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Arthurian Film

by: Kevin J. Harty (Author)

from: The Camelot Project 1998

(c) Kevin J. Harty
La Salle University
harty@alpha.lasalle.edu

   This film- and bibliography on cinematic versions of the legend of King Arthur supersedes that which I published as part of Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film (New York: Garland, 1991).
   The arrangement of films here is alphabetical for both main and alternate titles. Each main entry includes the film's title and date of release, the film's country of origin, the director, the production company, any alternate title(s), and the cast. In the case of some silent films, surviving records do not always provide all of this information. I then briefly discuss each film and offer a short critical assessment, which admittedly at times betrays my own biases. Finally, I provide an exhaustive a list of reviews and additional discussions of each film.
   Most of my research was conducted at the British Film Institute in London, the New York Public Library's Performing Arts Branch at Lincoln Center, and the Library of Congress. In all three cases, materials in these collections are not always recorded on-line. Some additional reviews of more recent films may be available on-line through Firstsearch and by fiche through Newsbank, both of which index a number of American newspapers and periodicals, though I have tried here at to include reviews from all newspapers of record.
   I do not indicate whether films are available on videotape or laser disc for two reasons. Systems for videotapes used throughout the world are incompatible with each other unless a user has access to very expensive specialized video equipment. Also, copyright restrictions often place a time limit on the circulation of videotape and laser disc versions of films. For the United States and Canada, the most update source of information on the availability of films on videotape or laser disc is The Video Source Book, which is revised annually. For the availability of tapes and laser discs in Europe, there is no comparable reference, although the Virgin Megastore chain based in London does sell a catalog of the extensive collection of films on tape and disc that the chain has available for purchase.

Kevin J. Harty
Philadelphia
July 1997

INDEX TO MAIN AND ALTERNATE FILM TITLES

GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

In part or in whole, the following studies discuss or catalog cinematic depictions of the legend of Arthur.

Beatie, Bruce A. "Arthurian Films and Arthurian Texts: Problems of Reception and Comprehension." Arthurian Interpretations 2 (Spring 1988): 65-78.

Cahiers de la cinémathèque 42-43 (Summer 1985): 1-188. (Special issue devoted to "le moyen age âu cinéma.")

de la Bretèque, François. "La Figure de chevalier errant dans l'imaginaire cinématographique." Cahiers de l'Association Internationale des Etudes Françaises 47 (1995): 49-78.

du Bus, Olivier Lefébure. "La Table ronde et ses chevaliers." Séquences 177 (March-April 1995): 51-52.

Durand, Jacques. "La Chevalerie à lécran." Avant-scène du cinéma 221 (1 February 1979): 29-40.

Harty, Kevin J. "Cinema Arthuriana: A Bibliography of Selected Secondary Materials." Arthurian Interpretations 3 (Spring 1989): 119-37.

-----. "Cinema Arthuriana: A Filmography." Quondam et futurus 7 (Spring 1987): 5-8; 7 (Summer 1987): 18.

-----. "Cinema Arthuriana: Translations of the Arthurian Legend to the Screen." Arthurian Interpretations 2 (Fall 1987): 95-113.

-----, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Holly, Linda Tarte. "Medievalism in Film: The Matter of Arthur, A Filmography." In Jürgen Kühnel et al., eds. Mittelalter-Rezeption III. Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1988.

Lacy, Norris J. "Arthurian Film and the Tyranny of Tradition." Arthurian Interpretations 4 (Fall 1989): 75-85.

-----, ed. The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. Updated paperback edition. New York: Garland, 1996.

-----, and Geoffrey Ashe (with Debra N. Mancoff). The Arthurian Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: Garland, 1997.

MacCurdy, Marian. "Bitch or Goddess: Polarized Images of Women in Arthurian Films and Literature." Platte Valley Review 18 (Winter 1990): 3-24.

Parish, James Robert, and Don E. Stanke. The Swashbucklers. New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1976.

Richards, Jeffrey. Swordsmen of the Screen from Douglas Fairbanks to Michael York. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977.

Tarpley, Fred. "King Arthur on Film." In William E. Tanner, ed. The Arthurian Myth of Quest and Magic, A Festschrift in Honor of Lavon B. Fulwiler. Dallas: Caxton's Modern Arts Press, 1993.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film From Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Wehrhahn, Jürgen. "König Artus und die Ritter der Tafelrunde." Retro 12 (November-December 1981): 5-13.

Adventures of Sir Galahad, The (1950).

United States; dir. Spencer G. Bennet; Columbia.

Cast: William Fawcett, Lois Hall, Nelson Leigh, and George Reeves.

King Arthur refuses to make Galahad a Knight of the Round Table until he retrieves Excalibur. On his quest for the sword, Galahad encounters Merlin, Mordred, and the Black Knight. He also discovers and foils a Saxon plot to invade England. Finally, he defeats the Saxons, recovers Excalibur, and is made a Knight of the Round Table. This fifteen-part serial starring American television's first Superman, George Reeves, was loosely based on events from the Arthurian legends. The series with individual screenplays by George H. Plympton included the following episodes varying in length from 15 to 25 minutes: "The Stolen Sword," "Galahad's Daring," "Prisoners of Ulric," "Attack on Camelot," "Galahad to the Rescue," "Passage of Peril," "Unknown Betrayers," "Perilous Adventure," "Treacherous Magic," "The Sorcerer's Spell," "Valley of No Return," "Castle Perilous," "The Wizard's Vengeance," "Quest for the Queen," and "Galahad's Triumph."

Reviews:

Monthly Film Bulletin 18 (March 1951): 231.

Motion Picture Herald 178 (14 January 1950): Product Digest Section 155.

To-day's Cinema 2 February 1951: 10; 9 February 1951: 12.

Additional discussions:

Barbour, Alan. Cliffhanger. New York: A & W, 1979.

-----. The Serials of Columbia. Kew Gardens, N.Y.: Screen Facts, 1967.

Catalog of Holdings of the American Film Institute Collection and the United Artists Collection at the Library of Congress. Washington, D.C.: American Film Institute, 1978.

Cline, William C. In the Nick of Time. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1984.

Harmon, Jim, and Donald F. Glut. The Great Movie Serials. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1972.

Henderson, Jan Alan. "The Life and Times of Honest George." Film Fax 11 (June-July 1988): 40-45, 51.

Kinnard, Roy. Fifty Years of Serial Thrills. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1983.

Richards, Jeffrey. Swordsmen of the Screen from Douglas Fairbanks to Michael York. London: Routledge, 1977.

Shipley, Glenn. "Spencer Gordon Bennet." Views and Reviews 2 (Fall 1969): 6-21.

Weiss, Ken, and Ed. Goodgold. To Be Continued. New York: Crown, 1972.

Arthur of the Britons (1975). See King Arthur, the Young Warlord (1975).

Arthur the King (1982).

United States and Great Britain; dir. Clive Donner; Martin Poll Productions, Comworld Films, and CBS.

Alternate title: Merlin and the Sword.

Cast: Candace Bergen, Rupert Everett, Rosalyn Landor, Malcolm McDowell, Liam Neeson, Patrick Ryecart, Philip Sayer, Ann Thornton, and Edward Woodward.

Katherine, a tourist in modern-day England, stumbles into a hole while wandering around Stonehenge, where she encounters King Arthur and his knights. Camelot is in chaos. The wine cellar is empty, hundreds of Vikings are expected for dinner, and the Romans have abandoned England. Even worse, the countryside is overrun with dragons and brigands, and the ever present fog just will not lift. With Katherine's assistance, Merlin and his beloved Niniane restore order to the kingdom by challenging Morgan Le Fay and her ally, Mordred, Arthur's illegitimate son. Donner's film, which was shelved by the studio for several years before being dumped for television release, is one of the silliest films ever made about the Arthurian legend. Everything about the film--acting, dialog, settings, costumes--is simply dreadful.

Reviews:

Chicago Tribune 26 April 1985: 5. 5.

Courier-Journal [Louisville, Ky.] 25 April 1985: 66.

Daily News [New York] 26 April 1985: 74.

Hollywood Reporter 26 April 1985: 12.

New York Times 26 April 1985: 3. 30.

TV Guide 20-26 April 1985: A-144.

Variety 8 May 1985: 162.

Additional discussions:

Marill, Alvin H. Movies Made for Television, 1964-1986. New York: Zoetrope, 1987.

Schobert, Walter, and Horst Shäfer, eds. Fisher Film Almanach 1987. Frankfurt am Main: Fisher, 1987.

Black Knight, The (1954).

Great Britain; dir. Tay Garnett; Warwick-Columbia.

Cast: Richard Adam, Harry Andrews, Bill Brandon, Anthony Bushnell, Peter Cushing, Alan Ladd, Jean Lodge, Patricia Medina, Andre Morell, and Patrick Troughton.

John, a poor blacksmith, learns that the Viking attacks on England are really the handiwork of Sir Palamides, a knight of the Round Table, and his ally, King Mark, Both intend to overthrow Arthur and supplant Christianity in England with paganism. John becomes a knight and saves the kingdom from Palamides and Mark, while also winning the hand of his lady love, the fair Linet. When it was originally released, most critics dismissed this film as unintentionally funny. More recently, however, Alan Lupack has advanced an alternate reading of the film arguing convincingly that The Black Knight needs to be read against the politics of the 1950s. Against such a backdrop, the film can be "seen as an allegory for the triumph of American values over a Communist threat" (38).

Reviews:

America 92 (27 November 1954): 259.

Catholic World 179 (September 1954): 466.

Commonweal 61 (19 November 1954): 188.

Film Daily 21 October 1954: 6.

Harrison's Reports 23 October 1954: 120.

Hollywood Reporter 9 November 1954: 3.

Kinematograph Weekly 26 August 1954: 21-22.

Monthly Film Bulletin 21 (October 1954): 147.

Motion Picture Herald 197 (23 October 1954): Product Digest Section 185.

National Parent-Teacher 49 (January 1955): 38.

New York Times 29 October 1954: 27.

Newsweek 44 (15 November 1954): 112.

Sign 35 (October 1954): 33.

Time 64 (8 November 1954): 64.

To-day's Cinema 25 August 1954: 10.

Variety 8 September 1954: 6.

Additional discussions:

Beylie, Claude, et al. "Les 44 films de Tay Garnett." Ecran 57 (April 1977): 28-38; 58 (May 1977): 40-45.

Garnett, Tay, and Fredda Dudley Valling. Light Up Your Torches and Pull Up Your Tights. New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1973.

Halliwell, Leslie. "Putting A Name to the Place." TV Times [London] 14 February 1987: 34.

Henry, Marilyn, and Ron De Sourdis. The Films of Alan Ladd. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel, 1981.

Lupack, Alan. "An Enemy in Our Midst: The Black Knight and the American Dream." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, A-B, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1985.

Richards, Jeffrey. Swordsmen of the Screen from Douglas Fairbanks to Michael York. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1977.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film from Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Viviani, Christian. "Tay Garnett, 1898-1977." Avant-scène du cinéma 245 (1 April 1980): 97-128.

Camelot (1967).

United States; dir. Joshua Logan; Warner Brothers-Seven Arts.

Cast: Richard Harris, David Hemmings, Lionel Jeffries, Laurence Naismith, Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave, and Estelle Winwood.

Unwilling at first to marry, Arthur by chance encounters his bride-to-be Guinevere in a forest. After the royal wedding, Arthur establishes an order of chivalry whose symbol is the Round Table. The fame of the order spreads and brings the eager Lancelot du Lac from France to join the nights of the Round Table. First resentful of Lancelot, Guinevere soon falls in love with him, and the two become secret lovers. When rumors of their adultery surface, Arthur ignores these rumors and sends those who try to force the issue into exile, where they rally around Mordred, Arthur's illegitimate son. Mordred sets a trap for Lancelot and Guinevere. Lancelot escapes, but Guinevere is found guilty and sentenced to be burned at the stake. Lancelot rescues Guinevere, but the dream of Camelot is doomed. Based on the successful 1960 Broadway play by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, which was in turn based on T. H. White's The Once and Future King, this film has had few neutral critics, most of whom responded negatively to it. The charges leveled against the film are generally that the lead roles were miscast, that the direction was ponderous, and that, at nearly three hours, the film was too long. The film did, nonetheless, win Academy Awards for art and set direction, costume, and best musical scoring. It was also nominated for best cinematography and sound.

