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Prince Valiant (1954) -- Trailer for this wondrous adventure

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Overview

User Rating:
6.1/10   734 votes
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Up 34% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Hal Foster (comic strip)
Dudley Nichols (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Prince Valiant on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
5 April 1954 (USA) more
Plot:
A young Viking prince strives to become a knight in King Arthur's Court and restore his exiled father to his rightful throne. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Comments:
Maybe a lighter touch would have made it a classic more (24 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

James Mason ... Sir Brack

Janet Leigh ... Princess Aleta

Robert Wagner ... Prince Valiant
Debra Paget ... Ilene
Sterling Hayden ... Sir Gawain
Victor McLaglen ... Boltar
Donald Crisp ... King Aguar
Brian Aherne ... King Arthur

Barry Jones ... King Luke
Mary Philips ... Queen
Howard Wendell ... Morgan Todd
Tom Conway ... Sir Kay
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Additional Details

Runtime:
100 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.55 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
UK:U | West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-12 | USA:Approved (PCA #16695, General Audience) | Sweden:15

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
None of the locations were "stock footage" since this was one of the first CinemaScope movies. The locations were shot by a second unit in Britain during the spring and summer of 1953 specifically for this film. Stand-ins doubled for the principal cast in long shots which were then matched at 20th Century-Fox studios and ranch in California during the autumn of 1953. The English stand-in for Janet Leigh's Aleta character was a teenage Shirley Eaton (later to become the James Bond Goldfinger (1964) girl). more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: As Valiant leaves his castle to meet Boltar at the beginning of the movie, he jumps from several heights to the ground. As Valiant jumps off of a small hill next to the castle, you can clearly see mats falling down from the hill after he jumps. more
Quotes:
Sir Gawain: A man does not risk banishment or death in borrowed armor unless the stakes are high. more
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FAQ

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6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful.
Maybe a lighter touch would have made it a classic, 1 January 2006
5/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

The biggest problem that Prince Valiant has is that it takes itself too seriously. It is still entertaining on many levels, but I wish it had been done in a lighter vein. A good example to follow would have been Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy had the studio been able to see into the future.

The Arthurian legends place Camelot to be a generation or three after the fall of the Roman Empire. At that point Christianity was unheard of in Scandinavia where the Vikings were from. In fact Christianity was in heavy competition with the Druid religions of the ancient Britons. So the whole film has no basis in fact.

I do have to say that the film made oodles of money for 20th Century Fox and gave Robert Wagner a career role that he would be identified with for the period of his bobby sox popularity.

Wagner certainly had a good a group of supporting players as you could get to help this film. James Mason is a fabulous villain and his duel with Wagner is a classic. Brian Aherne would get to do King Arthur again in Cornel Wilde's Lancelot and Guinevere and he fits my conception of what the mature Arthur was like.

One thing though. I have to believe that with Arthur's Excalibur and Valiant's singing sword sooner or later these guys would have tangled. Two magic swords in one kingdom, unheard of.

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