Camelot (1967)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Joshua Logan

Writers:

Alan Jay Lerner (play)
Alan Jay Lerner (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 October 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

The Most Beautiful Love Story Ever!

Plot:

The story of the marriage of England's King Arthur to Guinevere is played out amid the pagentry of Camelot...

Plot Keywords:

Knight | Camelot | Adultery | Based On Musical | Historical Fiction

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 6 nominations

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

Runtime:

179 min | Canada:175 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11 | USA:G | Singapore:PG | Australia:G | Canada:G

Filming Locations:

Alcázar de Segovia, Segovia, Segovia, Castilla y León, Spain

Company:

Warner Brothers/Seven Arts

Trivia:

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

Goofs:

Continuity: Pellinore appears in the background of Arthur and Guinevere's wedding, although Arthur does not meet him until later in the film.

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. Within an inch of sunlight, the arrows begin to fly. If I am to die in battle, please, please do not let me die bewildered!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Spaghetti West (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Guenevere

Mediocre Stage to Screen Adaptation

It's hilarious that one reviewer here on IMDb singles out Franco Nero as the best singer out of the three leads. He obviously wasn't aware that Franco Nero didn't do his own singing ad was in fact dubbed by Gene Merlino! Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave did do their own singing.

Overall, Camelot has a melodious score by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe and some first rate production values but it drags in spots. It's also very much a product of the 1960s as "The Lusty Month of May" is turned into some sort of pseudo hippie medieval love-in.

As for the performances Harris is a little too fey for my tastes as King Arhur. Vanessa Redgrave, although a good actress lacks the beautiful vocal renderings Julie Andrews gave the part and Franco Nero is hopelessly wooden as Lancelot. David Hemmings is a delightfully devious Mordred and almost steals the film from the rest of the cast.

Camelot is ultimately a very good example of the over-produced, over-stuffed musicals the studios were turning out during this period.