Reviews:

America 117 (11 November 1967): 582-83.

Bianco e nero 29 (May-June 1968): 161-63.

Christian Century 10 January 1968: 52-53.

Columbia 47 (November 1967): 29.

Commonweal 87 (17 November 1967): 207.

Daily Cinema 17 November 1967: 6.

Extension 62 (January 1968): 38.

Film Daily 26 October 1967: 3, 6.

Film Facts 10 (15 November 1967): 280-81.

Film Quarterly 21 (Spring 1968): 56.

Films and Filming 14 (November 1967): 15-17; 14 (January 1968): 22.

Films in Review 18 (December 1967): 649-50.

Harper's 236 (January 1968): 81-82.

Hollywood Reporter 25 October 1967: 3, 14.

Kinematograph Weekly 18 November 1967: 10, 18.

Monde, Le 17 March 1968: 17.

Monthly Film Bulletin 35 (January 1968): 3.

Motion Picture Herald 237 (1 November 1967): Product Digest Section 737.

New Republic 182 (28 June 1980): 27.

New York Times 26 October 1967: 54.

Newsweek 70 (6 November 1967): 90.

St. Anthony Messenger 75 (March 1968): 8

Senior Scholastic 91 (14 December 1967): 21.

Sign 47 (October 1967); 45.

Tablet [London] 221 (18 November 1967): 1208.

Time 90 (3 November 1967): 100.

Times [London] 16 November 1967: 8.

Variety 25 October 1967: 6.

Vogue 150 (December 1967): 175.

Additional discussions:

Borgzinner, Jon. "The Shining Pageant of Camelot" and "The Limerick Lad in King Arthur's Court." Life 63 (22 September 1967): 70-76, 79-80, 84, 86.

Bouineau, Jean-Marc, and Alain Charlot. Les 100 chefs-d'Ïuvre du film fantastique. Alleur, Belgium: Marabout, 1989.

Bragg, Melvyn. Rich: The Life of Richard Burton. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1988.

Combs, Carl. Camelot: The Movie Souvenir Book. New York: National, 1968.

Elley, Derek. The Epic Film. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984.

Grellner, Alice. "Two Films That Sparkle: The Sword in the Stone and Camelot." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1981.

Hirschhorn, Clive. The Movie Musical. New York: Crown, 1981.

-----. The Warner Brothers Story. New York: Crown, 1979.

Kaplan, Phillip J. The Best, Worst and Most Unusual: Hollywood Musicals. New York: Beckman, 1983.

Knee, Allan, ed. Selections from Idylls of the King and Camelot. New York: Dell, 1967.

Krafsur, Richard P., ed. The American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films 1961-1970. New York: Bowker, 1976.

Lightman, Herb A. "Capturing on Film the Mythical Magic of Camelot." American Cinematographer 49 (January 1968): 30-33.

Logan, Joshua. Movie Stars, Real People, and Me. New York: Delacorte, 1978.

Maeder, Edward. Hollywood and History, Costume Design in Film. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1987.

Matthew-Walker, Robert. From Broadway to Hollywood. London: Sanctuary Publishing, 1996.

Medved, Harry, and Michael Medved. The Golden Turkey Awards. New York: Perigee, 1980.

-----. The Hollywood Hall of Shame. New York: Perigee, 1984.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, C-D, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1985.

Parish, James Robert, and Michael R. Pitts. The Great Hollywood Musical Pictures. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1992.

Redgrave, Vanessa. Vanessa Redgrave, An Autobiography. New York: Random House, 1994.

Schroth, Evelyn. "Camelot: Contemporary Interpretation of Arthur in 'Sens' and 'Matiere.'" Journal of Popular Culture 17 (Fall 1983): 31-43.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film from Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Camelot (1982).

United States; dir. Marty Callner; HBO.

Cast: Richard Backus, Meg Bussert, Richard Harris, Barrie Ingham, Robert Muenz, and James Valentine.

HBO's presentation of the Broadway revival of the Lerner and Loewe musical, which first aired on 26 September 26 1982, received good reviews for its production values and for Harris's portrayal of Arthur.

Reviews:

Films in Review 33 (November 1982): 567-69.

Hollywood Reporter 24 September 1982: 30.

New York Times 24 September 1982: C27.

Screen International 25 September 1982: 6.

Women's Wear Daily 15 September 1982: 42.

Additional discussion:

Ashley, Franklin. "They Haven't Heard the Last of Richard Harris." TV Guide 25 September 1982: 27-29.

Chevaliers de la table ronde, Les (1990).

France; dir. Denis Llorca; Les Films du Jeudi.

Alternate title: The Knights of the Round Table.

Cast: Maria Casarès, Alain Cuny, Mireille Delcroix, Alain Mace, Catherine Rétoré, and Michel Vitold.

In its retelling of scenes selected from the thirteenth century French prose Vulgate cycle, this film presents the stories of Arthur and Guinevere, of Morgan and her jealousy, of Merlin and his enchantment by Vivien, and of the Fisher King Bron, his daughter, and her son, Galahad.

Reviews:

Cahiers du cinéma 437 (November 1990): 85.

Film français 16 October 1990: 13.

Image et son 465 (November 1990): 29.

Positf 359 (January 1991): 44-45.

Revue du cinéma [La Saison cinématographique] Hors série 37 (1990): 27.

Studio [Paris] 43 (November 1990): 24.

Additional discussions:

Les Films français. Paris: Unifrance International Film, 1990.

Heymann, Danièle, and Pierre Murat. L'Année du cinéma 1991. Barcelona: Almann-Lévy, 1991.

Tous les films 1990. Paris: Éditions Chrétiens-Médias, 1991.

Connecticut Yankee, A (1931).

United States; dir. David Butler; Fox.

Cast: Frank Albertson, William Barnum, Mitchell Harris, Brandon Hurst, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, and Will Rogers.

Hank Martin, a radio repairman, is knocked unconscious by an armored figure while trying to fix a radio for a slightly crazed customer who believes he is listening in on discussions from Arthur's Round Table. In a dream, Martin finds himself in England in the year 528, where he amazes Arthur's court with his cigarette lighter, motorcycles, automobiles, machine guns, sawed-off shotguns, tanks, and airplanes. All these modern additions to life in Camelot only serve to reinforce a plot designed to unite two lovers. Like the other adaptations of Twain's famous 1889 novel, this film takes some license with details from its source. Rogers' Yankee is wry and unassuming; Loy's Morgan is drawn from the long tradition of the cinematic vamp. In a wonderful would-be seduction scene, Loy forces Rogers to blush bright red--an effect achieved in this black and white film by progressively tinting each frame for the scene a darker shade of pink. As with the other adaptations of Twain's novel, the makers of this film eschew any of the misanthropy in the original in favor of comedy.

Reviews:

Bioscope 1 April 1931: 18-19.

Cinema, Video & Cable Movie Digest 1 (August 1991): 64.

Film Daily 12 April 1931: 32.

Film Spectator 11 (25 April 1931): 11.

Harrison's Reports 11 April 1931: 58.

Illustrated London News 20 June 1931: 1052, 1074.

Motion Picture Herald 21 March 1931: 39.

National Board of Review Magazine 6 (April 1931): 15.

New York Times 11 April 1931: 17; 4 May 1936: 16.

New Yorker 7 (18 April 1931): 75, 77.

Outlook and Independent 157 (15 April 1931): 539.

Photoplay 29 (April 1931): 48.

Picturegoer Weekly NS 13 (22 August 1931): 29.

Retro 12 (November-December 1981): 20-23.

Rob Wagner's Script 5 (30 May 1931): 10-11

Time 17 (20 April 1931): 28.

Variety 15 April 1931: 20, 33.

Additional discussions:

Fetrow, Alan G. Sound Films, 1927-1939. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1992.

The Film Index: A Bibliography. Vol. 1: The Film as Art. 1941. rpt. White Plains, N.Y.: Kraus International, 1988.

Hall, Mordaunt. "An Arlis Sans Monocle." New York Times 19 April 1931: 8. 5.

Hanson, Patricia King, ed. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Feature Films, 1931-1940. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.

Harty, Kevin J. "Camelot Twice Removed: Knightriders and the Film Versions of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Korsilibas-Davis, James, and Myrna Loy. Being and Becoming. London: Bloomsbury, 1987.

Leonard, William Tolbert. Theatre: Stage to Screen to Television. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1981.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, C-D, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1985.

Nowlan, Robert A., and Gwendolyn Wright Nowlan. Cinema Sequels and Remakes, 1903-1987. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1989.

Parish, James Robert, and William T. Leonard. The Funsters. New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1979.

Quirk, Lawrence J. The Films of Myrna Loy. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel, 1980.

Rollins, Peter G. Will Rogers, A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1984.

Sterling, Bryan B., ed. The Will Rogers Scrapbook. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1976.

-----, and Frances N. Sterling. Will Rogers in Hollywood. New York: Crown, 1984.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film from Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

"Will Rogers and King Arthur." New York Times 29 March 1931: 8. 7.

Connecticut Yankee, A (1954).

United States; dir. Fiedler Cook; Kraft Theatre and ABC-TV.

Cast: Edgar Bergen, Sally Gracie, Victory Jory, Jack Livesey, Carl Reiner, and Joey Walsh.

This made-for-television adaptation of Twain's novel emphasizes the farcical turning Merlin (Victor Jory) into a comical character and shifting the scene with the eclipse to the end of the narrative.

Review:

Variety 14 June 1954: 30.

Connecticut Yankee, A (1955).

United States; dir. Max Liebman; NBC-TV.

Cast: Eddie Albert, Janet Blair, John Conte, Leonard Elliott, Boris Karloff, and Gale Sherwood.

On the night before he is supposed to marry Fay Morgan, Martin Barrett meets with his former fiancée, Alice Carter. When she discovers the two together, the enraged Fay knocks Martin unconscious with a bottle of champagne. While knocked out, he dreams he is in King Arthur's court, where he rescues the Lady Alisande from Queen Morgan Le Fay. This ninety minute production restages Rodgers and Hart's 1927 musical, A Connecticut Yankee, for television. Like its Broadway source, the production takes considerable liberty with Twain's novel and relies upon musical and dance numbers to advance its plot. The musical score and book used for this television production followed those of the 1943 revival rather than those of the original production.

Reviews:

Daily Variety 14 March 1955: 9.

Variety 16 March 1955: 35.

Additional discussions:

Buehrer, Beverley B. Boris Karloff, A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1993.

Hummel, David. The Collector's Guide to the American Musical Theatre. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1984.

Nollan, Scott Allen. Boris Karloff, A Critical Account of His Screen, Stage, Radio, Television, and Recording Work. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1991.

Richard Rodgers Fact Book (with Supplement). New York: Lynn Farnol Group, 1968.

Shanley, J.P. "Nothing to Be Scared About." New York Times 6 March 1955: 2. 13.

Terrace, Vincent. Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials, 1937-1973. New York: Zoetrope, 1986.

-----. Television Specials. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1995.

Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court, A (1920).

United States; dir. Emmett J. Flynn; Fox.

Cast: Charles Clary, Adele Farrington, Carl Formes, Herbert Fortier, Charles Gordon, William MacDonald, Harry C. Meyers, William V. Mong, George Siegmann, Pauline Starke, and Rosemary Theby.

Wealthy young Martin Cavendish wants to marry his mother's secretary rather than a snooty titled woman his mother has chosen for his bride. One night while reading a book about chivalry, Cavendish is knocked unconscious by a burglar, and, in a dream, he finds himself in in Camelot in the sixthcentury. Thereafter, the film follows the general outline of the events in Twain's novel with abundant contemporaneous touches added to the screenplay. Douglas Fairbanks was originally offered the title role in this film, but he turned it down. As with the other screen adaptations of Twain's novel, this film eschews any of the misanthropy in the original in favor of comedy.

Reviews:

Exceptional Photoplays 1 (March 1921): 2, 7.

Exhibitor's Trade Review 12 February 1921: 1065.

Harrison's Reports 12 February 1921: 26.

Life 77 (5 May 1921): 652.

Motion Picture News 12 February 1921: 1383.

