The Crusades (1935)

King Richard and the Third Crusade (1190-1192) are given the DeMille treatment with more spectacle than history.

Director:

Cecil B. DeMille

Writers:

Harold Lamb (screen play), Waldemar Young (screen play)

Stars:

Loretta Young, Henry Wilcoxon, Ian Keith

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Loretta Young	...	Berengaria - Princess of Navarre
Henry Wilcoxon	...	Richard - King of England
Ian Keith	...	Saladin - Sultan of Islam
C. Aubrey Smith	...	The Hermit
Katherine DeMille	...	Alice - Princess of France (as Katherine De Mille)
Joseph Schildkraut	...	Conrad - Marquis of Montferrat
Alan Hale	...	Blondel
C. Henry Gordon	...	Philip the Second - King of France
George Barbier	...	Sancho - King of Navarre
Montagu Love	...	The Blacksmith
Ramsay Hill	...	John - Prince of England
Lumsden Hare	...	Robert - Earl of Leicester
Maurice Murphy	...	Alan - Richard's Squire
William Farnum	...	Hugo - Duke of Burgundy
Hobart Bosworth	...	Frederick - Duke of the Germans

Storyline

The Third Crusade as it didn't happen. King Richard Coeur de Lion goes on the crusade to avoid marrying Princess Alice of France; en route, he marries Berengaria to get food for his men. Berengaria.is captured by Saladin, spurring Richard to attack and capture Acre. But Saladin, attracted to her, takes her on to Jerusalem, and Richard is in danger of assassination.

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Plot Keywords:

crusades | spectacle | jerusalem | attack | medieval times | 

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Taglines:

THEIR ROMANCE RODE the STORM that SHOOK the WORLD (Print Ad-Philadelphia Inquirer, ((Philadelphia, Penna.)) 25 October 1935)

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

In its re-release in the summer of 1948, when it played in New York City's Rivoli Theater on Broadway, some viewers noted that it was shown under lights giving the screen image a light blue tint, but it's doubtful the purpose of this effect was to hide a yellowing of the print in those pre-restoration days, as some once thought. In any event, the effect worked.

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Goofs

The English are portrayed using crossbows and longbows in the siege of Acre (1189-1191), although they did not adopt these weapons until the period of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453).

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Quotes

Berengaria, Princess of Navarre: We've been blind. We were proud dearest when we took the cross in our pride, we fought to conquer Jerusalem. We tried to ride through blood to the Holy Place of God. And now... now we suffer.
Saladin, Sultan of Islam: The Holy City of Allah.
Berengaria, Princess of Navarre: What if we call him Allah or God? Shall men fight because they travel different roads to him? There is only one God.

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Connections

Referenced in Diary of a Cannibal (2007)

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Soundtracks

Richard Ruled in England
(1935) (uncredited)
Music traditional, "Son of a Gambolier"
Lyrics by Harold Lamb
Performed by Alan Hale and chorus

User Reviews

Loretta Young ensnares Christians and Saracens alike....

It's probably best to start off by saying that this is most certainly not an history lesson. Cecil B. De Mille has used the third crusade as little more than a template for his grand-scale story of Richard the Lion-heart (an efficient Henry Wilcoxon) as he capitalises on this holy quest as an excuse to avoid marrying the ambitious Princess Alice (Katherine de Mille), sister to co-crusader Philip II of France (C. Henry Gordon). En route to Jerusalem, they must provision in Navarre where the shrewd King Sancho (a rather fun George Barbier) sees an opportunity to offload his beautiful daughter Berengaria (Loretta Young) in return for victualling the army... We know that Richard and Berengaria were really in love, and for the rest of the film De Mille sticks to the script - but that's what rather drags it down. There are plenty of exciting siege and battle scenes around the city of Acre as the Christians attempt to reverse the Saracen battle spoils of the great Saladin (an effectively cast Ian Keith), but each time we return to the smouldering Young and her Rapunzel-like locks - whom, by now, is the object of both men's obsession The director is in his element with the big, set-piece action scenes and the photography from Victor Milner (who also did "Cleopatra" (1934) with de Mille) adds much to the epic-style look of the film, but Wilcoxon and Young don't really present us with an engaging pairing; and any sense of duplicity - particularly involving the conspiring French, is left too peripheral to the smouldering romance to make this as good as it could have been... There is a sterling performance from C. Aubrey Smith as the holy man, released at the beginning by Saladin and who goes on to mobilise the Christian armies to challenge the Islamic horde; and Alan Hale is quite effective in the role of the minstrel. Overall, I really enjoy these derring-do, heroic, adventure films and I did enjoy this - it's just that it could have been more rousing and less of a love story.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

25 October 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Crusades

Filming Locations:

Paramount Ranch - 2813 Cornell Road, Agoura, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1