Camelot (1967)

Expensive pomp and pageantry with somewhat of a tin ear. King Arthur of England knights prodigious jouster Lancelot, who has seemingly brought his deceased opponent back to life, vaguely aware that wife Lady Guenevere has fallen in love with the handsome hero; meanwhile, Arthur's illegitimate son Mordred schemes to bring down the fellowship of the Round Table. Lerner & Loewe's Tony-winning Broadway musical, adapted from T.H. White's book "The Once and Future King", feels heavy-hearted on the screen, weighted down with ornate songs (unevenly performed) and endless talk. The production is certainly an eyeful, but the (nearly) three-hour running time works against the film--it is just too long and lumbering. Vanessa Redgrave (with a whopper-crop of hair) enacts Guenevere with a slight sneer and a faraway look in her eyes; Richard Harris doesn't create romantic sparks with her, though he does fine with his soliloquies and wears his crown well. Franco Nero remains the biggest casting question-mark as Sir Lancelot...and his singing is by far the most painful. The passion of a sweeping epic is noticeably absent, however there are moments in the picture which do work, aided by the lovely choral orchestrations and the editing in the montages. ** from ****

Fmovies: There are not many perfect movies but CAMELOT is one of them. I have seen CAMELOT many many times and it only gets better with age. I first saw it in 1967 when it was released. It was the first film to make me cry. I'm a guy so that's tough to admit. When King Arthur (Richard Harris) sings the line "Each evening from December to December before you sleep upon your cot think back on all the tales that you remember of Camelot.." there was just no holding back. I sobbed like a baby. Of course it is pure fantasy but that's the point. For "one brief shining moment" maybe there was a perfect world somewhere before it all came crashing down. And this is such a beautiful looking movie with such beautiful music and beautiful people I'll never understand why it wasn't a smash hit. The people that don't like this film must not have any kind of heart. In fact I wonder if they are even alive. I would call CAMELOT the ultimate movie experience. If there is a better movie that is as splendid escapism as this one I haven't found it. CAMELOT makes me appreciate my life. It makes me realize somehow that it is life itself that is joy and we need to enjoy every little tiny part of it because tomorrow may bring it to an end. You simply MUST see CAMELOT. It will enlighten you. It will make you cry but you will be smiling at the same time.

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.

Camelot fmovies. 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 is, of course, the story of King Arthur (Richard Harris), his Queen, Guenevere (Vanessa Redgrave), and Sir Lancelot (Franco Nero), the best and brightest knight of Arthur's treasured Round Table. To Arthur's infinite sorrow, his queen and love falls hard--irrevocably so--for his friend and ally, and he is forced to choose between indulging the hatred that overwhelms him as a man, and the nobility that accompanies his stature as a king. Choosing the latter, Arthur must live with the whispers of 'poison in the court' as the other knights bristle at Lancelot's stolen kisses with Guenevere. All this while the king clings to his flame of hope, the idea of establishing a civil court to establish law and order where once there was violence and bloodshed. When Arthur's illegitimate son Mordred (David Hemmings) devises a plan to get Arthur out of the castle and the knights into Guenevere's room to trap the clandestine lovers, 'Jenny' and 'Lance' are found out... even as they're pledging to part in order to honour their love and loyalty to Arthur. The eventual demise of each of the three main characters, which I'm emphatically *not* going to reveal but you might suspect anyway if you know any Arthurian folklore, is heartrending and quite well played-out.

'Tis a tale rich in ironies, this tale of Camelot, and in the end a story about two ideas--that of an ideal i.e. the peaceful lawful Camelot as envisioned by Arthur, and that of love. Neither are 'real' in the sense of being tangible, can't be seen or felt or heard, and yet both are worth fighting to the death for. They can bring a king to his knees, but they can also make heroes of men. It's a shame that the film doesn't do handle this too well; whenever it sets out to do so, it becomes a tad overdone. Take for example the quandary Arthur finds himself in--should he turn a blind eye to the adulterous pair's trysts? Arthur's dilemma is expressed by a soliloquy superbly delivered by Harris. It's a great piece of acting and a solid writing job--it's just not something that works on film, even in a musical (when one is more inclined to accepting an actor directly addressing or serenading the camera than with other film genres). The point is made *too* overtly, and the film and characters suffer as a result.

It probably isn't helped by the fact that the majority of the lush, beautiful shots in the film (see the 'Lusty Month Of May' number) are marred by some equally jarring shots that seem completely out of place, or just wrong. During the montage of shots to Nero's solo 'If Ever I Would Leave You', there is one sequence in which Guenevere enters Lancelot's room--it would make a perfectly lovely shot if done in an understated fashion, making the point that it is Guenevere who comes to Lancelot and not (always) the other way around. Unfortunately, in an attempt to create 'romance' (something that doesn't need overt manufacturing if the actors are capable of generating that atmosphere sans special effects), both actors are subjected to a wind machine, and end up looking like the melodramatic lover-idiots of a Mills & Boon dramatisation. Arthur's chat with young Tom as well is great in the conception, and suffers in the execution--something is lacking from that scene (I think the ability to underact by Gary Marsh as the boy), and it spoils what would otherwise be a great message and ending. (The too many 'Run, boy, run!'s also wea

One of the reviews I once read of this marvellous film dismissed it as 'kohl and overacting'. No way. It has so many scenes that live in the memory as I write, not having revisited the movie for quite some time. The wedding sequence with all its lights; Guinevere, beautiful in her wonder of the magical land where leaves 'blow away altogether, at night, of course'; If Ever I Should Leave You (not sung by Franco Nero, as I understand, really, but you'd never guess); How To Handle A Woman ('what's wrong, Jenny? where are you these days? I don't understand you ...'); creepy Mordred; and the ending (run, boy, run) which is terrific. I have heard Burton as Arthur and have to say I was disappointed. They made the right casting choice for the movie. A pity some of the songs got cut (except it would have been even longer then, good for us who like it, intolerable for those who don't). Also interesting to compare with other Lerner/Loewe movies with their themes of magic, understanding, and change (My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, Gigi and Paint Your Wagon). As they sit together as a body, Camelot is one of the best.