New York Times 15 March 1921: 14.

Photoplay 20 (June 1921): 51.

Times [London] 15 May 1921: 6.

Variety 28 January 1921: 40.

Wid's Daily 6 February 1921: 3.

Additional discussions:

Connelly, Robert. The Motion Picture Guide, Silent Film 1910-1936. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1986.

The Film Index: A Bibliography. Vol. 1: The Film as Art. 1941. rpt. White Plains, N.Y.: Kraus International, 1988.

Hamilton, James Shelley. "Five Pictures." Exceptional Photoplays 1 (November 1921): 3, 8, 12.

Hanson, Patricia King, ed. The American Film Institute Catalog, Feature Films 1911-1920. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.

Harty, Kevin J. "Camelot Twice Removed: Knightriders and the Film Versions of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Leonard, William Tolbert. Theatre: Stage to Screen to Television. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1981.

Munden, Kenneth W., ed. The American Film Institute Catalog, Feature Films 1921-1930. New York: Bowker, 1971.

Nowlan, Robert A., and Gwendolyn Wright Nolan. Cinema Sequels and Remakes, 1903-1987. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1989.

O'Dell, Scott. Representative Photoplays Analyzed. Hollywood, Calif.: Institute of Authorship, 1924.

Patterson, Francis Taylor. Cinema Craftsmanship. New York: Harcourt, 1921.

"Special Service Section on 'A Connecticut Yankee in [sic] King Arthur's Court.'" Motion Picture News 26 February 1921: 1673-82.

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A (1949).

United States; dir. Tay Garnett; Paramount.

Cast: William Bendix, Bing Crosby, Virginia Field, Rhonda Fleming, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Joseph Vitale, Murvyn Vye, Richard Webb, and Henry Wilcoxon.

Truer to the details of its source than either the 1921 or the 1931 films, this third screen version of Twain's novel is, nonetheless, in many ways the least successful of the three. The novel has been turned into a musical vehicle--not based for reasons of copyright on the 1927 Rodgers and Hart Broadway musical--for Crosby, and the plot advances by a mix of song and silly dialogue. Twain's novel was an example of comic genius; this film is anything but an example of such genius. As with the other screen adaptations of Twain's novel, this film also eschews any of the misanthropy in the original in favor of at times clumsy musical comedy.

Reviews:

America 81 (16 April 1949): 96-97.

Collier's 123 (19 March 1949): 36, 73.

Commonweal 50 (22 April 1949): 48.

Cosmopolitan 126 (April 1949): 12-13, 92.

Extension 44 (July 1949): 40.

Film Daily 24 February 1949: 6.

Good Housekeeping 128 (April 1949): 303.

Harrison's Reports 26 February 1949: 35.

Hollywood Reporter 21 February 1949: 3.

Monthly Film Bulletin 16 (3 March 1949): 48.

Motion Picture Herald 174 (26 February 1949): Product Digest Section 4513.

New Republic 31 (18 April 1949): 31.

New York Times 8 April 1949: 31.

New Yorker 25 (16 April 1949): 965.

Newsweek 33 (18 April 1949): 89.

Photoplay 35 (April 1949): 22.

Revue du cinéma [La Saison cinématographique] Hors série 30 (1948-1949): 212.

Rotarian 75 (August 1949): 42.

Scholastic 54 (13 April 1949): 25.

Senior Scholastic 54 (13 April 1949): 25.

Sign 28 (March 1949): 45.

Time 53 (25 April 1949): 99-100.

Times [London] 21 March 1949: 7.

To-day's Cinema 4 February 1949: 11.

Variety 23 February 1949: 10.

Woman's Home Companion 76 (April 1949): 10-11.

Additional discussions:

Beylie, Claude, et al. "Les 44 films de Tay Garnett." Ecran 57 (April 1977): 27-38; 58 (May 1977): 40-45.

Bookbinder, Robert. The Films of Bing Crosby. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel, 1977.

Garnett, Tay, and Fredda Dudley Balling. Light Up Your Torches and Pull Up Your Tights. New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1973.

Harty, Kevin J. "Camelot Twice Removed: Knightriders and the Film Versions of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Hirschhorn, Clive. The Hollywood Musical. New York: Crown, 1981.

Leonard, William Tolbert. Theatre: Stage to Screen to Television. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1981.

Maeder, Edward. Hollywood and History, Costume Design in Film. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1987.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, C-D, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1985.

Nathan, Paul S. "Books into Films." Publisher's Weekly 153 (1 May 1948): 1907.

Nowlan, Robert A., and Gwendolyn Wright Nowlan. Cinema Sequels and Remakes, 1903-1987. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1989.

Thomas, Bob. "Tay Garnett: A Man for All Films." Action 7 (September-October 1972): 12-16.

Viviani, Christian. "Tay Garnett, 1898-1977." Avant-scène du cinéma 245 (1 April 1980): 97-128.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film from Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Wachhorst, Wyn. "Time-Travel Romance on Film: Archetypes and Structures." Extrapolation 25 (Winter 1984): 340-59.

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A (1952).

United States; dir. Franklin Schaffner; CBS.

Cast: Boris Karloff, Berry Kroeger, and Thomas Mitchell.

This live television production compresses Twain's novel into sixty minutes all but eliminating any hint of the misanthropy of the original. Karloff, who plays Arthur, returned to the role in another 1955 production based on the Rodgers and Hart Broadway musical.

Discussions:

Gianakos, Larry James. Television Drama Series Programming: A Comprehensive Chronicle, 1947-1959. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1980.

Kim, Erwin. Franklin J. Schaffner. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1985.

Klisz, Anjanelle M., ed. The Video Source Book. 16th ed. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994.

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A (1970).

Australia; dir. Zoran Janjic; Air Programs International.

Cast: (The voices of) Orson Bean, Ron Haddrick, Barbara Llewellyn, John Llewellyn, L. Ostrich, and Brenda Senders.

This animated feature length version of Twain's novel weaves into the original's basic plot an assortment of more contemporary gadgetry. In the final climatic battle, the Yankee routs an army of 50,000 using compressed air and water cannons.

Review:

Daily News [New York] 27 November 1970: 63.

Additional discussions:

Harty, Kevin J. "Camelot Twice Removed: Knightriders and the Film Versions of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Wollery, George. Animated TV Specials. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1989.

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A (1978).

United States; dir. David Trapper; Once Upon a Classic.

Cast: Richard Basehart, Roscoe Lee Browne, Frederick Coffin, Tovah Feldshuh, Paul Rudd, and Dan Shor.

This sixty minute adaptation of Twain's novel is notable only for its attempt in the final scene to nod in the direction of its source's dark conclusion.

Reviews:

Christian Science Monitor 22 May 1978: 23.

New York Post 23 May 1978: 32.

Additional discussions:

Harty, Kevin J. "Camelot Twice Removed: Knightriders and the Film Versions of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Marill, Alvin H. "The Television Scene." Films in Review 35 (November 1984): 570-71.

"Recycling Mark Twain." TV Guide 20 May 1978: 11.

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A (1989).

United States; dir. Mel Damski; NBC.

Cast: Rene Auberjonois, Huge E. Blick, Michael Gross, Whip Hubley, Jean Marsh, Keshia Knight Pulliam, and Emma Samms.

Karen Jones, a 1980s African American schoolgirl, falls from her horse, is knocked unconscious, and awakens in sixth century Camelot. To the already familiar assortment of items from the modern world, Karen here introduces Arthur and his court to karate, aerobics, Polaroid cameras, Walkmans, and tape recorders. This silly telemovie, primarily a vehicle for two popular television performers, Gross and Pulliam, scrupulously avoids any of the substantive or controversial issues raised by the novel, despite the fact that it originally aired in a year that coincidentally marked the hundredth anniversary of the publication of Twain's novel.

Reviews:

Baltimore Sun 18 December 1989: 1B, 2B.

Boston Herald 18 December 1989: 49.

Chicago Sun-Times 18 December 1989: 33.

Chicago Tribune 17 December 1989: TV Week 3; 18 December 1989: 2. 5.

Christian Science Monitor 13 December 1989: 10.

New York Post 18 December 1989:60.

New York Times 3 December 1989: 2. 33; 18 December 1989: 2. 4.

Newsday 18 December 1989: 2. 10.

TV Guide 16 December 1989: 53, 120.

Variety 20 December 1989: 48.

Additional discussions:

Harty, Kevin J. "Camelot Twice Removed: Knightriders and the Film Versions of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Knutzen, Eirik. "Michael Gross in a Royal Role." Philadelphia Inquirer TV Week 17 December 1989: 4-5.

Thompson, Raymond H. "The Ironic Tradition in Arthurian Film Since 1960." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film from Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Connemara (1989).

France; dir. Louis Grospierre; Lapaca Productions.

Cast: Charley Boorman, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Deirdra Donnelly, Brigitte Marvine, Maurice O'Donoghue, Daragh O'Malley, Steven Rekap, Jean-Pierre Rives, and Hervé Schmitz.

An impetuous young man named Loup is sent by his uncle Mark to fetch his fiancée, Sedrid of the long red tresses. They attempt to remain loyal to Mark who nonetheless discovers that the two have fallen in love with each other. The plot of the film is obviously an analogue--though not a very well made one--to the oft-told medieval tale of Tristan, Isolde, and Mark.

Discussions:

Les Films français. Paris: Unifrance International Film, 1989.

Tous les films 1990. Paris: Éditions Chrétiens-Médias, 1991.

Eternal Return (1943). See L'Éternel retour (1943).

Éternel retour, L' (1943).

France; dir. Jean Delannoy; Discina International.

Cast: Yvonne De Bray, Jean Marais, Jean Murat, Piéral, Madeleine Sologne, and Roland Toutain.

Patrice brings Nathalie to meet his friend Mark, a recent widower, in the hopes that they will marry. But Achille, a vicious dwarf, has Patrice and Nathalie drink a love potion which causes them to fall madly in love. The lovers, however, find their only unity in death. Delannoy's updating of the legend of Tristan and Isolde, with a screenplay by Jean Cocteau, is for all its brilliance nonetheless tainted by racist ideas that made it acceptable to the Nazi occupiers of wartime France.

Reviews:

Christian Century 26 April 1950: 543.

Cinema 66 (13 February 1946): 20.

Commonweal 47 (12 February 1948): 448.

Film français 23 October 1943: 9.

Kinematograph Weekly 21 February 1946: 25.

Listener 10 April 1986: 32.

Monthly Film Bulletin 13 (28 February 1946): 22-23.

New Statesman and Nation 31 (23 February 1946): 136-37.

New York Times 5 January 1948: 15.

New Yorker 23 (17 January 1948): 62-63.

Newsweek 31 (19 January 1948): 89.

Rotarian 76 (June 1950): 37.

Sight and Sound NS 4 (August 1994): 62.

Theatre Arts 32 (February 1948): 44.

Time 51 (19 January 1948): 104.

Variety 17 December 1948: 8, 22.

Additional discussions:

Armengual, Barthélemy. Le Mythe de Tristan et Yseult au cinéma. Algiers: Travail et culture, 1952.

Auden, W.H. The Dyer's Hand. London: Faber, 1963.

Bardèche, Maurice, and Robert Brasillach. Histoire du cinéma. Rev. ed. 2 vols. Givors: Martel, 1953-54.

Bazin, André. French Cinema of the Occupation and Resistance. Trans. Stanley Hochman. New York: Ungar, 1975.

Bertin-Maghit, Jean-Pierre. "L'Éternel retour: un choix idologique." CinemAction 65 (September 1992): 142-51.

Bianchi, Pietro, and Franco Berutti. Storia del cinema. 2nd ed. Rome: Garzanti, 1959.

"Brillantes premières à Vichy et à Paris de 'L'Éternel retour.'" Film français 23 October 1943: 7.

Cocteau, Jean. "L'Équipe de 'L'Éternel retour.'" In Îuvres complètes. 11 vols. Geneva: Marguerat, 1946-51.

-----. "L'Éternel retour." In Îuvres complètes. 11 vols. Geneva: Marguerat, 1946-51.

-----. Three Screenplays. Trans. Carol Martin-Sperry. New York: Grossman, 1972.

Hackette, Hazel. "The French Cinema During the Occupation." Sight and Sound 15 (Spring 1946): 1-3.

