Terrific old film. - Prince Valiant (1954) Discussion

[–] skeezixca 19 years ago

i absolutely agree...great film...a terrific sword fight with an superbly oily james mason...robert wagner is a revelation as he leaps about battlements and turrets..thsi is the kind of movie i saw with 2oo other kids in a small town movie theatre on a saturday afternoon way too many years ago

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[–] bushrod56 18 years ago

Yeah, Bought this a few months back on DVD widescreen- what a great look! Had never seen it before. It's superb 50's Middle Ages nonsense. Can even overlook Robert Wagner and Sterling Hayden with their flat Midwestern accents.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] tommyuk 17 years ago

Yes, very enjoyable matinee.Ok we can excuse the terrible American accents because Prince Valliant has some fantastic cinematography and action.The final sword fighting scene is superb.It felt a bit like the final bridge scene in Return of the Jedi.George Lucas was obviously influenced by these old classic Hero Villain battles.The way the Black Knight's identity is a secret is also very similar to Star Wars or rather the other way around.I give this movie 7 out 10 for action drama and excitement.

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[–] tkrolak 15 years ago

I won't argue about how good or bad the film was, never having seen it.

But I haven't seen an actor in a film advertisement look as silly as Robert
Wagner in that pageboy haircut. He might have played the part just as well without it. The movie didn't have to be an exact recreation of how the character looks in the comic strip. But on Wagner, known for his tough boy next door leading man roles, it seems overdone.

As for swordfights, I would highly recommend the climactic duel between Stewart Granger and Mel Ferrer in Scaramouche.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] LatigoMeans 14 years ago

I hadn't seen this since I was a kid ... many, many years ago :)
I thought it was pretty good for it's time and held up well. I sort of agree with the comments about the hair on Wagner, but it was in keeping with the look of the character, so it's OK.
Victor McLaglen was fun as a Viking, and Janet Leigh is always nice to look at as a fair maiden damsel (see her in The Vikings and The Black Shield of Falworth) ... Sterling Hayden was kind of weird though. Just never see him in a costume drama like this.

It's as good a film as Ivanhoe and Knights of the Round Table, both with Robert Taylor.

~LjM
Way down deep I'm very superficial.

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[–] Magus1986 14 years ago

The climactic duels in Prince Valiant and Scaramouche have always been my personal favorites, far ahead of Adventures of Robin Hood which many cite as favorite. However I think the best (objectively speaking) was in Rob Roy.

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[–] scribe1270 10 years ago

I think it was good too along with "The Black Shield of Falworth" and "The Black Knight" which were also released in 1954. All three are great entertainment in my opinion.

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[–] CitizenCairParavel 8 years ago

Fun movie. Great sword fight, but who in the heck designed RW's wig? It was too laughable! Other than that, great fun movie!

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