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:

You need ten eyes to see..ten ears to hear...ten hearts to feel...the tumultuous surge and glory of this mighty sepctacle, this shining romance...as impassioned now as when it first awed the world with its perfection!

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 October 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

Las cruzadas

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929-49, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by MCA ever since. Its initial telecasts took place in San Francisco Friday 6 February 1959 on KPIX (Channel 5), followed by Omaha 8 March 1959 on KETV (Channel 7), by Asheville 29 March 1959 on WLOS (Channel 13), by New York City Saturday 4 April 1959 on WCBS (Channel 2), by Milwaukee 17 April 1959 on WITI (Channel 6), by Philadelphia Saturday 2 May 1959 on WCAU (Channel 10), by Seattle 26 June 1959 on KIRO (Channel 7), by Grand Rapids, where it was shown in 2 parts 16-17 November on WOOD (Channel 8), by Lowell, Massachusetts 14 January 1960 on WBZ (Channel 4) and by Minneapolis 20 May 1960 on WTCN (Channel 11). It was first released on DVD 23 May 2006 as one of five titles in Universal's Cecil B. De Mille Collection and again, as a single, 21 November 2014 as part of the Universal Vault Series; during this time, it has also enjoyed an occasional airing on cable TV on Turner Classic Movies.

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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

Alice, Princess of France: [after being told she must vacate her cabin on the ship for another royal lady] I am Alice of France, betrothed to King Richard. Who are you?
Berengaria, Princess of Navarre: I'm his wife.

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Connections

Featured in The Costume Designer (1950)

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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

Typical DeMille - and that's not at all bad

Nobody ever accused DeMille of painstaking historical accuracy - his films are far more the type to set the mood and tell a good story with a historical period as a background. "The Crusades" is a prime example - historically Richard the Lionheart was a lousy king of England who barely spent a year in England during his entire reign - to him, England was merely a source for taxes and troops so he fight the his continental wars. The opening scene of the movie when the Chrisitians captured at Jerusalem are being sold into slavery (with the obligatory Muslim leering at the blonde Christian beauties) is also historically suspect. Saladin and his generals expected the Christian nobility that was captured at Jerusalem to ransom the common people prisoners. When they didn't, Saladin and his generals were so disgusted at such a lack of concern that they ended up ransoming many of the commoners themselves - supposedly Saladin personally ransomed several hundred so they could return to Europe. But I digress.

This is a movie which contains a scene that has stayed with me for several decades. I doubt if it would play well today - I can't think of any actors who could pull it off. The scene is where the Christian leaders of the Crusade meet Saladin for the first time when Saladin comes to warn them to go back to Europe. The various Kings, dukes, et al are all seated and listen to Saladin's message. Richard the Lionheart then steps up and tells Saladin that the Christians aren't afraid, that their armies are powerful and to illustrate his point he has two servants hold an iron mace while he proceeds to cleave it in two with his sword. An impressive display of the strength of his blade. But Saladin has a priceless response. He walks over to Berengaria and asks if he can have her silk veil. He takes the veil, tosses it into the air, and then pulls his own sword and positions it below the falling veil, blade up. The veil falls onto the blade and is cut in two by its own weight - for this was a famed Damascus blade. Saladin's point - brute strength isn't everything. Of course, all of the Christian nobles just drop their mouths in utter shock at the demonstration. A priceless scene - and an illustration of the "little things" that separate a humdrum film from one you enjoy watching time and time again.