I consider this film as part of a trillogy of "Noble Knight" films directed by Richard Thorpe and Starring Robert Taylor. The other two are 'Ivanhoe' (1952), and 'Quintin Durward' (1955), both based on novels by Walther Scott. While I didn't know abput Quintin Durward until a few years ago, I grew up with the other two, and love them imensely, the same way that I love 'The adventures of Robin Hood', by Curtiz, Keigley, Flynn, etc, and the two Burt Lancaster classics 'The Flame and the Arrow' (1950) and 'The Crimson pirate' (1952). All of those films have that sense of fairy tale and adventure that speaks directly to kids and adults who are still young at heart alike.
As for the Thorpe/Taylor-"trillogy, I still think they are valid to this day, although some scenes seem dated. I haven't been able to find Quintin Durward on dvd yet, but I would like to for the sake of completion, even though it isn't quite as magic as its two "siblings". Still great fun. I still can't get used to seing Robert Taylor in westerns or gangster movies, because it doesn't seem sight when he doesn't carry a sword.
I also think that this version is better than Excalibur, Merlin, First Knight and King Arthur. You could argue that many of the weird things have been stripped away, like the magic of Merlin and Morgana, the incestous off spring between Arthur and Morgawse (or in some versions Morgana, which wouldn't have passed in 1953 (here Mordred is the husband of Morgana, and not in any way blood related to either Arthur or Morgana), but the film has a better sense of adeventure and fluent story telling than most later day atempts at retelling the myth. Taylor may not have been comfortable in these sword & tights films, but he fits the. Mel Ferrer is perhaps the gentlest, most compassionate Athur seen on screen yet, Felix Aylmer is an excellent Merlin (has there ever been a better one ?), Baker is good as Mordred, and Ava Gardner IS Guineverre.
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