Prince Valiant (1954)

A young Viking prince strives to become a knight in King Arthur's Court and restore his exiled father to his rightful throne.

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Dudley Nichols (screenplay), Hal Foster (based on King Features Syndicate's "Prince Valiant" by) (as Harold Foster)

Stars:

James Mason, Janet Leigh, Robert Wagner

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 of Thule
Howard Wendell	...	Morgan Todd
Tom Conway	...	Sir Kay

Storyline

Young Prince Valiant, son of the exiled King of Scandia, journeys to Camelot to become a knight at King Arthur's Round Table. He hopes to help his father reclaim his throne from the pagan Viking usurper Sligon and restore the Christian faith to their homeland. On his journey he stumbles upon a mysterious Black Knight plotting with Sligon's representatives to overthrow Arthur. Barely escaping with his life, Valiant encounters Sir Gawain, one of the most illustrious knights of the Round Table, and an old friend of his father's, who tutors the young Viking in the skills needed to be a knight. Valiant and Gawain's pupil-mentor relationship is complicated by their romantic involvement with Princess Aleta and her sister Ilene, daughters of the King of Ord. If Valiant is to restore his father's throne and prevent the coup d'etat against Arthur, he must uncover the true identity of the Black Knight.

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Plot Keywords:

knight | viking | king arthur | based on comic strip | pageboy hair cut | 

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Taglines:

From the land of the Vikings ... into the hearts of millions ...

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Robert Wagner confesses in his autobiography that he had many problems with his wig, which he said was ridiculous. Once Dean Martin passed by on the set, he first thought he was talking to Jane Wyman, instead of Robert Wagner, because of the wig.

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Goofs

During an elaborate fire stunt on a parapet, "Prince Valiant" turns full to camera for several seconds revealing that he is a stuntman and not Robert Wagner.

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Quotes

Sir Gawain: You turned out to be flinging rocks like any lowborn ruffian. Why I've never been unhorsed by such a scurvy trick!

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Connections

Featured in 20th Century-Fox: The First 50 Years (1997)

User Reviews

Fifties nostalgia

While not nearly as good as Hal Foster's comic strip, this film is not nearly as bad as some reviewers would have you believe. James Mason makes a fine villain, and the action scenes are well directed by Hathaway. The biggest problem is that it is, after all, a fifties film, with all the good and bad points of the fifties. I am a big fan of the fifties, because it is the decade in which I started watching movies, but I am also aware that relatively low budgets and heavy handed censorship made even the best fifties films somewhat dubious -- e.g. A Streetcar Named Desire without any hint of homosexuality. Comparing Prince Valiant to most modern knights in armor films, I find it more fun than, say, Black Knight or Timeline.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 April 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

Prince Valiant

Filming Locations:

Arroyo Sequit Park, Ventura County, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,970,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,373

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1