Camelot

source: Camelot

Trailer—Camelot

Camelot

Being stuck at home for a few months, I resolved to watch all my old VCR's and then get rid of them. I've never liked Camelot (I don't know why I even own it), especially when they passed over Julie Andrews in favor of a bad singer for the part of Guinevere. (Also in the film version My Fair Lady - but Audrey Hepburn, well.) We don't know what Arthur was like. It's conceivable he wore a lot of makeup and pranced around like a witless leprechaun and gave interminable soliloquys. After the fifth or tenth time Harris put up his finger and proclaimed. "Might For Right!" - okay, here this stinker goes in garbage.

Beautiful music and strong performances from Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave, however they are not singers and it hurts the picture mightily, leaving you wondering how much better it could have been with Richard Burton, Robert Goulet and especially Julie Andrews. True Burton wasn't a singer either using the talk singing method that Rex Harrison employed on My Fair Lady so Harris' replacement isn't as glaring as Redgrave/Andrews or Nero/Goulet. Where the picture really runs into problems through is the lumbering pace set by director Logan. A fine director of drama but with no skill at setting the right tone for a musical although that didn't stop the studios from handing him several throughout the years ending with the disaster of Paint Your Wagon. Some of the costumes are truly amazing and justly famous but this can be a trial to sit through.

The direction may be static, shots may be out of focus, but at least the pacing is nice and slow...

The legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table has endured for centuries, and has inspired many movies. One of them is the musical "Camelot," based on the stage production by Lerner and Loewe. Richard Harris stars as King Arthur, with Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Guinevere and Franco Nero as Sir Lancelot. The story follows the classic legend, Arthur creating the perfect land of Camelot, but suffering betrayal by his queen and favorite knight. The eyes are presented with a lavish sight of dazzling scenery, lush locations and beautiful costumes. There are memorable songs, such as "If Ever I Should Leave You," "What Do the Simple Folk Do?" and of course, "Camelot." This epic offers a lot for both the eyes and the ears.

Camelot, which was made in 1967.. OK let's interrupt here and ponder that. You see, what's wrong with Camelot is that this is a movie that people weren't really willing to go out in droves to see in 1967, and it's sort of a minor curiosity today. Because it flies in the face of what the public wanted in that time period. It stars Richard Harris as Arhur and Vanessa Redgrave as Guinevere, two great British actors, but not really the type of actors you would see in a musical such as this. I'm sorry, this movie, while it's intentions were good, turns out to be 3 hours of a total mess, the songs aren't memorable, the choreography clumsy, and the medieval aspect just long winded. Although I am not a big fan of medieval movies to begin with, I decided to give it the old college try. Now I wish I could have those 3… 3.. count it.. 3 hours of my life back.

a fine atmospherc sreen adaptation of lerner and loewe's classic. Richard Harris is quite simply magnificent as arthur,the best actor to play the role on stage or screen. redgrave is compelling,although julie andrews singing is sorely missed. the film adds more of a tragic feel,not like the original broadway version which had more humor. lerner himself rewrote his stage production after the film screenplay. franco nero is mis cast as lance ,even his dialoge was dubbed!! but david hemmings comes across quite well as mordred, too bad his song (along with 5 others) was cut. yes, at times it gets a bit long but its well worth it for the final inspiring scene when arthur passes on the camelot story to young tom of warwick. Harris is at the heart of this film and he keeps you glued to the screen.