Lancelot and Guinevere

Plot synopsis:
Lancelot is King Arthur's most valued Knight of the Round Table and a paragon of courage and virtue. Things change, however, when he falls in love with Queen Guinevere. A sub-plot concerns Arthur's effort to forestall a challenge from a rival king, a problem that will inevitably catch Lancelot up in a personal conflict.
In order to marry Guinevere, King Leodogran's daughter, King Arthur must find a knight to defeat Leodogran's champion. Arthur chooses Lancelot, who mortally wounds his opponent. On the way back to Camelot, Lancelot foils an attempt on Guinevere's life by Sir Modred, Arthur's illegitimate son; and before the end of the journey Lancelot and Guinevere realize their love for each other. Though Lancelot is loyal to Arthur and Guinevere's marriage to the King takes place as planned, it is not long before the two become lovers.
Modred spies on them and informs Arthur of his wife's infidelity. Lancelot escapes, but Guinevere is condemned to be burned at the stake. He returns in time to save her and then offers to give himself up provided there will be no retaliation. Nevertheless, Arthur banishes him and sends Guinevere to a convent. Years later, Modred murders Arthur for his throne, and Lancelot returns to defeat him, thus ending the civil war that has been raging in Britain. He then finds Guinevere about to take the vows of a nun.

Tags: cult, violence, historical fiction

Review:
In and around the castle Camelot, brave Cornel Wilde (as Lancelot) and virtuous Brian Aherne (as King Arthur) vie for the affections of lovely Jean Wallace (as Guinevere).
Clearly, "Lancelot and Guinevere" was meant as a more realistic, for the times, "Knights of the Round Table" film.
**** Lancelot and Guinevere (6/2/63) Cornel Wilde ~ Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, Brian Aherne, Iain Gregory.
A good action film that is reasonably faithful to the Arthurian legends as interpreted (and sometimes actually written) by Thomas Malory in the 15th century.
The individual sword fights seem like hard and deadly work----no dancing and prancing or choreographed acrobatics as in most films of this genre.
Just clanging metal and men straining in their armor, with gory and graphically depicted consequences.The film is indeed part soap opera, as is the Lancelot/Guinevere part of the Arthurian Cycle, but these interludes are done in a matter of fact, rather stark manner.
The dialogue is a bit clipped and less theatrical than in most epics but this only adds to its realistic qualities.An excellent film by a man (Cornel Wilde) very underrated as both an actor and filmmaker..
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 .
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 .
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 .
Not a solitary comment on one of the really good medieval flicks of this period?Actually it was one of the last, coming at the end of the cycle that had included KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE, PRINCE VALIANT, THE BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH, THE BLACK KNIGHT....all big moneyspinners in the 50's.
By '63 even THAT had waned, THE LAST DAYS OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH having closed the chapter on epics the previous year.But hey, Cornel Wilde was a ragingly in-form Lancelot and pulled out all stops to impress his lady Guinevere.
But you know, simply nothing overcame life's little set- backs in those days of yore, like crushing a few skulls in with a mace or broadsword and Lancelot was the champion after all.
Some reviewers at the time took exception to Lancelot's french accent (Ah, my GuineVERE, u know 'ow I love you non?, ees not your coleurs 'anging from my lance-tip cherie?) Well ze franch accent or not, Cornel made as good a Lancelot as anyone ever has.
The battle scenes alone were way ahead of there time with gore and spectacle.
Cornel Wilde started as an Olympian master at fencing, and this film must have been something of the ultimate realization of his dreams.
He makes a very convincing Frenchman, and there are two great battle scenes which alone make the film outstanding.
In another version Sean Connery was equally old, but there is nothing in any legend to imply that King Arthur must have been an old man when he married Guinevere.
Both Joshua Logan's 'Camelot' (two years later) and the excellent TV screening of 'The Mists of Avalon' both make the king as young and fresh as Guinevere, and both Arthurs are more convincing.