Maddux, Stephen. "Cocteau's Tristan and Iseut: A Case of Overmuch Respect." In Joan Tasker Grimbert, ed. Tristan and Isolde, A Casebook. New York: Garland, 1995.

Magill, Frank N., ed. Magill's Survey of Cinema: Foreign Language Films. Englewood Cliffs: N.J.: Salem, 1985.

Manvell, Roger. "Films of the Quarter." Sight and Sound 15 (Spring 1946): 24-27.

Marais, Jean. Mes quatres verités. Paris: Éditions de Paris, 1957.

McMunn, Meradith T. "Filming the Tristan Myth: From Text to Icon." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, E-G, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1986.

Paris, James Reid. The Great French Films. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel, 1983.

Sadoul, Georges. Dictionary of Films. Trans. Peter Morris. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972.

Steegmuller, Francis. Cocteau, A Biography. Boston: Little, Brown, 1970.

Topart, Robert. "L'Éternel retour." In Analyses des films. Paris: Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques, [1948].

Vialle, Gabriel. "Trois visages de Jean Cocteau." Image et son 214 (1968): 183-96.

Whithall, R.E. "Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made Of." Film Quarterly [London] Summer 1947: 26-29.

Excalibur (1981).

United States; dir. John Boorman; Orion.

Cast: Robert Addie, Gabriel Byrne, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi, Helen Mirren, Nigel Terry, and Nicol Williamson.

King Uther Pendragon upsets a fragile peace when he lusts after Igrayne, the wife of his former rival. With Merlin's help, he enters Igrayne's castle disguised as her absent husband and fathers a child, who will be Arthur, with her. Arthur is then raised by Merlin, and Uther is killed, thrusting before he dies the sword Excalibur into a stone from which it can be withdrawn only by the rightful ruler of the land. Arthur meanwhile grows up unaware of his lineage and destiny. By accident, he draws Excalibur from the stone and is proclaimed reluctant king. Eventually he establishes peace in the realm that is ensured by the fellowship of the Round Table. He marries Guinevere, but their happiness is shattered when Lancelot arrives. First cool to each other, Lancelot and Guinevere are soon involved in an adulterous affair that threatens the realm. Merlin himself is threatened by the wily Morgana, Arthur's half-sister, who has for years been secretly plotting revenge for the murder of her father by Merlin and Uther. When an enraged Arthur breaks Excalibur, the kingdom is plunged into chaos as the knights set forth in search of the elusive Grail, many falling into traps set by Morgana. Only Perceval is successful in his quest for the Grail, which he brings back to Camelot to heal Arthur. The renewed king rides forth to reclaim his land and to defeat Morgana and their son Mordred. In the final battle, Arthur kills Mordred but is himself mortally wounded. As Arthur sets sail in a boat captained by three mysterious women, Perceval returns Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake, its magic denied to future generations for all times. Loosely based on Sir Thomas Malory's fifteenth century Le Morte Darthur, Boorman's film is a dark brooding meditation on the Arthurian legend in which Arthur becomes the Grail King. The film has not, however, aged well. It seems now too much a product of its times, dominated by a heavy musical score that is designed to cue audience reactions to scenes sometimes before they occur.

Reviews:

Amis du film et de la télévision 301-02 (July-August 1981): 15.

Cahiers du cinéma 326 (July-August 1981): 61-62.

Casablanca 7-8 (July-August 1981): 79.

Celuloide 331 (January 1982): 15-18.

Christian Century 27 May 1981: 619; 29 July 1981: 774-76.

Christian Science Monitor 23 April 1981: 19.

Ciné Revue 20 (14 May 1981): 5.

Cinefantastique 11 (Summer 1981): 13; 11 (Fall 1981): 47.

Cinéma [Paris] 270 (June 1981): 112-13.

Cinema Canada 75 (July 1981): 34.

Cinema nuovo 31 (February 1982): 49-50.

Cinema Papers 34 (September-October 1981): 399-401.

Contemporary Review 240 (February 1982): 103.

Continental Film and Video Review 28 (July 1981): 6-10.

Contracampo 28 (March 1982): 65.

Ecran fantastique 19 (1981): 66-67.

Film a doba 30 (January 1984): 43-45.

Filmcritica 32 (August 1981): 349-51; 33 (January 1982): 20-24.

Film en televisie 290-91 (July-August 1981): 14-15.

Filmfaust 24 (October-November 1981): 28.

Filmihullu 6 (1981): 35.

Film Journal 84 (6 April 1981): 13-14.

Film og kino 49.4 (1981): 143-44.

Film und Fernsehen 14 (November 1986): 24.

Films 1 (June 1981): 26-30; 1 (July 1981): 36-37.

Films in Review 32 (July 1981): 377.

Furrow [Ireland] 32 (August 1981): 541.

Hablemos de cine 18 (May 1982): 91-92.

Hollywood Reporter 6 April 1981: 2.

Jeune cinéma 136 (July-August 1981): 41-44.

Kosmorama 27 (June 1981): 98.

Levende billeder 7 (October 1981): 63.

Los Angeles Times 27 March 1981: 6. 1-2; 5 April 1981: Calendar 28; 17 June 1981: Calendar 1, 6.

Listener 9 July 1981: 61; 27 February 1986: 30.

Maclean's 94 (27 April 1981): 50.

Mademoiselle 87 (August 1981): 62, 64.

Marriage and Family Living 63 (July 1981): 30.

Medien + Erziehung 26.1 (1982): 19-22.

Month [Series 2] 14 (August 1981): 281.

Monthly Film Bulletin 48 (June 1981): 112.

Motion Picture Product Digest 15 April 1981: 87.

Mythlore 31 (Spring 1982): 29-30.

Nation 232 (16 May 1981): 612.

New Leader 64 (4 May 1981): 17.

New Statesman 102 (3 July 1981): 22.

New York 14 (13 April 1981): 50-52.

New York Post 10 April 1981: 43.

New York Times 10 April 1981: 3. 11; 10 May 1981: 2. 13.

New Yorker 57 (20 April 1981): 146-51.

Newsday 10 April 1981: 27.

Newsweek 97 (13 April 1981): 82.

Positif 242 (May 1981): 16-17.

Prevue 44 (February-March 1981): 34-37.

Revue du cinéma [La Saison cinématographique] Hors série 25 (1981): 132-33.

Rolling Stone 14 May 1981: 36-37.

St. Anthony Messenger 89 (June 1981): 6.

San Francisco Chronicle 10 April 1981: 64.

Screen International 11 July 1981: 15.

Segnocinema 2 (December 1981): 58.

Skoop 17 (August 1981): 14-15; 17 (September-October 1981): 58.

Soho News [New York] 15 April 1981: 55.

Starburst 35 (1981): 16-19.

Sunday Times [London] 5 July 1981: 40.

Sunday Times [London] Magazine 28 June 1981: 36.

Tablet [London] 235 (11 July 1981): 675.

Time 117 (13 April 1981): 96.

Times [London] 28 June 1981: 36; 3 July 1981: 11.

Times [London] Literary Supplement 17 July 1981: 812.

Variety 8 April 1981: 18.

Village Voice 15 April 1981: 51.

24 Images 10 (September 1981): 71-72.

Washington Post 10 April 1981: F 1 and Weekend 17.

Women's Wear Daily 10 April 1981: 8.

Additional discussions:

"The Art of Excalibur." Starburst 38 (1981): 20-21.

Bartone, Richard C. "Variations on Arthurian Legend in Lancelot du Lac and Excalibur." In Sally Slocum, ed. Popular Arthurian Traditions. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1992.

"Boorman and the Arthurian Legend." Photoplay 31 (November 1980): 40-41.

Borie, Bertrand. "Entretien avec John Boorman." Ecran fantastique 19 (1981): 6-8.

-----. "Table ronde autour d'Excalibur." Ecran fantastique 20 (1981): 70-72.

Bouineau, Jean-Marc, and Alain Charlot. Les 100 chefs-d'Ïuvre du film fantastique. Alleur, Belgium: Marabout, 1989.

Boyle, Sarah. "From Victim to Avenger: The Women in John Boorman's Excalibur." Avalon to Camelot 1 (Summer 1984): 42-43.

Brode, Douglas. The Films of the Eighties. New York: Citadel, 1990.

Brüne, Klaus, ed. Lexikon des Internationalen Films. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowoholt, 1987.

Burns, E. Jane. "Nostalgia Isn't What It Used to Be: The Middle Ages in Literature and Film." In George Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin, eds. Shadows of the Magic Lamp, Fantasy and Science Fiction in Film. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1985.

Canby, Vincent. "Of a Hit, A Series and the Word." New York Times 10 May 1981: D 13.

Chandès, Gérard. "Lancelot dans Excalibur de John Boorman." In Ulrich Müller, et al., eds. Lancelot. Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1984.

Ciment, Michel. "Deux entretiens avec John Boorman." Positif 242 (May 1981): 18-31.

-----. John Boorman. Trans. Gilbert Adair. London: Faber, 1986.

Cine para leer 1981. Bilboa: Mensajero, 1982.

Clegg, Cynthia. "The Problem of Realizing Romance in Film: John Boorman's Excalibur." In George Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin, eds. Shadows of the Magic Lamp, Fantasy and Science Fiction in Film. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1985.

Decampo, M., and F. Vega. "John Boorman habla de 'Excalibur.'" Casablanca 7-8 (July-August 1981): 52-53, 56-57.

de la Brétèque, François. "L'Épée dans le lac, 'Excalibur' de John Boorman ou les aléas de la puissance." Cahiers de la cinémathèque 42-43 (Summer 1985): 91-96.

-----. "Une 'Figure obligé' du film de chevalerie: le tournoi." Cahiers de la cinémathèque 42-43 (Summer 1985): 21-26.

de Weever, Jacqueline. "Morgan and the Problem of Incest." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1981.

D'Heur, J.M. and J. De Groeve. "Arthur, Excalibur and The Enchanter Boorman." Studia in honorem prof. M. de Riquer, III. Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1988.

"Dossier: Excalibur." Positif 247 (October 1981): 29-43.

Dubost, Francis. "Merlin et le texte inaugural." Cahiers de la cinémathèque 42-43 (Summer 1985): 85-89.

Filme 1981/84. Dülmen: Katholisches Institut für Medieninformation, 1985.

Haller, Robert. "Excalibur and Innovation." Field of Vision 13 (Spring 1985): 2-3.

Holley, Linda Tarte. "Medievalism in Film." Southeastern Medieval Association Newsletter 9. 2 (1983-1984): 13-17.

"Interview with Alex Thompson." American Cinematographer 63 (May 1982): 452, 491-493, 504-506.

"John Boorman Talks About Excalibur." Film Directions 4. 15 (1981): 16-19.

Just, Lothar R., ed. Das Filmjahr '81/82. Munich Filmland Presse, 1981.

Kennedy, Harlan. "The World of King Arthur According to John Boorman." American Film 6 (March 1981): 30-37.

Lacy, Norris J. "Arthurian Film and the Tyranny of Tradition." Arthurian Interpretations 4 (Fall 1989): 75-85.

-----. "Mythopoeia in Excalibur." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1981.

MacCurdy, Marian. "Bitch or Goddess: Polarized Images of Women in Arthurian Films and Literature." Platte Valley Review 18 (Winter 1990): 3-24.

Maeder, Edward. Hollywood and History, Costume Design in Film. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1987.

Magill, Frank N., ed. Magill's Cinema Annual 1982, The Films of 1981. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem, 1982.

-----. Magill's Survey of Cinema: English Language Films. Second Series. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem, 1981.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, E-G, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1986.

Nickel, Helmut. "Arms and Armor in Arthurian Film." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1981.

Open, Michael. "The Dynamic Principle of Fantasy." Film Directions 4. 15 (1981): 20-21.

Piccardi, Adriano. "Excalibur di John Boorman." Cineforum 21 (October 1981): 39-46.

-----. John Boorman. Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1982.

Pietzsch, Ingeborg. "Gewalt für Jugend zugelassen?" Film und Fernsehen 11 (1986): 24.

Polinien, Gilles. "Le Nouveau John Boorman." Ecran fantastique 18 (1981): 42-43.

