Camelot (1967)

Director:

Joshua Logan

Writers:

Alan Jay Lerner (play)
Alan Jay Lerner (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 October 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

The Most Beautiful Love Story Ever!

Plot:

The story of the marriage of England's King Arthur to Guinevere is played out amid the pagentry of Camelot...

Plot Keywords:

Knight | Camelot | Adultery | Based On Musical | Historical Fiction

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Richard Harris	...	King Arthur
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Guenevere
Franco Nero	...	Lancelot Du Lac
David Hemmings	...	Mordred
Lionel Jeffries	...	King Pellinore
Laurence Naismith	...	Merlyn
Pierre Olaf	...	Dap
Estelle Winwood	...	Lady Clarinda
Gary Marshal	...	Sir Lionel
Anthony Rogers	...	Sir Dinadan
Peter Bromilow	...	Sir Sagramore
Sue Casey	...	Lady Sybil
Gary Marsh	...	Tom of Warwick
Nicolas Beauvy	...	King Arthur as a Boy

Runtime:

179 min | Canada:175 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11 | USA:G | Singapore:PG | Australia:G | Canada:G

Filming Locations:

Alcázar de Segovia, Segovia, Segovia, Castilla y León, Spain

Company:

Warner Brothers/Seven Arts

Trivia:

Dyson Lovell screen tested for Sir Sagamore.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Guenevere's party stops along the way for a cup of tea; tea wasn't imported to England until much later.

Quotes:

[first lines]
A Knight: The rules of battle are not for Lancelot Du Lac, Your Majesty! Let us attack now while they sleep!
King Arthur: [firmly] We will attack when I give the command - at dawn.
[the knight leaves, and Arthur begins to talk to himself]
King Arthur: Oh, Merlyn, Merlyn, why is Ginny in that castle, behind walls I cannot enter? How did I blunder into this agonizing absurdity? Where did I stumble? How did I go wrong? Should I not have loved her?
[sighs]
King Arthur: Then I should not have been born! Oh, Merlyn, I haven't got much time. Within an inch of sunlight, the arrows begin to fly. If I am to die in battle, please, please do not let me die bewildered!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Quest for Camelot (1998)

Soundtrack:

Then You May Take Me To The Fair

I Wonder What The King Is Singing Tonight?

CAMELOT (3+ outta 5 stars) I've heard for years how bad this movie version of the hit musical was supposed to have been... so I was never really in a hurry to see it... much as I admire the work of Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, Franco Nero and the rest of the cast. Finally I decided to take the plunge... and found the movie to be not too bad at all. Yes, some of the musical arrangements sound a little stale... the activity on the screen doesn't seem to expand much beyond what one would have seen on the stage... and there may be an over-reliance on extreme close-ups of the stars... but the movie still moves along at a brisk pace (even at 3 hours the movie doesn't seem overly long) and there is a lot to appreciate. The three leads have seldom looked more attractive on screen (you can see why Redgrave and Nero engaged in a torrid love affair of their own soon after filming). Richard Harris is in fine voice and form... but when he is EVER not worth watching? Franco Nero's accent is a little off-putting at first... his voice reminded me of Mandy Patinkin in "The Princess Bride", of all things! (I wonder if Patinkin modeled his vocal inflections after Nero?) The movie isn't really big on action scenes... though there is a rousing escape scene at one point... and a clamorous rescue scene. I wouldn't say every song in the score was a winner... but the clunkers seem to be over with soon enough... and the good songs more than make up for the duds. Maybe not the best version of the Arthurian saga ever... but definitely worth a look.