John Chard
January 11, 2014
5
Defend Camelot Against the Saxons!
The King Arthur legend gets a fanciful spin in this colourful but weak British offering. Directed by Nathan Juran and starring Janette Scott and Ronald Lewis, it’s all about medieval malarkey as Lewis’ Robin Hood type character wanders the lands with Scott’s disguised princess in search of Merlin (John Laurie). They need the great wizard to stop the dastardly Edmund of Cornwall (Ronald Howard) from seizing the throne of Arthur with help from the Saxons.
It’s played for light hearted thrills, the cast having fun prancing about in their borrowed costumes (much of the production uses props, costumes and footage from some earlier swords and shields movies), and Juran never lets the story sag and knows when to perk things up with an action scene or some character merriment. Harmless fluff really. Played as the “B” picture to Jason and the Argonauts and in that context it’s a fun enough warmer upper! 5/10
OK, so it's not very good - but I did quite enjoy it! The scheming "Edmund" (Ronald Howard) is plotting to depose "King Arthur" (Mark Dignam) and his daughter "Katherine" (Janette Scott) so he can take the throne of England for himself. His plan sort of works, but the feisty young woman manages to escape thanks largely to the intervention of the opportunistic "Robert" (Ronald Lewis). Now being pursued by the menacing "Limping Man" (Jerome Willis), the pair must make their way through enemy lines to try and find her father's famed magician "Merlin" (John Laurie) and hope that he can find a way for her to thwart the evil ambitions of the usurper and claim her throne. It's short and sweet this, and though both the acting and dialogue are pretty pedestrian, there are still enough arrows flying, buildings burning and treacherous monks to keep it moving along quite entertainingly. Clearly the budget wasn't great as there are a lot of sound-stage scenes that might have worked better outdoors and there are a few outdoor scenes that came straight out of a can, but if you like the genre then it passes ninety minutes effortless - if forgettably - enough.