Rooney, Philip J. "The Quest Elements in the Films of John Boorman." Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1989.

Purdon, Liam O., and Robert J. Blanch. "Hollywood's Myopic Medievalism: Ecalibur [sic] and Malory's Morte d'Arthur." In Sally Slocum, ed. Popular Arthurian Traditions. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1992.

Ross, Philippe. "L'heroïc fantasy." Revue du cinéma 386 (September 1983): 69-79.

Schaefer, Hans Joachim, et al. Besonders Wertvoll: Langfilme 1981/1982. Wiesbaden: Filmbewertungsstelle, 1983.

Shictman, Martin B. "Hollywood's New Weston: The Grail Myth in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now and John Boorman's Excalibur." Post Script 4 (Autumn 1984): 35-49.

Stanbrook, Alan. "Is God in Showbusiness Too? The First Twenty-five Years of John Boorman, Our Most Anti-materialist Director." Sight and Sound 59 (Autumn 1990): 259-63.

Strick, Philip. "John Boorman's Merlin." Sight and Sound 49 (Summer 1980): 168-71.

Tessier, Max. "Entretien avec John Boorman (sur Excalibur)." Revue du cinéma 363 (July-August 1981): 31-34.

-----. "Excalibur." Revue du cinéma 362 (June 1981): 19-23.

Tous les films 1981. Paris: Éditions O.C.F.C., 1982.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film from Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Vaines, Colin. "Magic Moments." Screen International 252 (2-9 August 1980): 15.

Verniere, James. "The Technology of Style: An Interview with John Boorman." Filmmakers Monthly 14 (June 1981): 22-29.

Whitaker, Muriel. "Fire, Water, Rock: Elements of Setting in Excalibur." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1981.

Yakir, Dan. "The Sorcerer." Film Comment 17 (May-June 1981): 49-53.

Excalibur, the Raising of the Sword (1982).

Great Britain; dir. Dorian Cowland; Whaddon Boys Club Film Unit.

Cast: Adrian Lester and the Members of the Whaddon Boys Club.

Merlin raises the Sword Excalibur from a deep lake. This effort by the Whaddon Boys Club was shot in 16mm and featured Welsh voice-overs for Merlin's incantations.

Discussion:

"Sword Play." Movie Maker 17 (February 1983): 90-91.

Femme d'à côté, La (1981). See The Woman Next Door (1981).

Feuer und Schwert (1981). See Fire and Sword (1981).

Fire and Sword (1981).

Germany; dir. Veith von Fürstenberg; Genée and von Fürstenberg Filmproduktion.

Alternate titles: Feuer und Schwert and Die Legende von Tristan und Isolde.

Cast: Peter Firth, Leigh Lawson, Walo Lüönd, Antonia Presser, and Christoph Waltz

Tristan, a knight of Cornwall, is locked in mortal combat with Morholt of Ireland, who is supposedly invincible. Tristan wins, but at a price. He is seriously wounded. Set adrift in a boat, he washes up on the shores of Ireland where he is found by Princess Isolde who nurses him back to health and with whom he falls in love. He returns home to Cornwall only to be sent back to Ireland by his uncle, King Mark, to fetch home an Irish bride, union with whom is meant to cement a Cornish-Irish peace. When the princess turns out to be Isolde, she and Tristan return to Cornwall and carry on an adulterous love affair. Discovered by Mark, Tristan is exiled, but Isolde follows him and bears his child. Cornwall and Ireland are in an uproar over what has happened, and Isolde agrees to return to Mark in order to prevent further bloodshed Tristan meanwhile becomes an outlaw, and wounded in a skirmish, he calls out for Isolde. Isolde realizes that lasting peace between Cornwall and Ireland is impossible, and she runs away reaching Tristan's side just before he dies. Fire and Sword presents probably the most faithful film version of the medieval legend of Tristan and Isolde.

Reviews:

Continental Film and Video 29 (November 1981): 18.

Das Fernsehspiel im ZDF 44 (March-May 1984): 43-46.

Film-dienst 35 (26 January 1982): 16-17.

Film-echo Filmwoche 47-48 (28 August 1981): 18.

Film und Fernsehen 12. 7 (1984): 35.

Kino [Germany] 4 (August 1981): 33.

Month 14 (November 1981): 388.

Variety 10 June 1981: 18.

Additional discussions:

Brüne, Klaus, ed. Lexikon des Internationalen Films. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1987.

Filme 1981/84. Dülmen: Katholisches Institut für Medieninformation, 1985.

Helt, Richard C., and Marie E. Helt. West German Cinema Since 1945: A Reference Handbook. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1987.

Just, Lothar R, ed. Das Filmjahr '82/83. Munich: Filmland Presse, 1983.

Kerdelhue, Alain. "'Feuer und Schwert,' lecture materielle du mythe." In Ulrich Müller, et al., eds. Tristan et Iseut, mythe europeen et mondial. Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1987.

Kino 81. Munich: Export-Union des deutschen Films, [1982].

McMunn, Meradith T. "Filming the Tristan Myth: From Text to Icon." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Schaefer, Hans Joachim, et al. Besonders Wertvoll: Langfilme 1981/1982. Wiesbaden: Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden, 1983.

First Knight (1995).

United States; dir. Jerry Zucker; Columbia Pictures.

Cast: Sean Connery, Ben Cross, Liam Cunningham, Richard Gere, Julia Ormond, and Christopher Villiers.

The aging Arthur decides to marry the much younger Guinevere, in part to protect her kingdom. The peace of Camelot is shattered though when Malagant tries to kidnap Guinevere, who is rescued by Lancelot, an itinerant knight and n'er-do-well. Lancelot joins the knights of the Round Table and conducts a passionate, though chaste, affair with Guinevere. Arthur discovers them in an embrace and orders them tried for adultery. The trial is interrupted when Malagant's forces attack Camelot. In the ensuing battle, Arthur and Malagant are killed, and Camelot and Guinevere pass into Lancelot's hands for safe keeping. Given that there is no one version of the tale of Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere, filmmakers can be granted some license in their interpretation of that legend. But nothing here quite works. Clearly, Zucker intends his film to be an Arthuriad for the 1990s, but the film fails to capture the spirit of the original legend or to make a case for its contemporary translation of the oft-told story of the Arthur-Lancelot-Guinevere love triangle.

Reviews:

Arthuriana 5 (Fall 1995): 137-40.

Boston Globe 5 July 1995: 27.

Boston Herald 7 July 1995: S3.

Chicago Sun-Times 7 July 1995: 37.

Chicago Tribune 7 July 1995: Tempo 4.

Christian Science Monitor 7 July 1995: 12.

Daily Mail [London] 7 July 1995: 44-45.

Daily News [Los Angeles] 7 July 1995: L12.

Daily News [New York] 7 July 1995: 35.

Daily Telegraph [London] 7 July 1995: 24.

Empire 74 (August 1995): 30.

Entertainment Weekly 276 (26 May 1995): 36; 283 (14 July 1995): 34-35.

EPD Film 12 (September 1995): 49-50.

Evening Standard [London] 6 July 1995: 32, 41.

Film Journal 98 (August-September 1995): 30.

Film Review 297 (August 1995): 64.

Films in Review 46 (September-October 1995): 56-57.

Financial Times [London] 6 July 1995: Arts 23.

Globe and Mail [Toronto] 7 July 1995: C3.

Guardian [London] 6 July 1995: 6.

Independent [London] 9 July 1995: Critics 26.

Independent on Sunday [London] 9 July 1995: 26.

Los Angeles Times 7 July 1995: Calendar 1.

Maclean's 108 (7 July 1995): 57.

Mail on Sunday [London] 9 July 1995: 27.

Movieline 6 (May 1995): 46-47; 7 (September 1995): 37.

New York 28 (17 July 1995): 49.

New York Post 7 July 1995: 41.

New York Times 7 July 1995: C10.

New Yorker 71 (17 July 1995): 84-85.

Newsday 7 July 1995: B2, B3.

Newsweek 126 (10 July 1995): 56.

Observer [London] 9 July 1995: Review 7.

People 44 (10 July 1995): 14.

Philadelphia Daily News 7 July 1995: 29.

Positif 416 (October 1995): 38.

Philadelphia Inquirer 7 July 1995: Weekend 3.

San Francisco Chronicle 7 July 1995: C3.

San Francisco Examiner 7 July 1995: C1, C4.

Screen International 21 July 1995: 15.

Sight and Sound NS 5 (August 1995): 49-50.
Soundtrack 14 (September 1955): 19.

Studio [Paris] 101 (July-August 1995): 18.

Sunday Express [London] 9 July 1995: Magazine 33.

Sunday Telegraph [London] 9 July 1995: 6. 32.

Sunday Times [London] 9 July 1995: 10. 6.

Time 146 (17 July 1995): 58.

Time Out [London] 5 July 1995: 74.

Times [London] 6 July 1995: 33.

Times [London] Educational Supplement 14 July 1995: SS16.

Today [London] 7 July 1995: 36-37.

Toronto Star 7 July 1995: B7.

Variety 26 June 1995: 78, 85.

Village Voice 11 July 1995: 45.

Wall Street Journal 7 July 1995: A8.

Washington Post 7 July 1995: F1, F6 and N36, N38.

USA Today 7 July 1995: 1D.

Additional discussions:

"Blending Traditional Skills with Computer Technology." In Camera Spring 1995: 3.

Brett, Anwar. "First Knight No Nerves." Film Review 298 [Special Issue 12] (1995): 62-65.

Fhaner, Beth A., and Christopher P. Scanlon, eds. Magill's Cinema Annual 1996. Detroit: Gale, 1996.

Fisher, Bob. "Camelot in Shadows." American Cinematographer 76 (July 1995): 56-58, 60, 62, 64.

Grant, Steve. "Knights to Remember." Time Out [London] 5 July 1995: 22-23.

Levich, Jacob, ed. The Motion Picture Guide, 1996 Annual (The Films of 1995). New York: Cinebooks, 1996.

"'Oh! What a Night It Was, It Really Was, Such a Night!'" In Camera Spring 1995: 12.

Pearce, Garth. "And the Horse You Rode in on." Empire 74 (August 1995): 72-77, 79.

Tirard, Laurent. "Richard Gere sans peur et sans reproche." Studio [Paris] 101 (July-August 1995): 71-77.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film from Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Fisher King, The (1991).

United States; dir. Terry Gilliam; Tri-Star Pictures.

Cast: Jeff Bridges, Michael Jeter, Amanda Plummer, Mercedes Ruehl, and Robin Williams.

A radio "shock-jock" is in part responsible for the death of the wife of a professor of medieval history. The professor goes insane and thinks he is on a mission to find the Holy Grail. His quest leads to an encounter with the DJ, both of whom find redemption from their guilt and their pain. Gilliam's film offers one of the more effective modern retellings of the Grail myth, seeing both the professor and the DJ as twin Parsifal-like characters.

Reviews:

American Film 16 (September-October 1991): 50-51.

American Spectator 21 (November 1991): 41.

Atlanta Constitution 27 September 1991: E1; 26 March 1992: G11.

Billboard 104 (23 May 1992): 49.

Boston Globe 19 September 1991: Arts and Film 86; 20 September 1991: Arts and Film 37.

Cahiers du cinéma 448 (October 1991): 74.

Chicago Sun-Times 20 September 1991: Weekend Plus 47.

Chicago Tribune 20 September 1991: Friday C.

Christian Century 30 October 1991: 1009-10.

Christian Science Monitor 20 September 1991: 12.

Cineaste 18 (December 1992): 46-47.

Cinefantastique 22 (February 1992): 55.

Cinefex 54 (May 1993): 93-94.

Cinema, Video & Cable Movie Digest 1 (October 1991): 10.

City Limits [London] 7 November 1991: 25.

Commentary 92 (November 1991): 50-53.

Commonweal 118 (22 November 1991): 692.

Daily Mail [London] 8 November 1991: 34.

Daily Telegraph [London] 7 November 1991: 18.

Empire 30 (December 1991): 20-21.

Entertainment Weekly 84 (20 September 1991): 84; 111 (27 March 1992): 78-80.

EPD Film 8 (November 1991): 38.

Evening Standard [London] 7 November 1991: 41.

Film a doba 38 (Summer 1992): 118-20.

