Knights of the Round Table (1953)

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 | King | Camelot | England

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 nomination

Cast

  (Complete credited 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:

Average Shot Length (ASL) = 8 seconds (quite fast for an early CinemaScope film)

Goofs:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Grandma's Boy (2006)

Mighty spectacle about the King Arthur and the famed romance in color magnificence

This MGM's first Cinemascope production from the company and producers(Pandro S Berman)that gave you Quo Vadis,Ivanhoe among others and only MGM could bring it so magnificently to the screen.The classic story of romantic adventure come to life enriched by Technicolor and with such great stars as Robert Taylor(Lanzarote),Ava Gardner(Guinevere),Mel Ferrer(Arthur) in the classic love triangle.Adding the apparition of knights of the round table as Percival(Woof)looking the Holy Grail,Gaiwan(Robert Urqhuart),the evil Modred(Stanley Baker) and Merlin(Felix Aylmer) and Morgana LeFay(Crawford). This is an overwhelming tale with adventures,villainy,romance and heroism in the grandeur of Cinemascope although in television set lost splendor.

In spite of there aren't real documents about legendary feats King Arthur,allegedly in VI century King of Bretons,were created on XII century a writings by French noted authors who romanticized the legend as Chretien of Troyes,Thomas Malory that made the Bretons series with their knights looking for the Holy Grail.Besides Godofredo of Mormouth publicized in 1136 the History Regnum Britanniae and in XX century John Steinbeck wrote about the events of King Arthur.The story concerns when the Romans had withdrawn Britain and the Empire dissolved into chaos,then rules the king Arthur,he achieved to maintain the Christianity and civilization in the west of England ,though no exactly congruent with the VI century ,time was presumed to have lived but the film is developed in a high medieval panoply .

The movie displays breathtaking battles and epic confrontation with a terrific climax final for a mortal duel.The magnificent battle scenes are obviously copied from Henry V at Agincourt ,brought to life a decade earlier by Laurence Olivier.Excellent production design,the castles,outdoors and tournaments or jousts are well staged.Luscious costumes and gowns specially suited by Ava Gardner.Colorful wide-screen cinematography by Freddie Young(David Lean's usual cameraman).Spectacular,sensational musical score by the classic Miklos Rózsa.However this epic film never takes off as it should despite of pomp and circumstance showed.The motion picture is regularly directed by Richard Thorpe. Later, another movies on the matter of legends of Arthur are the musical¨Camelot¨(Joshua Logan),the fantastic ¨Excalibur¨(John Boorman) and recently ¨King Arthur¨(Antoine Fuqua). The picture will like to people aficionados with chivalric ideals and historic movies fans.