Sword of Lancelot (1963)

Lancelot is King Arthur's most valued Knight of the Round Table and a paragon of courage and virtue. Things change, however, when he falls in love with Queen Guinevere.

Director:

Cornel Wilde

Writers:

Richard Schayer (screenplay), Cornel Wilde (screenplay) (as Jefferson Pascal)

Stars:

Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, Brian Aherne

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cornel Wilde	...	Sir Lancelot
Jean Wallace	...	Guinevere
Brian Aherne	...	King Arthur
George Baker	...	Sir Gawaine
Archie Duncan	...	Sir Lamorak
Adrienne Corri	...	Lady Vivian
Michael Meacham	...	Sir Modred
Iain Gregory	...	Sir Tors
Mark Dignam	...	Merlin
Reginald Beckwith	...	Sir Dagonet
John Barrie	...	Sir Bevidere
Richard Thorp	...	Sir Gareth
Joseph Tomelty	...	Sir Kaye
Graham Stark	...	Rian
Geoffrey Dunn	...	Edrick

Storyline

Lancelot is King Arthur's most valued Knight of the Round Table and a paragon of courage and virtue. Things change, however, when he falls in love with Queen Guinevere.

---

Plot Keywords:

sir lancelot du lac character | queen guinevere character | king arthur character | merlin character | damsel in distress | 

---

Taglines:

THIS WAS THE LOVING..BATTLING...LUSTY AGE OF KING ARTHUR...THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE...THE FABULOUS AGE OF CAMELOT! (original poster-all caps)

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Romance

---

Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nine years earlier Brian Aherne played King Arthur in "Prince Valiant."

---

Goofs

In the main battle scene, a soldier - apparently thinking he was out of camera range - can be seen at the bottom of the screen standing with an arrow sticking out of his shoulder and smoking a cigarette.

---

Quotes

Guinevere: I should have known better than to trust a Frenchman!

---

Crazy Credits

The Universal logo does not appear on this film.

---

Connections

Version of Camelot (1982)

User Reviews

Zose lips, zose eyes, zose blonde hairs!

Cornel Wilde should be awarded an "E" for effort in The Sword of Lancelot, a gabby, murkily photographed, and surprisingly bloody King Arthurer from 1962. Wilde as Lancelot sports a dandy little French accent that reminded me of the guy in the tower in Monty Python's The Holy Grail while he fights for the king, until he gets all gushy over the lovely Jean Wallace as Guinevere.

There is quite a bit of long-looking and love-talking and smooching between the real-life couple (and a tightly shot post-coital embrace with the two drippy and funky; boy, what did the folks at the Production Code think of that?), but after a good while, you're starting to grumble at the screen to GET ON WITH IT, whatever it might be.

The battles swing from the hokey to the excitingly bloody. You don't see many guys get their heads split down the middle in American movies in 1962, and Wilde does stage a couple of well-thought-out sequences, so there is some benefit to sitting through the kiss-kiss to get to the clang-clang.

The whole Arthurian legend is such an appealing story that even though Wilde has two strikes against him--a budget equivalent to pocket change (the film quality is so bad, I honestly checked my glasses to see if they needed cleaning) and the fact that most everyone involved looks a good generation too old for the story--he still brings some real love and passion to the screen.

Which is why The Sword of Lancelot should be taken at face value, and even though Jean Wallace is pushing forty in the picture (too mature for a maiden), all I can say is, "What a face!"

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

5 June 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sword of Lancelot

Filming Locations:

Divicibare, Yugoslavia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Emblem Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1