Camelot (1967)

The story of the marriage of England's King Arthur to Guinevere. The plot of illegitimate Mordred to gain the throne and Guinevere's growing attachment to Sir Lancelot, threaten to topple Arthur and destroy his "round table" of knights.

Director:

Joshua Logan

Writers:

Alan Jay Lerner (based on the play "Camelot" book by), T.H. White (novel)

Stars:

Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, Franco Nero

Won 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Richard Harris	...	King Arthur
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Guenevere
Franco Nero	...	Lancelot Du Lac
David Hemmings	...	Mordred
Lionel Jeffries	...	King Pellinore
Laurence Naismith	...	Merlyn
Pierre Olaf	...	Dap
Estelle Winwood	...	Lady Clarinda
Gary Marshal	...	Sir Lionel
Anthony Rogers	...	Sir Dinadan
Peter Bromilow	...	Sir Sagramore
Sue Casey	...	Lady Sybil
Gary Marsh	...	Tom of Warwick
Nicolas Beauvy	...	King Arthur as a Boy

Storyline

The story of the marriage of England's King Arthur to Guinevere is played out amid the pagentry of Camelot. The plot of illegitimate Modred to gain the throne and Guinevere's growing attachment to Sir Lancelot, whom she at first abhors, threaten to topple Arthur and destroy his "round table" of knights who would use their might for right.

---

Plot Keywords:

sir lancelot du lac character | sir mordred character | king arthur character | merlin character | queen guinevere character | 

---

Taglines:

A whole new world of magnificent musical entertainment

---

Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

---

Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alan Jay Lerner used the film screenplay, rather than his original stage version, as the basis for the 1980s Broadway revival of "Camelot".

---

Goofs

A zipper is visible on the back of Arthur's tunic in several scenes. The zipper was invented in the second half of the 19th century.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
A Knight: The rules of battle are not for Lancelot Du Lac, Your Majesty! Let us attack now while they sleep!
King Arthur: [firmly] We will attack when I give the command - at dawn.
[the knight leaves, and Arthur begins to talk to himself]
King Arthur: Oh, Merlyn, Merlyn, why is Ginny in that castle, behind walls I cannot enter? How did I blunder into this agonizing absurdity? Where did I stumble? How did I go wrong? Should I not have loved her?
[sighs]
King Arthur: Then I should not have been born! Oh, Merlyn, I haven't got much time. ...
[...]

---

Alternate Versions

The "30th Anniversary Edition", released on video in 1997, features the original sound mix as it was originally intended. Because of this, some sound effects and fragments of dialogue previously nearly drowned out by music are now heard distinctly. There is even a section--the comically disastrous, very first meeting of Guenevere and Lancelot, in which we hear offscreen court musicians playing on mandolins, whereas previously this scene was acted without music.

---

Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #33.68 (2016)

---

Soundtracks

Camelot
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Music by Frederick Loewe
Sung by Richard Harris
Reprised by Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Harris, and Chorus

User Reviews

"........a fleeting wisp of glory, called Camelot."

I wish I had seen the original Broadway production of Camelot. As a lad the Broadway cast album was a treasured staple in our house, played over and over again by my parents. Can you imagine a cast led by Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and introducing Robert Goulet as Lancelot?

So why couldn't Warner Brothers sign the original cast from Broadway for the movie? Robert Goulet had in fact come to Hollywood and didn't set the world on fire, but the other two were already big box office names by 1967. Julie Andrews had won an Oscar for Mary Poppins and just did the Sound of Music. And Richard Burton was one half of the most noted show business couple of the Sixties with his wife Elizabeth Taylor.

Jack Warner, usually a smart guy, said that he didn't think that anyone would believe that two guys like Arthur and Lancelot would put a kingdom at risk for the love of Mary Poppins. So Julie wasn't even asked and Vanessa Redgrave got the call. She's certainly sexy enough, but she opted for the Rex Harrison talk/sing in doing Guinevere. If you have the video or DVD of Camelot play that and then listen to Julie Andrews sing from the original cast album. My favorite song from the score is I Loved You Once In Silence and Julie Andrews is at her best singing that song. Vanessa doesn't come close.

Ditto for Richard Burton and Richard Harris. Though in the case of Harris I think he was toning it down a mite for a clearly handicapped co-star in the vocal department. Harris later in his life toured extensively in various productions of Camelot as Arthur, virtually taking over the role originated by his close friend Burton.

The biggest hit from the Camelot score was If Ever I Would Leave You, sung by Robert Goulet. In 1961 you couldn't get away from that song being played on the radio right in the midst of all the rock and roll. Goulet also toured in various stock companies of Camelot and like both Burton and Harris revived it on Broadway. I don't think anyone ever asked Franco Nero to tour.

But Redgrave and Nero certainly created their own screen magic, they got involved with each other on the set. But folks this is a musical and musically they don't measure up.

David Hemmings takes over the role of Mordred from Roddy McDowall who did it on stage. His Mordred is a clever schemer, but a coward as well. For myself the best Mordred ever portrayed on screen was in Knights of the Round Table by Stanley Baker. Baker's interpretation of Mordred is light years from Hemmings, he's a schemer, but he's definitely no coward.

I love the score of Camelot and when it was filmed I only wish the singing was half as good as the Broadway show.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 October 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Camelot

Filming Locations:

Alcázar de Segovia, Segovia, Castilla y León, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros./Seven Arts

Technical Specs

Runtime:

179 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1