King Richard and the Crusaders (1954)

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

Sir Walter Scott (novel)
John Twist (writer)

Release Date:

7 August 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

Theirs was the mightiest challenge of them all!

Plot Keywords:

Sultan | Beautiful Woman | Lance | Love | King

Cast

Rex Harrison	...	Emir Hderim Sultan Saladin
Virginia Mayo	...	Lady Edith Plantagenet
George Sanders	...	King Richard I
Laurence Harvey	...	Sir Kenneth of the Leopard
Robert Douglas	...	Sir Giles Amaury
Michael Pate	...	Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat
Paula Raymond	...	Queen Berengaria
Lester Matthews	...	Archbishop of Tyre / Narrator
Anthony Eustrel	...	Baron De Vaux
Henry Corden	...	King Philip of France
Wilton Graff	...	Duke Leopold of Austria
Nejla Ates	...	Moorish Dancing Girl
Nick Cravat	...	Nectobanus
Leslie Bradley	...	Castelaine Captain
Bruce Lester	...	Castelaine

Runtime:

Germany:113 min | USA:114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) (RCA Sound System) | Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (35 mm optical prints)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #16913) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The film invents a military order of "Castelaines" or "Castlers", of which Sir Giles (Robert Douglas) is the Master. In the source novel, these characters are Knights Templar, whom Sir Walter Scott invariably depicted as villains. It is unclear whether the change was made because of the Production Code (Templars were a monastic order, so hostile depictions might fall under the rules against negative depictions of clergy), or to avoid upsetting the Masonic Knights Templar, of which a number of distinguished Hollywood figures were members.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Much of the heraldry depicted is incorrect. The arms of Montferrat are argent, a chief gules (white or silver, with a red band at the top), not the fanciful design with fleurs-de-lys depicted in the film.

Quotes:

Lady Edith: War, war! That's all you ever think about, Dick Plantagenet! You burner, you pillager!

Movie Connections:

Version of Richard the Lion-Hearted (1923)

Lawrence Harvey, Scottish knight in copper colored armor

Saw it on its second release in 1962. I liked it then and recalling several scenes, I still like it. First, I fancied Sir Kenneth's very unusual armour which was a deep copper color. I had seen silver and gold finish armor in movies, even shiny black but this was the first time I saw copper colored armour. But wait, in Samson and Delilah (with Victor Mature) the shields and breastplates of the Philistines were made of copper.

Memorable is the scene when Sir Kenneth introduces himself to King Richard (portrayed by George Sanders) in Gaellic. Although used to foreign knights as the Crusades were after all a multinational mission of Christian kingdoms, the King nevertheless was surprised that he couldn't discern the language spoken by Sir Kenneth. When the latter informs him that it was Gaellic, George Sanders' blue eyes flashed and he said: "One of the Scotsmen! I swear as soon as this crusade is over and the Saracens are defeated, I will bathe their miserable country in their blood." Or something to that effect. Remember in the 11th century,England and Scotland were rivals in power and were constantly at war over borders with England always trying to subjugate the Scots.

I always enjoy listening to George Sanders' rich voice and very cultured but manly intonation which can sometimes be reassuring but at times menacing. His voice over of Bagheera the tiger in Disney's The Jungle Book with its range of moods is superb.

The battle and dueling scenes were very good.