Film en televisie 415 (December 1991): 14-15.

Film Journal 94 (October-November 1991): 57-58.

Filmcritica 42 (November 1991): 507-09.

Filmihullu 2 (February 1992): 40-43.

Filmrutan 34.4 (1991): 41-42.

Films in Review 43 (January-February 1992): 44-46.

Financial Times [London] 7 November 1991: 19.

Guardian [London] 7 November 1991: 29.

Hollywood Reporter 10 September 1991: 9, 11.

Independent [London] 8 November 1991: 18.

Independent on Sunday [London] 10 November 1991: 22.

Interview 21 (October 1991): 38.

Kino [Bulgaria] September 1992: 20-23.

Kosmorama 38 (Spring 1992): 57.

Library Journal 117 (15 April 1992): 136.

Los Angeles Times 20 September 1991: Calendar 1, 15.

Maclean's 104 (30 September 1991): 69.

Mail on Sunday [London] 10 November 1991: 39.

Monde, Le 7 October 1991: 15.

Morning Star [London] 8 November 1991: 7.

National Catholic Reporter 18 October 1991: 16.

National Review 44 (20 January 1992): 62.

New Republic 205 (21 October 1991): 27-28.

New Statesman and Society 4 (8 November 1991): 30-31.

New York 24 (30 September 1991): 60-61.

New York Post 20 September 1991: Weekend 31.

New York Times 20 September 1991: C10.

Newsday 20 September 1991: Weekend 82.

Newsweek 118 (23 September 1991): 57.

Observer [London] 10 November 1991: 56.

People 33 (23 September 1991): 16, 18.

Philadelphia Daily News 27 September 1991: 51, 53.

Philadelphia Inquirer 27 September 1991: Weekend 3, 20.

Positif 368 (October 1991): 47.

Premiere [United States] 11 (September-October 1991): 10-13.

Première [France] 175 (October 1991): 26.

Reader [Chicago] 27 September 1991: 14.

Revue du cinéma [La Saison cinématographique] Hors série 39 (1991): 46.

Rolling Stone 17 October 1991: 99-100.

San Francisco Chronicle 27 September 1991: D1, D15.

San Francisco Examiner 27 September 1991: D1.

Screen International 11 October 1991: 55.

Séquences 155 (November 1991): 82-83.

Sight and Sound NS 1 (November 1991): 42-43; NS 2 (November 1992): 60; NS 3 (January 1993): 61.

Spectator 267 (9 November 1991): 62.

Starburst 158 (November 1991): 38-40.

Studio [Paris] 54 (October 1991): 6.

Sun [London] 8 November 1991: 22.

Sunday Express [London] 10 November 1991: 62.

Sunday Times [London] 10 November 1991: 6. 8-9.

Time 138 (23 September 1991): 68.

Time Out [London] 6 November 1991: 19.

Times [London] 7 November 1991: 19.

Times [London] Literary Supplement 22 November 1991: 17.

Today [London] 8 November 1991: 23, 26.

TV Guide 28 March 1992: 25.

United Church Observer [Canada] 55 (January 1992): 44.

USA Today 20 September 1991: 5D.

Variety 16 September 1991: 89-90.

Video Magazine 16 (April 1992): 44-45.

Video Watchdog 13 (September-October 1992): 50-51.

Village Voice 1 October 1991: 70-71.

24 Images 58 (November-December 1991): 69.

Vogue 181 (September 1991): 284.

Wall Street Journal 19 September 1991: A12.

Washington Post 20 September 1991: B1 and Weekend 53.

Western Mail [Great Britain] 9 November 1991: 6.

What's On In London 6 November 1991: 84.

Additional discussions:

Andrew, Geoff. "Grail Force." Time Out [London] 23 October 1919: 18-19, 21.

Blair, Ian "Manhattan Knights." Chicago Tribune 22 September 1991: Arts 6-7.

Calhoun, John. "The Fisher King." Theatre Crafts 25 (April 1991): 40-44, 54-59.

Chevassu, François, and Lucie Desanglois. "Entre audace et prudence: le plus anglais des americains." Revue du cinéma 475 (October 1991): 24-26.

"Eye on . . . Opening Nights." Harper's Bazaar 124 (September 1991): 186.

Fleischer, Leonore. The Fisher King. New York: Signet, 1991. [Novelization.]

Forestier, François. "Robin Williams." Première [France] 175 (October 1991): 86-87.

Gelman-Waxman, Libby. If You Ask Me. New York: St. Martin's, 1994.

Gill, Andy. "Mercedes Ruehl: The Fisher King." Empire 36 (June 1992): 44-45.

Goldman, Steve. "King of Comedy." Sunday Times [London] 3 November 1991: 6, 11.

Das großse Kino und Vide Jahrbuch '92. Munich: ProVideo Verlag, 1992.

Grove, Martin A. "Hollywood Report." Hollywood Reporter 5 September 1991: 5; 26 September 1991: 5; 27 September 1991: 12.

Haas, Christine. "Terry Gilliam." Première [France] 175 (October 1991): 88.

Harty, Kevin J. "The Fisher King: A List of Critical Reviews and Other Discussions." In Keith Busby, ed. The Arthurian Yearbook III. New York: Garland, 1993.

James, Caryn. "'The Fisher King' Is Wise Enough to Be Wacky." New York Times 22 September 1991: 2. 13.

Johnson, Kim Howard. "Tales of the Fisher King." Starlog 171 (October 1991): 47-51, 69.

Keogh, Peter. "Happy Grails to You." Chicago Sun-Times 22 September 1991: Show 6.

Kokino, Keith. "From Clown Prince to Fisher King." Mediascene Prevue 22 (May-August 1991): 18-19.

LaGravenese, Richard. The Fisher King, The Book of the Film. New York: Applause, 1991. [Screenplay.]

Lavoignat, Jean-Pierre. "La Quête du fou: une interview de Robin Williams." Studio [Paris] 54 (October 1991): 69-74.

Magid, Ron. "The Fisher King's Logistical Knight-Mare." American Cinematographer 72 (December 1991): 70-77.

Magill, Frank N., ed. Magill's Cinema Annual 1992, A Survey of the Films of 1991. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press, 1992.

Matthews, Jack. "On Movies Still a Rebel, Terry Gilliam Mellows Out." Newsday 29 September 1991: Fanfare 5.

McCarthy, Robert E. Secrets of Hollywood Special Effects. Boston: Focal Press, 1992.

Miller-Monzon, John, ed. Motion Picture Guide, 1992 Annual (The Films of 1991). New York: Baseline, 1992.

Mills, Bart. "Fantasy vs. Reality Amid the Madness." San Francisco Chronicle 22 September 1991: Datebook 19.

Morgan, David. "And Now for Something Completely Different. . . ." Empire 30 (December 1991): 86-88, 91-93.

-----. "Terry Gilliam: The Millimeter Interview." Millimeter 19 (March 1991): 43-53.

-----. "They're Getting a Terry Gilliam Film." Los Angeles Times 24 June 1990: Calendar 5.

Osberg, Richard H. "Pages Torn From the Book: Narrative Disintegration in Gilliam's 'The Fisher King.'" In Leslie J. Workman and Kathleen Verduin, eds. Medievalism in England II. Studies in Medievalism 1995. Cambridge, Eng.: D.S. Brewer, 1996.

Perry, George. "The Quest for Identity." Sunday Times [London] 10 November 1991: 6. 8-9.

Persons, Don. "The Fisher King." Cinefantastique 21 (June 1991): 4-5.

Powers, John. "Alive Again." Sight and Sound NS 1 (November 1991): 6.

Ryan, James. "Plummer Finally Finds a Role in Hollywood." Boston Globe 22 September 1991: A10.

Sanello, Frank. "The Hairiest Man in Hollywood." Empire 30 (December 1991): 89-90.

Sante, Luc. "Odd Woman In." Movieline 11 (April 1991): 40-42, 78, 85.

Sheehan, Henry. "The King of Fairy Tales." Boston Globe 22 September 1991: A7, A9.

Sternberg, Doug. "Tom's a-cold: Transformation and Redemption in King Lear and The Fisher King." Literature/Film Quarterly 23 (July 1994): 160-69.

Thomas, Bob. "Hollywood Finally Embraces Terry Gilliam." Chicago Sun-Times 2 October 1991: 2. 4.

Tous les films 1991. Versailles: Éditions Chrétiens-Médias, 1992.

Wallace, David. "'The Fisher King's' Catch." Los Angeles Times 24 September 1991: Calendar 1.

Willman, Chris. "Tilting at Windmills." Los Angeles Times 19 September 1991: Calendar 1.

Winer, Linda. "Getting Radical About Comedy." Newsday 23 September 1991: 2. 49.

Four Diamonds (1995).

United States; dir. Peter Werner; The Disney Channel.

Cast: Jayne Brook, Kevin Dunn, Thomas Guiry, Sarah Rose Karr, and Christine Lahti.

Fourteen year old Chris Millard is dying from a rare form of nasal cancer. To distract himself as well as to find some courage to cope with what he faces, he imagines an Arthurian world in which he is a squire in search of four diamonds--courage, wisdom, honesty, and strength--which he must find in order to become a knight of the Round Table. A contemporary examination of the theme of the return to Camelot, this made-for-television movie is one of the better cinematic uses of the Arthurian legend. The film is based on a short story written by the real Chris Millard who died in 1972.

Reviews:

Arthuriana 6 (Summer 1996): 115-18.

Chicago Tribune 6 August 1995: TV Week 3.

Daily News [New York] 12 August 1995: 48.

Daily Variety 8 August 1995: 16.

Detroit Free Press 23 August 1995: 5E.

Hollywood Reporter 11 August 1995: 35.

New York Times 11 August 1995: B14.

People 44 (14 August 1995): 15.

TV Guide 12 August 1995: 69, 74.

USA Today 11 August 1995: 3D.

Gawain and the Green Knight (1973).

Great Britain; dir. Stephen Weeks; United Artists and Sancrest.

Cast: Nigel Green, Robert Hardy, Murray Head, Ronald Lacey, Davil Leland, Ciaran Madden, and Anthony Sharp.

A knight clad wholly in green arrives at King Arthur's court challenging all present to enter into an exchange of ax blows with him. Only Gawain, a young squire, accepts the challenge. He chops off the head of the stranger, but the corpse magically regains its severed head. The Green Knight tells Gawain that he has a year in which to discover his home and defeat him, or else he must submit to a blow from the Green Knight's ax. Gawain sets out in the company of his squire to find the Green Knight. He first stumbles upon a shrine of stone on which he pours water. By doing so, he angers the Black Knight who guards the shrine and who challenges Gawain to a joust. Gawain kills the Black Knight and journeys on to his castle where Linet, a young maiden, gives him a ring which when he wears it will render him invisible. At the castle, the widow of the Black Knight decides to make Gawain her new consort, but Gawain is in love with Linet, and the two try to flee. Gawain escapes, but Linet is captured by an evil seneschal named Oswald. The two lovers are finally reunited with the aid of Sir Bertilak. An exhausted Gawain prepares to face the Green Knight only to have him crumble to dust in front of him, and Gawain and Linet ride happily off together. Ostensibly indebted to the anonymous fourteenth century romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, this film also borrows heavily from Chrétien de Troyes twelfth century romance, Yvain. But it is one thing to borrow, and another thing to know how to use what has been borrowed. Weeks manages here to reduce great literature to silly cinema. Not content to leave bad enough alone, Weeks remade the film in 1983 under the title Sword of the Valiant, a film that is even sillier than this first version.

Review:

Monthly Film Bulletin 40 (April 1973): 168-69.

Additional discussions:

Berry, Dave. "Stephen Weeks." Film 37 (May 1976): 6-7.

Berry, David. Wales and Cinema, The First Hundred Years. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1994.

Blanch, Robert J., and Julian N. Wasserman. "Gawain on Film." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Elley, Derek. The Epic Film. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, E-G, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1986.

Pirie, David. "New Blood." Sight and Sound 40 (Spring 1971): 73-75.

Richards, Jeffrey. Swordsmen of the Screen from Douglas Fairbanks to Michael York. London: Routledge, 1977.

Woods, Linda, ed. The British Film Catalogue, 1971-1981. London: BFI, 1983.

Ginevra (1992).