Of course, the centerpiece is Lancelot and Guinevere, they need no one else, and their story is quite good enough to give Mordred and Morgan as little space as possible.
The highest credit though goes to the script, which actually Cornel Wilde himself was part of besides directing the whole thing himself..
King Arthur sends his trusty right hand man, the knight Sir Lancelot to a rival kingdom to win the hand in marriage of Guinevere.
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.
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..
Cornel Wilde should be awarded an "E" for effort in The Sword of Lancelot, a gabby, murkily photographed, and surprisingly bloody King Arthurer from 1962.
Wilde as Lancelot sports a dandy little French accent that reminded me of the guy in the tower in Monty Python's The Holy Grail while he fights for the king, until he gets all gushy over the lovely Jean Wallace as Guinevere.There is quite a bit of long-looking and love-talking and smooching between the real-life couple (and a tightly shot post-coital embrace with the two drippy and funky; boy, what did the folks at the Production Code think of that?), but after a good while, you're starting to grumble at the screen to GET ON WITH IT, whatever it might be.The battles swing from the hokey to the excitingly bloody.
You don't see many guys get their heads split down the middle in American movies in 1962, and Wilde does stage a couple of well-thought-out sequences, so there is some benefit to sitting through the kiss-kiss to get to the clang-clang.The whole Arthurian legend is such an appealing story that even though Wilde has two strikes against him--a budget equivalent to pocket change (the film quality is so bad, I honestly checked my glasses to see if they needed cleaning) and the fact that most everyone involved looks a good generation too old for the story--he still brings some real love and passion to the screen.Which is why The Sword of Lancelot should be taken at face value, and even though Jean Wallace is pushing forty in the picture (too mature for a maiden), all I can say is, "What a face!".
Cornel Wilde had an interesting career as stand-by leading man for Tyrone Power at Fox. His biggest role there was in Forever Amber, made when Power was doing another big budget spectacle, Captain from Castile and was unavailable.
Wilde should have had a bigger career, but never got the breaks.He and Mrs. Wilde (Jean Wallace who played Guinevere)dusted off the Lancelot and Guinevere story for another go.
This kind of film really needs the full backing of a big studio.MGM did this far better with Knights of the Round Table.
Wilde dusted off the French accent he perfected in The Greatest Show On Earth and played Lancelot properly as a Frenchman.
But Ava Gardner was a Guinevere to die for as opposed to what Mrs. Wilde did with the part.Brian Aherne plays a noble Arthur.
Lancelot, like Tristan, is entrusted by King Arthur (King Mark) to escort Guinevere (Iseult) to Camelot.
They fall in love during the journey, thanks to a soap that Lancelot jokes about as being a magical charm from Merlin (like the love potion labeled poison that Iseult drinks)..
Countless versions of the Arthurian legend have been filmed, some with emphasis on the romance, some the action and some the supernatural.
This one (produced by, directed by and starring Wilde) virtually eliminates any supernatural aspects (Merlin's primary mystical contribution is the invention of soap!) and focuses on the pageantry, battle and romantic passion of the story.
Aherne is King Arthur, whose attempt to unify all of Britain includes the marrying of Princess Guinevere (Wallace.) Unfortunately, he sends Lancelot (Wilde) to collect her and she grows enamored of him before she's even met Aherne.
Ostensibly virginal Wallace is as well (40) and 61 years seems like a long time for Aherne to have waited to get married!
Her character lacks clear motivation at times (and her hair color and costumes aren't always very pleasing.) Aherne is excellent, showing a lot of charisma and assurance in his role (though he is not given a proper send-off at the end.) Meacham is an appropriately weaselly villain.
This hurts the human side of the story somewhat as the relationships aren't given sufficient screen time to develop as strongly as one might like, especially with such an unnecessarily wide cast of supporting characters.
Wilde really took a chance in producing such an expansive film as this on his own and it was not a particularly strong financial success.
