vision instructed him to go on a quest for the Holy Grail, the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper.

Modred calls a meeting of Arthur's enemies in Scotland and urges them to make peace so that Lancelot will be forced to return to Camelot, where he will eventually be exposed as Guinevere's lover. Word of peace reaches Arthur at Camelot at the same time that Lancelot's infant son Galahad, whose mother, Elaine, died in childbirth, is brought to court with instructions that he be sent to Lancelot's father. Sensing a plot, Merlin argues against bringing Lancelot back to Camelot, but Morgan poisons him, and the knight returns amid great fanfare.

Late one night, jealous after seeing Lancelot kiss another woman (Lady Vivien), Guinevere goes to his rooms, unaware that she is being spied on by Morgan and Modred. Lancelot angrily denounces Guinevere's folly in coming to him, and Modred's men soon arrive to arrest them for high treason. Lancelot fights them off and flees with Guinevere.

Lancelot and Guinevere are tried in absentia at the Round Table and declared guilty. Lancelot suddenly walks in and surrenders, and when he confesses his chaste love for Guinevere, Arthur revokes their death sentence. Over Modred's protest, Arthur orders that Guinevere be confined and banishes Lancelot from England.

Civil war, death of Arthur and Modred, vision of the Holy Grail

Outraged at this show of mercy, Modred succeeds in turning the other knights against Arthur, and civil war returns to the land. Arthur meets with Modred and agrees to his terms for ending the war, which include disbanding the Round Table. When one of Arthur's men draws his sword to kill a snake, however, the battle cry is sounded.

Arthur is mortally wounded, and Lancelot returns from exile to be at his side. With his dying breath, Arthur commands Lancelot to destroy Modred and give Guinevere his love and forgiveness. Lancelot fulfills Arthur's dying wish to hurl Excalibur into a lake. He calls on Guinevere at the convent and conveys Arthur's message, then finally kills Modred after a fierce one-on-one battle.

Lancelot meets Percival at the Round Table and weeps, blaming himself for the noble fellowship's demise. Percival receives another holy vision of the Grail and hears a divine voice telling him that Lancelot's son Galahad will be a worthy knight, and that Lancelot is forgiven and will now know peace.

Cast

All names with an asterisk (*) are credited on the "Cast" page (p62) of Knights of the Round Table: A Story of King Arthur - Text based on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film (Ward, Lock • London and Melbourne) [1954]

Cast notes

A number of notable performers - the first two here appearing in several scenes and with several lines to speak - were uncredited. These include: Ralph Truman as King Marr of the Picts, Henry Oscar as King Mark of Cornwall, Desmond Llewelyn as a herald, and Patricia Owens as Lady Vivien. Valentine Dyall spoke the opening narration. Laurence Harvey was included as a cast member in an early edit of this article - and also on IMDb - but his participation in this film remains unconfirmed.

Filming

The film had some sequences shot near Tintagel Castle, Cornwall, with local people as extras. Scenes for the first battle were shot at Luttrellstown Castle Estate in Co. Dublin, Ireland. Woodland scenes and the hawking scenes were shot at Ashridge Forest, Herts. The Torquilstone Castle set designed by Alfred Junge for Ivanhoe (1952) was expanded and re-dressed as Camelot. Most of the indoor filming was at MGM-British Studios, Borehamwood, Herts.

George Sanders was originally cast as Modred but fell ill prior to shooting and was replaced by Stanley Baker, who had just made an impression in The Cruel Sea (1953).[4]

The film was apparently shot on Eastmancolor stock, like Quentin Durward (1955), but it was advertised only as being 'in COLOR magnificence'. [See poster on Infobox above.] The film itself credits no color process. IMDb attributes the prints to Technicolor's laboratory, but it is not listed as one of the corporation's film prints in Fred E Basten's book Glorious Technicolor.[5]

Production was interrupted by labor disputes when two hundred extras (all members of the British extras' union) struck, demanding a pay increase. After a monthlong strike that affected other productions, MGM finally agreed to meet the union's demands.[6]

Film reception
The film being shown in Singapore in 1954

Box office

According to MGM records, the film earned $4,518,000 in the US and Canada and $3,578,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $1,641,000.[1]

Critical

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, gives Knights of the Round Table reports that 67% of six surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 6/10.[7]

Moreover, Knights of the Round Table has received mixed reviews from the majority of critics. The New York Times' Bosley Crowther found Knights of the Round Table to be a refreshing, enjoyable film that resembled "a spectacular, richly costumed Western film", stating that the new CinemaScope technology brought the film to life.[8] Decent Films Guide reviewer Steven D. Greydanus gave the film a "B", stating, "a solid adaptation of the King Arthur legend, Knights of the Round Table benefits from its colorful pageantry and strongly Christian milieu, including a royal Catholic wedding and a transcendent moment of revelation involving the Holy Grail."[9]

Awards and nominations

Knights of the Round Table was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color (Alfred Junge, Hans Peters, John Jarvis) and Sound Recording (A. W. Watkins).[10][11] It was also nominated for the Grand Prix at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival.[12]

Bibliography

Knights of the Round Table: A Story of King Arthur - Text based on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer CinemaScope film (Ward, Lock • London and Melbourne) [1954]

Both the crew and cast credits published at the front (crew) and back (cast) of the book are much fuller than those in the U.S. prints. They appear to come from variant U.K. prints prepared for British cinemas. It's known that contractual obligations required that Miklos Rozsa's score had to be recorded in England (by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Muir Mathieson) as well as being recorded in Hollywood by Rozsa himself.[13] This version of the score may have been used in British prints. Currently (2018) only a U.S. print is available on DVD.

Comic book adaption
  • Dell Four Color #540 (March 1954).[14][15][16] Full-color photo-cover • 34 pages, 33 in full-color • Drawn by Dick Rockwell • Copyright 1954 by Loew's Incorporated [Authorised movie tie-in]

References
  1. The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1954', Variety Weekly, 5 January 1955
  3. Knights of the Round Table: A Story of King Arthur - Text based on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer CinemaScope film (Ward, Lock • London and Melbourne) [1954] page 5
  4. "Tamiroff set for UK film". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 1 August 1953. p. 4 Supplement: SUNDAY MAGAZINE. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  5. Fred E Basten • Glorious Technicolor: The Movies' Magic Rainbow (A S Barnes/Thomas Yoseloff • 1980) pp169-194
  6. Steinhart, Daniel. (2019). Runaway Hollywood: Internationalizing Postwar Production and Location Shooting. University of California Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-52-029864-4.
  7. "Knights of the Round Table (1954)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  8. Crowther, Bosley (8 January 1954). "Knights of the Round Table (1953)". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  9. Greydanus, Steven D. "Knights of the Round Table (1953)". DecentFilms.com. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  10. "The 26th Academy Awards (1954) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  11. "NY Times: Knights of the Round Table". NY Times. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  12. "Festival de Cannes: Knights of the Round Table". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 25 January 2009.
  13. https://www.filmscoremonthly.com/notes/knights_of_the_round_table.html
  14. "Dell Four Color #540". Grand Comics Database.
  15. Dell Four Color #540 at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
  16. http://www.bigblogcomics.com
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