Germany; dir. Ingemo Engström; Theuring-Engström Productions.

Cast: Michèle Addala, Christian Koch, Serge Maggiani, Amanda Ooms, Zacharias Preen, Gerhard Theuring, and Diego Wallraff.

A young woman, a screen actor who likes to call herself Guinevere, suffers a mental breakdown and then races across Europe torn between her two lovers, Luc, a doctor, and Arthur, a painter. The obvious Arthurian triangle here--for Luc read Lancelot--gets buried in a convoluted and ultimately monotonous plot.

Berlinale Journal 3 (15 February 1992): 18.

Film-dienst 47 (24 May 1994): 20.

Filmwärts 23 (August 1992): 80.

Variety 16 March 1992: 60.

Guinevere (1994).

United States; dir. Jud Taylor; Lifetime Productions.

Cast: Brid Brennan, Sheryl Lee, Donald Pleasance, and Noah Wyle.

The young Guinevere has had the kind of education usually reserved for a man. She can fight with a sword and negotiate skillfully. When her father meets an untimely death, she is thrust into the role of ruler which requires her to abandon her affection for Lancelot. This made-for-cable-television retelling of the legend of Arthur as "her"-story is based on the series of popular novels written during the 1980s by Persia Woolley.

Reviews:

Times-Picayune [New Orleans] 1 May 1994: TV4.

TV Guide 7 May 1994: 67, 76.

I Skugga Hrafnsina (1988).See In the Shadow of the Raven (1988).

In the Shadow of the Raven (1988).

Iceland; dir. Hrafn Gunnlaugsson; Sandrews.

Alternate titles: I Skugga Hrafnsina and The Shadow of the Raven.

Cast: Reine Brynolfsson, Tinna Gunnlaugsdottir, Egil Olafsson, Sune Maangs, and Helgi Skulason.

In medieval Iceland, two rival tribes continue their long standing family feud. Trausti, a young warrior, kills the leader of the rival tribe, whose daughter Isold vows revenge. A powerful bishop tries to arrange a marriage between Trausti and Isold, but the two are not united before their familial feud plays itself out further in death and bloodshed. Gunnlaugsson here resets the story of Tristan and Isolde in his native Iceland.

Reviews:

Boston Globe 24 May 1990: 84.

Chaplin 219 (December 1988): 308-09.

Daily News [New York] 12 July 1991: 55.

Filmrutan 31.4 (1988): 35-36.

Hollywood Reporter 9 October 1990: 11, 151.

New York Newsday 12 July 1991: 71.

New York Post 12 July 1991: 29.

New York Times 13 July 1991: 12.

San Francisco Chronicle 31 August 1990: E7.

San Francisco Examiner 31 August 1990: C7.

Variety 19 October 1988: 249, 255.

Village Voice 23 July 1991: 63.

Washington Post 18 January 1991: Weekend 40; 19 January 1991: C11.

Additional discussions:

Cowie, Peter, ed. Le Cinéma des pays nordiques. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou, 1990.

-----, ed. Variety International Film Guide 1989. New York: Zoetrope, 1988.

-----, ed. Variety International Film Guide 1990. Hollywood, Calif.: Samuel French, 1989.

Fridgeirsson, Asgeir. "The Bishop and the Actor." Iceland Review 29.3 (191): 37-40.

Hansen, Peter Risby. "Blandt vildmænd, drøommere og barske businessfolk." Kosmorama 184 (Summer 1988): 43-47.

Icelandic Films 1979-1988. Reykjavik: Icelandic Film Fund, 1988.

Jónsdóttir, Solveig K. "Once Upon a Time in the North." Iceland Review 25.4 (1987): 4-11.

The Motion Picture Guide: 1989 Annual (The Films of 1988). Evanston, Ill.: Cinebooks, 1989.

Swedish Film Institute Film Catalogue. Stockholm: Swedish Film Institute, 1989.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

United States; dir. Steven Spielberg; Paramount.

Cast: Sean Connery, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott, Harrison Ford, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, and John Rhys-Davies.

Archaeologist Indiana Jones joins with his father, Dr. Henry Jones, to keep the Holy Grail from falling into the hands of the Nazis. In some ways the most successful and best made of the Indiana Jones trilogy of films, Last Crusade borrows heavily from Joseph Campbell in its approach to myth and effectively combines comic wit with special effects and chase scenes.

Reviews:

Actualité, L' 14 August 1989: 69.

America 160 (17 June 1989): 591.

American Spectator 22 (August 1989): 73.

Boston Globe 24 May 1989: 53, 59.

Cahiers du cinéma 424 (October 1989): 51-52.

Chatelaine 30 (August 1989): 25.

Christian Science Monitor 9 June 1989: 15; 13 June 1989: 11.

Cinefantastique 20 (November 1989): 98-99, 118.

Cinéma [Paris] 460 (October 1989): 27-28.

City Limits [London] 22 June 1989: 19.

Commonweal 116 (14 July 1989): 403-04.

Cosmopolitan 207 (August 1989): 73.

Daily Mail [London] 27 June 1989: 3.

Daily Mirror [London] 30 June 1989: 28.

Daily News [New York] 24 May 1989: 37.

Daily Telegraph [London] 29 June 1989: 16.

EPD Film 6 (September 1989): 24-25.

Evening Standard [London] 29 June 1989: 32-33.

Film [Italy] 1 (September-October 1989): 1-2.

Film Comment 25 (July-August 1989): 9-11.

Film en televisie 389 (October 1989): 25.

Filmcritica 40 (November 1989): 575-81.

Filmihullu 6-7 (June-July 1989): 46.

Filmrutan 32.4 (1989): 30.

Films and Filming 417 (July 1989): 40-41.

Financial Times [London] 29 June 1989: 23.

Guardian [London] 29 June 1989: 21.

Hollywood Reporter 19 May 1989: 4, 13.

Independent [London] 29 June 1989: 15.

Insight 5 (5 June 1989): 57.

Kino [Bulgaria] 2 (February 1991): 28-32.

Kino [Poland] 24 (January 1990): 42-43.

Listener 29 June 1989: 40.

Los Angeles Sentinel 25 May 1989: B8.

Maclean's 102 (5 June 1989): 56.

Mail on Sunday [London] 2 July 1989: 14.

Monthly Film Bulletin 56 (July 1989): 198-200.

Morning Star [London] 30 June 1989: 8.

Nation 248 (19 June 1989): 862.

National Catholic Reporter 25 August 1989: 13.

New Republic 200 (19 June 1989): 28-29.

New Statesman and Society 2 (30 June 1989): 15.

New York 22 (5 June 1989): 58-59.

New York Native 29 May 1989: 25.

New York Post 24 May 1989: 31.

New York Press 9 June 1989: 13.

New York Times 24 May 1989: 3. 15; 14 January 1990: 2. 32.

New Yorker 65 (12 June 1989): 103-05.

Newsday 24 May 1989: 2. 2; 1 June 1989: 2. 13.

Newsweek 113 (29 May 1989): 69.

Nouvel observateur, Le 19 October 1989: 12.

People 31 (5 June 1989): 13.

Positif 344 (October 1989): 70-71.

Revue du cinéma 453 (October 1989): 14-16.

Rolling Stone 15 June 1989: 31.

St. Anthony Messenger 97 (July 1989): 6.

Screen International 3 June 1989: 21.

Segnocinema 9 (November 1989): 36-37.

Séquences 141-42 (September 1989): 107-08.

Sight and Sound NS 3 (January 1993): 59.

Skrien 169 (December 1989-January 1990): 67.

Starburst 11 (July 1989): 24-25.

Sun [London] 27 June 1989: 15.

Sunday Express [London] 2 July 1989: 19.

Sunday Times [London] 2 July 1989: C9.

Time 133 (29 May 1989): 82-84.

Time Out [London] 21 June 1989: 34.

Times [London] 29 June 1989: 21.

Today [London] 30 June 1989: 30.

Variety 24 May 1989: 25; 31 May 1989: 27.

Video Review 10 (March 1990): 51.

Village Voice 30 May 1989: 57.

24 Images 44-45 (Fall 1989): 100-01.

Washington Post 24 May 1989: D1; 26 May 1989: WW41.

Western Mail [Great Britain] 1 July 1989: 13.

What's On In London 21 June 1989: 63.

Additional discussions:

Aronstein, Susan. "'Not Exactly a Knight': Arthurian Narrative and Recuperative Politics in the Indiana Jones Trilogy." Cinema Journal 34 (Summer 1995): 3-30.

Briggs, Nicholas. "Licensed to Crusade." Starburst 130 (June 1989): 8-11.

-----. "Producing the Hero." Starburst 131 (July 1989): 17-19.

Brode, Douglas. The Films of Steven Spielberg. New York: Citadel Press, 1995.

Canby, Vincent. "Spielberg's Elixir Shows Signs of Mature Magic." New York Times 16 June 1989: 2. 15-16.

Eisenberg, Adam. "Father, Son and the Holy Grail." Cinefex 40 (November 1989): 46-67.

Gelman-Waxman, Libby. If You Ask Me. New York: St. Martin's, 1994.

"Great New Indy Special Effects." Popular Mechanics 166 (July 1989): 18.

Griffin, Nancy. "Manchild in the Promised Land." Premiere 2 (June 1989): 86-94.

Heuring, David. "Effects Maestros Put Buckle in Indy's Swash." American Cinematographer 70 (December 1989): 66-74.

-----. "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." American Cinematographer 70 (June 1989): 57-66.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. [Hollywood, Calif.]: Paramount, 1989. [Production handbook.]

James, Caryn. "It's a New Age for Father-Son Relationships." New York Times 9 July 1989: 2. 11-12.

MacGregor, Ron. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. New York: Penguin, 1989. [Novelization.]

The Motion Picture Guide: 1990 Annual (The Films of 1989). Evanston: Cinebooks, 1990.

Royal, Susan. "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: An Interview with Harrison Ford." American Premiere 9 (June-July 1989): 12-19.

Shichtman, Martin B. "Whom Does the Grail Serve? Wagner, Spielberg, and the Jewish Issue of Appropriation." In Debra N. Mancoff, ed. The Arthurian Revival, Essays on Form, Tradition, and Transformation. New York: Garland, 1992.

Vaz, Mark Cotta, and Shinji Harta. From Star Wars to Indiana Jones, The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1994.

White, Armond. "Keeping Up with the Joneses." Film Quarterly 24 (July-August 1989): 9-11.

Woodward, Richard B. "Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch." New York Times 21 May 1989: 2. 1, 16.

Isolde (1989).

Denmark; dir. Jytte Rex; Norsk Film Production and the Danish Film Institute.

Cast: Claus Flygare, Kim Jansson, and Pia With.

A young librarian finds herself torn between her former husband, a powerful politician, and her new lover, a mercenary solider wanted for murder. When the former husband attempts to blackmail the new lover into committing one more murder, his machinations have tragic consequences for all. Rex here attempts a not-always-successful modern retelling of the legend of Tristan and Isolde.

Reviews:

Kosmorama 35 (Summer 1989): 10-11.

Variety 29 March 1989: 17.

Additional discussion:

Cowie, Peter, ed. Variety International Film Guide 1990. Hollywood, Calif.: Samuel French, 1989.

Kid in King Arthur's Court, A (1995).

United States; dir. Michael Gottlieb; Walt Disney Pictures.
Cast: Joss Ackland, Paloma Baeza, Daniel Craig, Art Malik, Ron Moody, Thomas Ian Nicholas, David Tysall, and Kate Winslet.

Calvin Fuller, a California little leaguer with a low sense of self-esteem, finds himself transported back to Camelot and King Arthur's Court. Once there, he meets a disembodied and befuddled Merlin. The magician has confused a spell that was supposed to bring a great warrior to Camelot to help the aging King Arthur defeat Lord Belasco who wants to secure the throne by any means, including marriage to Arthur's older daughter, Princess Sarah. Calvin meanwhile has fallen in love with her younger sister, Princess Katey, to whom he introduces a variety of modern gadgets. Eventually, Calvin, now known as Sir Calvin of Reseda, defeats Belasco and helps Arthur restore order to Camelot. A now self-assured Calvin returns to the twentieth century and hits a home run. One of three recent film adaptations of Twain's famous novel to recast the Yankee as a teenager--the other two are the 1989 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and the 1995 A Young Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court--this film relies on the predictable to advance its plot. Ackland's Arthur is a doddering fool, and Moody returns to the screen as Merlin a second time, having played the role with a more sinister twist in 1979 in The Unidentified Flying Oddball. In an echo of Bernard Malamud's 1952 novel The Natural, Calvin plays baseball for the Reseda Knights. The film's only bright spot is that it counters the largely misogynic Arthurian tradition by having Princess Sarah disguised as the Black Knight help Calvin save the day.