It is, however, preposterous to expect an audience to believe that Wallace, en route to be married to a king, would bathe in the same water, simultaneously, as the knight who is escorting her.
This was made during a time when Wilde was creating most of his own films and starring himself and real-life wife Wallace in them.
SWORD OF LANCELOT, crafted as Cornel Wilde's gift to himself, shows Guinevere as a strong and determined character—far from an 'etiolated princess --and her character is also played with brio and charm.From the whole tale, the script picked as characters truly brought out the love triangle—the knight, his queen, and the oldster—and, in fact, only the couple of lovers—the others are too marginal .
As an adventure flick, it features a tournament and a battle with the pagan invaders, and it ends with the defeat of Mordred.Directed by Wilde, the movie has something sincere and straight and respectable, even a note of originality..
Cornel Wilde started his career as a matinée idol specializing in romantic and swashbuckling roles,later going on to direct his own films.Some are best forgotten but films like "The Naked Prey" and "Beach Red" are cult classics.Lancelot and Guinevere,his take on the Camelot legend,while not an unqualified success is by no means a bad film,what does however stretch ones credibility is the ages of some of the leading players.
Cornel Wilde who played Lancelot, although still fit and muscular looking, was pushing fifty.Likewise his real life wife Jean Wallace who played Guinevere was in her forties.Although still an attractive woman no amount of soft focus photography could disguise the fact.For reasons best known to himself Wilde decided to portray Lancelot as a french man so he dusted off the accent he perfected in "Centennial Summer" and "The Greatest Show On Earth",one wonders if that was the inspiration for Peter Sellers role as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films.Yes its that bad.The love scenes were considered quite explicit for the time but they come across today as more tasteful than erotic.The whole film is down to earth with no magic or mysticism and certainly no Excalibur.Merlin spends his time inventing a wondrous new substance called soap.Indeed is it a product placement opportunity for Proctor and Gamble?
After this there is precious little humour to be found.Wilde uses a good second eleven team of British actors such as Brian Aherne,George Baker,Archie Duncan,Adrienne Corri,Reginald Beckworth,Richard Thorpe,Graham Stark and John Barrie.They all do sterling work but not enough to interest "Oscar".Also the editing is a little abrupt at times perhaps due to budget restraints.Wilde really comes into his own in the battle scenes which are quite spectacular courtesy of the Yugoslavian Army who enter into the spirit with gusto.For those who like looking for goofs watch out for the two extras who thought they were off camera having a crafty smoke with arrows sticking out all over them.The eagle eyed may also notice the odd wristwatch.At the beginning and end of the film there are two particularly bloody hand to hand combat scenes which leave one in no doubt as to the effectiveness of medieval weaponry.For all that by far the best sequence in the film is when Wilde and his men rescue a Saxon village which has been captured by Vikings,it certainly doesn't pull its punches especially in the scene where the village women, who have been violated, watch with grim satisfaction as their attackers are slaughtered to a man.In this reviewers opinion a far superior scene than anything you will find in "The Vikings".Everybody knows the plot,the doomed love affair,the destruction of Camelot and Guinevere finishing up in a nunnery,all very sad.One wishes they could make a version where they all live happy ever after.Come on it is only a fairy tale.Finally I would like to doff my hat to the young lady who plays the french serving maid,her heroic cleavage would not be out of place in a Russ Meyer film,it made for a pleasant interlude among all the doom and gloom.It certainly made a big impression on me as a spotty teenager when I first saw the film..
{{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.
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.
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.
- 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..
It was a little hard to fathom Lady Guinevere (Jean Wallace) looking her true age representing a King's daughter about to be betrothed.
Kind of makes you glad they had that magic soap around.The one thing the film had going for it was the realistic battle scenes, with body blows taking on a gruesome countenance.
At one point we see Lancelot right in the thick of things swinging away with his sword, and a minute later he's perusing the battle field from a distant vantage point as different sets of warriors enter the fray; it almost looked like there were more than two fronts to the battle.And say, what accent was Cornel Wilde going for?