King Richard and the Crusaders

King Richard and the Crusaders is an entertaining movie, with plenty of action, nice costumes, some good scenery, and a fast-moving plot. Everything you would normally want from an adventure movie.

However, the script is horrible, many of the actors are completely miscast, the actual story is pretty poor, and it has next to nothing to do with the Crusades. It is not Crusaders versus Saracens. It is Good Crusaders and Good Saracens versus Bad Crusaders. Also, they most certainly do not have a cast of thousands, looking like it has a very low budget.

As a result, if you are looking for a historically accurate epic about the Third Crusade, you will be disappointed. Although it is not a great movie, it is underrated, being far better than a lot of other adventure movies, and is overall entertaining.

If you want to enjoy it, simply do not go into the movie looking for an award winning script and brilliant acting.

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.

King Richard and the Crusaders is directed by David Butler and adapted to screenplay by John Twist from the novel "The Talisman" written by Sir Walter Scott. It stars Rex Harrison, Viginia Mayo, George Sanders, Laurence Harvey, Robert Douglas, Michael Pate and Paula Raymond. A WarnerColor/CinemaScope production, music is by Max Steiner and cinematography by J. Peverell Marley.

Unfairly maligned as one of the 50 worst movie of all time, David Butler's picture has enough spectacle about it to ensure it can be enjoyed by fans of such fluffy fare. The script is often awful, the historical accuracy equally so, while Rex Harrison – who is otherwise excellent – singing like a love sick minstrel, is a touch bizarre! But on the other side of the fence is the lush colour, the costuming, Harrison and Sanders' playful jostling, Steiner's rumbling score and the lively action scenes (mucho jousting high in calibre).

It for sure isn't approaching the top end of the swords and shields list of movies, but is it really worse than the likes of Androcles and the Lion, Helen of Troy, Sword of Lancelot etc? No say I! There's fun to be had, both intentional and otherwise. 6/10

King Richard I, known to posterity as the Lion Heart and, according to this script, to his friends and family as Dick, certainly has his work cut out on his Third Crusade. He faces a host of vicious and unscrupulous foes and they're just his fellow Crusaders. Lucky for him, that flashing-eyed rascal Saladin is a stickler for fair play as well as fancying cousin Edith, so things could be worse.

Though screen writer John Twist has supplied the more idiotic dialogue, the eccentric narrative stems from Sir Walter Scott's The Talisman itself. By the time of its publication in the 1820s, Richard had long become one of the great romantic legends of English history. In reality he was a ferocious warrior of the 'kill first and ask questions later' school, but a useless ruler. So when Virginia Mayo as the fictitious Edith utters the much mocked line: "War! War! That's all you think of Dick Plantagenet!" at the end of the movie, it's not far from the truth. Except that Richard's descendants did not adopt the name Plantagenet until a couple of centuries later.

Of course no-one expects factual accuracy in this kind of movie, but it's also rather dull in places. Too much time is taken up by the interminable feuding in camp at the start of the picture, while it ends in a frenzy of action in which it's hard to discern what's going on. Then there's the business of Sir Kenneth, hit in the chest by Saladin's arrow and falling from his horse, only to be prancing about with no harm done within a minute or two. I have seen similar films that are worse though, there is the lush photography and an excellent score from Max Steiner that's worthy of a more prodigious production and while some of the action scenes are very average, the joust and fight between Richard and Sir Kenneth is well done.

Rex Harrison as Saladin and George Sanders, looking less bored and cynical than usual, as Richard offer enjoyable performances, though the latter could have been played by a younger actor as the King was in his early thirties at the time of the Crusade. Laurence Harvey though is fairly dire as Sir Kenneth, not sounding remotely Scottish, and his love scenes with Barbara Mayo fall flat. Harvey always had his fans, but those who have speculated as to why an actor so lacking in talent and charisma became a star will find no answers here.

I picked up a video of King Richard and the Crusaders this weekend at the local flea market, never having seen it before. In watching it, I kept wondering when the Crusaders were going to crusade against the Muslims. The Crusaders in this movie did enough fighting amongst themselves. Leopold of Austria and King Phillip of France were both ineptly trying to take leadership of the Crusade while Sir Giles (Robert Douglas) and Conrad (Michael Pate) were scheming behind King Richard's back. Sir Kenneth of Scotland was the only one he could trust. In fact, by the time it came to the part where King Richard (played by George Sanders) and his loyal Scot Knight (played by Laurence Harvey) were at the training joust, it seemed more like they were in old England than in far off lands. This was supposed to be the third Crusade, but if you are looking for a movie about the Crusades, this isn't really it. The film is based on The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott. I've not read the book, and it could be that the book had more actual Crusade history, with the movie being made to just entertain. It's an entertaining movie with all the familiar parts - good guys, bad guys, treachery and a damsel in distress. Plenty of sword fighting, arrow shooting and other weapons and that was OK with me as I like the action of the 1950's movies. So - if you are looking for a good old fashioned type action movie with sword play and a castle, you will probably like this one. As for acting, I wasn't too taken with Laurence Harvey as the love interest of fair maiden. His acting was adequate, but rather stiff. I guess I like the lead to have that easy going, devil-may-care attitude that can win the lady yet be poison to his enemies like Errol Flynn and Richard Greene. Perhaps it was the way the part was written, but he was angry and stiff-necked the whole movie. George Sanders did a decent job but could have had better writing for his part. Did you know he was married to both Zsa Zsa Gabor and then her sister Magna? That his brother was Tom Conway whom he handed off the part of The Falcon which he had tired of doing. In 1937 he told David Niven that he would commit suicide when he got older and did just that in 1972, leaving a note that he was bored. Rex Harrison was the supposed bad guy in this but really wasn't. He played the Muslim leader Saladin. Rex Harrison so very famous for many great parts. My favorite with him is My Fair Lady but others will remember Agony and the Ecstacy and Doctor Doolittle. Rumor had it that Carole Landis committed suicide over his ending the affair with her. However, she was besieged with extreme ill health (malaria, amoebic dysentery and pneumonia) caught while entertaining WWII troops and financial difficulties so who knows. Rex was his usual charming self in this movie and played his part well. The lovely lady in this one was none other than Virginia Mayo (always beautiful favorite) who did a nice job. Nothing academy award but a decent performance. I read where she was slightly cross eyed and had to be filmed carefully. She took her last name Mayo (real name Jones) from other actors in a vaudeville act years before. Unfortunately, we lost her in 2005. I did discover where those New Year's Eve ratchet noise makers came from. When the Crusaders were rousing the camp, one of the soldiers shook one above his head. An interesting sidelight is Henry Corden who played King Phillip, as he was the voice of Fred Flintstone for 30 years, taking over from the original man who passed away. The best idea for this movie is to strap on your sword and grab that spiked ball on the end of the chain (whatever it is called), take your critic hat off, and just enjoy some 1950's action!