Lancelot and Guinevere (1963)

Beautiful, moving film.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A stirring tale of knights, chivalry, and the days of the Round Table in the time of King Arthur is brought to the screen with full pomp and pageantry . It deals with ARTHUR-LANCELOT-GUINEVERE triangle that brings to life again , including a sincere respect , though also fictitious , of the old legend . Set during the civil wars of 6Th-century England where rules the king Arthur (Brian Aherne) , 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 . Wandering swordsman Lancelot (Cornel Wilde) falls for beautiful Guinevere (Jean Wallace) , soon to be Arthur's queen . Later on , Lancelot fights evil renegade knights , Barbarians invaders and villainous Mordred , Arthur's son . Big-scale battles , tournaments , betrayals , passion , and impressive outdoors , all of them are pieces for a tremendous epic , are all here . However, it just doesn't woork , at times . The result is almost always the handsomest of films to behold and the plot will cause much eye-rolling . Dramatically , it has its moments , too , blending grandeur and intimacy . The battles scenes hold all the excitement and gore by that time the censorship allowed , which was not for the fainthearted . This period action classic features Lancelot, the bravest knight of the Round Table and the moving story of the romantic triangle starred by Cornel Wilde, who is badly miscast , and his real wife , the lovely Jean Wallace . The real-life marriage yearn , gaze and kiss intensely ; it is worth the time it takes to watch . In spite of lack real documents about legendary feats of King Arthur , allegedly in VI century King of Bretons , during XII century was created some writings by French notorious authors who romanticized the legend as Chretien of Troyes and Thomas Malory that wrote 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 motion picture was professionally directed by Cornel Wilde . Cornel Wilde, who also acted , co-produced and directed this film, as he ambiously romps some Arthurian legends in this spectacular slide of sword , blood and battles . Other movies on the matter of legends of Arthur resulted to be : ¨Knights of the round table¨(Richard Thorpe, 53) with Robert Taylor , Ava Gardner , Mel Ferrer , Stanley Baker ; the musical ¨Camelot¨ (Joshua Logan), with Franco Nero , Richard Harris , Vanessa Redgrave ; the fantastic ¨Excalibur¨ considered the best and tremendous epic (John Boorman, 81) with Nigel Terry , Helen Mirren , Nicholas Clay , Nicol Williamson , Cherie Lunghi ; ¨Merlin and the sword (Clive Donner , 85) with Malcolm McDowell , Candice Bergen , Edward Woodward; ¨Merlin¨(1998) with Sam Neill , Miranda Richardson , Rutger Hauer , Isabella Rossellini , Martin Short ; First knight¨ with Richard Gere , Sean Connery , Julia Ormond ; and recently ¨King Arthur¨(Antoine Fuqua, 2004) with Clive Owen , Stephen Dillane , Ioan Gruffud , Mikkelsen , Kiera Knightley . The picture will appeal to aficionados with chivalric ideals and historic movies fans .

King Arthur sends his trusty right hand man, the knight Sir Lancelot to a rival kingdom to win the hand in marriage of Guinevere. He succeeds, but falls in love with the maiden. She marries Arthur but secretly yearns for Lancelot. After a time, they become lovers & when Arthur finds out, their friendship – sabotaged by a rival knight – becomes very strained.Originally released in the United Kingdom as Lancelot & Guinevere, this 1963 adventure film was directed by its star, Cornel Wilde. Wilde also produces & cast his wife at the time, Jean Wallace, as Guinevere.While not the definitive version of the Camelot story, Sword of Lancelot is still reasonably watchable. The film has some passable acting &, like most of Wilde's directorial efforts, filled with action scenes. The fights & battles are the showpiece of the film & are quite violent, even by 1963 standards. There is some passable plotting but the pace tends to drag a little inbetween the battles. Wilde & Wallace might be a good pair on the screen but they are both a little too old for their roles. Having said that, Sword of Lancelot is still a pretty reasonable Dark Ages adventure film, although I still prefer something like Under the Red Robe over this.

{{Contains Spoilers }}'Lancelot and Guinevere' -aka 'The Sword of Lancelot' is a movie that seems to be well out of its time even in 1963. Its acting style, dialogue and costumes (everything used looks at least second or third hand) is more akin to the early 1950s epics (Ivanhoe, King Richard and the Crusades etc) than to say 'El Cid' made only a few years earlier in 1960.Not only is the film set in the Middle Ages - the cast are all pretty middle aged as well - and look it . King Arthur (Brian Aherne) was over 60 when this movie was made , yet even with a fake beard, he still looks at least 50. Perhaps he had too much fun in Camelot with the knights to think about marrying but the arrival of Sir Lancelot and his magic soap may make a difference ! A rather mature looking Lancelot (another ageing bachelor it seems ) scares the other 'dirtier' Knights with his soapy ways and also has a French accent which unfortunately reminds you a bit of Inspector Clouseau. (Shame Peter Sellers wasn't up for the film role). Instead you have the barrel chested Cornell Wilde as the Gallic Knight errand whose new task it to claim Guinevere for King Arthur at a rival's court in a death or glory tournament . Lancelot wins that encounter and escorts Guinevere back to Camelot. However, before they arrive, he suggests that Guinevere has a bath in the local pond where he joins her with her = a tout alors ! - magic soap as apparently supplied by Merlin. One quick scrub down - and it is love at first lathering..It is a shame the film wasn't turned into a comedy - as I was quite taken with the idea of a clean Frenchman showing how the English..(or are they Britons) to bathe ! Unfortunately - and with the cast showing a deadly earnestness in the ridiculous story - the movie ploughs on to more unintentional humour along the way. The Vikings also turn up - those horny helmeted heathens ! - and nephew Mordred gets busy plotting for a more or less familiar ending known to Arthurian myth lovers. Besides the absurd sub Shakespearean style dialogue - bouts of weird laughter and back slapping in Camelot every time someone tells a feeble joke, one the glaring daftest ideas for the film was to cast Wilde's wife Jean Wallace as Guinevere. They look like a married couple to start off with ! - and there is no way even the camera can disguise it but this Guinevere looks pretty old to be the most desirable virgin in the land. Perhaps everyone in this film had a wash down with the magic soap , to believe this casting as feasible or acceptable.The film does get a partial redemption in that more time is spent out on the battlefield fighting against various enemies of King Arthur but overall 'Lancelot and Guinevere' should only be seen by fans of bad films.

Well they sure don't make films like this anymore and I agree with the comment this film rocks! The battle scenes alone were way ahead of there time with gore and spectacle. It was the first time I had ever seen a man cut in half by a sword. It shocked me! I saw this film for the first time when I was a kid and it has stayed with me through the years. It has solid acting by Cornel and cast. Indeed when I think of the Lancelot I don't think anyone portrayed the medieval knight better. This was one of the movies that once you started watching it you where glued to the screen. A great period piece. If you have seen this movie and enjoyed Cornel's acting the films The Naked Prey and Gargoyles (a made for TV movie) definitely made a splash !