Reviews:

Arthuriana 6 (Summer 1996): 115-18.

Boston Globe 11 August 1995: 49.

Boston Herald 11 August 1995: S6.

Daily News [New York]11 August 1995: 56.

Daily Variety 11 August 1995: 4.

Film Journal 98 (October-November 1995): 33.

Hollywood Reporter 11 August 1995: 10, 35.

Los Angeles Times 11 August 1995: F4.

New York Post 11 August 1995: 42.

New York Times 11 August 1995: C16.

Newsday 11 August 1995: B5.

Philadelphia Daily News 11 August 1995: 51.

Philadelphia Inquirer 11 August 1995: Weekend 5.

San Francisco Chronicle 11 August 1995: C3.

San Francisco Examiner 11 August 1995: D6.

Toronto Star 11 August 1995: D7.

Variety 14 August 1995: 55, 59.

Washington Post 11 August 1995: F6; Weekend 41.

Additional discussions:

Fhaner, Beth A., and Christopher P. Scanlon, eds. Magill's Cinema Annual 1996. Detroit: Gale, 1996.

Levich, Jacob, ed. The Motion Picture Guide, 1996 Annual (The Films of 1995). New York: Cinebooks, 1996.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film from Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Kids of the Round Table (1995).

Canada; dir. Robert Tinnell; Melenny Productions and Telefilm Canada.

Cast: Michael Ironside, Malcolm McDowell, Johnny Morina, and Ren Simard.

A group of children, whose leader, Alex, is an Arthurian enthusiast, are terrorized by three bullies. Alex stumbles upon Excalibur while running through the woods to escape the bullies and meets Merlin. Warned to use the power of Excalibur only for good, Alex summons its power to defeat a new boy in town, Luke, with whom Alex's girlfriend, Jenny, has fallen in love. Alex looses Excalibur and Merlin's counsel, but finds both restored when he single-handedly captures three armed bank robbers who hold his friends hostage. This film attempts to trade on the image of the return of Arthur, but the acting is terrible; the plot drags. Even children, the intended audience here, are likely to find the film boring.

Reviews:

L'Express [Montréal] 9 December 1995: C1, C2.

Variety 22 May 1995: 109.

King Arthur and the Siege of the Saxons (1963). See Siege of the Saxons, The (1963).

King Arthur; or, The Knights of the Round Table (1910). See Re Artù e i cavalieri della tavola rotonda, il (1910).

King Arthur, the Young Warlord (1975).

Great Britain; dir. Sidney Hayers, Patrick Jackson, and Patrick Sasdy; Heritage Enterprises.

Alternate title: Arthur of the Britons.

Cast: Brian Blessed, Peter Firth, Michael Gothard, Oliver Tobias, and Jack Watson.

The Celtic warrior Arthur fights Saxons, Picts and Jutes, as well as King Mark of Cornwall, to protect his people and the integrity of his homeland. Never commercially released, this film is really just a cobbled together videotape version of three episodes of Arthur of the Britons, a British television series that aired in England on the Harlech Television Channel in 1972 and 1973. The series consisted of twenty four half-hour episodes.

Discussions:

Vahimagi, Tise. An Illustrated Guide to British Television. London: Oxford University Press, 1994.

The Video Source Book 1997. 18th ed. Detroit: Gale, 1996.

King Arthur Was a Gentleman (1942).

Great Britain; dir. Marcel Varnel; Gainsborough Films.

Cast: Arthur Askey, Max Bacon, Evelyn Dall, Vera Frances, Peter Graves, Anne Shelton, and Jack Train.

Sad sack Arthur King, who is obsessed with the legend of King Arthur, finally is allowed to join the army. While in basic training, friends present him with a sword, which he imagines to be Excalibur. When he is posted to the French front, he gains courage from Excalibur and performs a series of heroic deeds, until his friends inform him that the sword is not that of Arthur. The popular Askey brings his comedic skills to this minor piece of cinematic fluff, which is best seen as part of the British war effort.

Reviews:

Kinematograph Weekly 10 December 1942: 14.

Monthly Film Bulletin 9 (31 December 1942): 153.

Motion Picture Herald 150 (16 January 1942): Product Digest Section 1114.

To-day's Cinema 4 December 1942: 5.

Additional discussions:

Askey, Arthur. Before Your Very Eyes. London: Woburn, 1975.

Everson, William K. "Arthur Askey." Films in Review 37 (March 1986): 169-75.

Gifford, Denis. The British Film Catalogue, 1895-1970. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1973.

Martin, Roy, and Ray Seaton. "Gainsborough in the Forties." Films and Filming 333 (June 1982): 13-20.

Murphy, Robert. Realism and Tinsel, Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-1948. New York: Routledge, 1989.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, H-K, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1985.

Quinlan, David. The British Sound Films, The Studio Years 1928-1959. Totowa, N.J.: Barnes, 1984.

Knightriders (1981).

United States; dir. George Romero; Laurel Entertainment and United Films.

Cast: Cynthia Adler, Brother Blue, Christine Forrest, Ed Harris, Amy Ingersoll, Gary Lahti, Tom Savini, Warner Shook, and Patricia Tallman.

A troupe of modern knights joust at renaissance fairs in an attempt to achieve the American dream. Under their leader, the Arthur-like Billy, they squabble and try with degrees of success to combat corrupt police officials and hucksters out to make a quick buck at their expense. Overly-long and having had the misfortune of being released in a limited market at the same time as John Boorman's Excalibur, Romero's film is nonetheless undervalued. It represents one of the better attempts to link the story of Arthur with the American dream.

Reviews:

Boxoffice 117 (4 May 1981): 82-84.

Christian Science Monitor 23 April 1981: 19.

Cineaste 11.3 (1981): 31-33.

Ecran fantastique 19 (1981): 68.

Film Journal 84 (20 April 1981): 13-14.

Filme 10 (July-August 1981): 52.

Films and Filming 334 (July 1982): 38.

Los Angeles Times 9 April 1981: Calendar 1, 5.

Motion Picture Production Digest 20 May 1981: 96.

Nation 232 (16 May 1981): 613.

New Leader 67 (4 May 1981): 17-18.

New York 14 (27 April 1981): 364-65.

New York Post 17 April 1981: 31.

New York Times 17 April 1981: C8.

New Yorker 57 (18 May 1981): 147-51.

Newsday 17 April 1981: 2. 7.

Newsweek 97 (13 April 1981): 82.

Perfect Vision 6 (October 1994): 140.

Rolling Stone 28 May 1981: 51-52.

Screen International 14 June 1980: 18.

Soho News [New York] 15 April 1981: 55, 61.

Time 117 (27 April 1981): 54-55.

Variety 8 April 1981: 20.

Village Voice 15 May 1981: 51.

Additional discussions:

Blanch, Robert J. "George Romero's Knightriders: A Contemporary Arthurian Romance." Quondam et futurus 1 (Winter 1991): 61-69.

Burke-Block, Candace. "The Film Journal Interviews George Romero on Knightriders." Film Journal 84 (4 May 1981): 25.

Gagne, Paul R. The Zombies That Ate Pittsburgh: The Films of George Romero. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1987.

Harty, Kevin J. "Camelot Twice Removed: Knightriders and the Film Versions of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Heimel, Cynthia. "The Living Dead Ride Again." New York 13 (21 July 1980): 46-48.

Martin, Bob. "Knightriders." Fangoria 12 (1981): 17-19, 66-67.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, H-K, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1986.

Parish, James Robert. Gays and Lesbians in Mainstream Cinema. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1993.

Seligson, Tom. "George Romero: Revealing the Monsters Within Us." Twilight Zone 1 (August 1981): 12-17.

Weldon, Michael. The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film. New York: Ballantine, 1983.

Yakir, Dan. "Knight After Knight with George Romero." American Film 6 (May 1981): 42-45, 69.

Knights of the Round Table (1953).

Great Britain; dir. Richard Thorpe; MGM.

Cast: Felix Aylmer, Stanley Baker, Anne Crawford, Mel Ferrer, Ava Gardner, Maureen Swanson, and Robert Taylor.

Arthur and Lancelot become fast friends, and their friendship only grows until Arthur refuses to banish the trouble-maker Modred from the Camelot. When Arthur and Guinevere marry, Lancelot reappears and falls in love with the queen. Guinevere in turn falls in love with Lancelot, but their affair is limited to a kiss. Modred, eager for revenge against Lancelot, tries to discredit him. To allay any suspicion, Lancelot marries Elaine who dies in childbirth, leaving him only his son Galahad as consolation. Modred continues to scheme, and Lancelot and the queen are accused of treachery. Lancelot is banished, and Guinevere is shut up in a convent. Modred next plots the overthrow of Arthur, who on his deathbed forgives Lancelot. Lancelot then finally defeats Modred. Those responsible for Knights claimed Sir Thomas Malory's fifteenth century Le Morte Darthur as their source, but the film's real debt is to the American movie western and the Classics Illustrated series. The film's significance lies in its being the first MGM film in CinemaScope, not in any new light it sheds on the legend of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Reviews:

America 90 (16 January 1954): 407.

Catholic World 178 (March 1954): 460.

Celuloide 331 (January 1982): 15-18.

Commonweal 59 (29 January 1954): 427-28.

Extension 48 (March 1954): 4.

Farm Journal 78 (March 1954): 94.

Film Daily 23 December 1953: 6.

Films and Filming 5 (June 1963): 37.

Films in Review 5 (February 1954): 90-91.

Harrison's Reports 26 December 1953: 208.

Kinematograph Weekly 20 May 1951: 19-20.

Library Journal 79 (15 January 1954): 139.

Life 36 (25 January 1954): 108-10.

Look 17 (29 December 1953): 34.

Los Angeles Herald Examiner 5 September 1980: D6.

Monthly Film Bulletin 21 (July 1954): 100-01.

Motion Picture Herald 193 (26 December 1953): Product Digest Section 2117.

National Parent-Teacher 48 (March 1954): 38.

New Statesman and Nation 47 (22 May 1954): 661.

New York Times 8 January 1954: 17.

New Yorker 29 (16 January 1954): 85-86; 62 (10 February 1992): 23.

Newsweek 43 (18 January 1954): 88.

Picturegoer 12 June 1954: 20.

Saturday Review 37 (16 January 1954): 32.

Scholastic 64 (3 February 1954): 27.

Sign 33 (February 1954): 64.

Spectator 192 (21 May 1954): 613-14.

Tatler 212 (26 May 1954): 462.

Time 63 (26 April 1954): 112.

Times [London] 14 May 1954: 8; 15 May 1954: 12.

Today 9 (March 1954): 14.

To-day's Cinema 13 May 1954: 7-8.

Variety 23 December 1953: 6.

Additional discussions:

Carr, Robert E., and R.M. Hayes. Wide Screen Movies. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1988.

de la Brétèque, François. "Le Table ronde au far-west: 'Les Chevaliers de la table ronde' de Richard Thorpe (1953)." Cahiers de la cinémathèque 42-43 (Summer 1985): 97-102.

Dietz, Howard. "The Anomalous Sir Thomas Malory." New York Times 10 January 1954: 2. 5.

Fraser, George MacDonald. The Hollywood History of the World. New York: Morrow, 1988.

Fowler, Karin J. Ava Gardner, A Bio-Bibliography. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.

Hudgins, Morgan. "Logistics of a Bivouac on the Liffey River." New York Times 22 November 1953: 2. 5.

Knights of the Round Table: A Souvenir Booklet. New York: Al Greenstone, 1954.

Lambert, Gavin. "Actor on CinemaScope." Sight and Sound 23 (October-December 1953): 70.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, H-K, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1986.

Quirk, Lawrence J. The Films of Robert Taylor. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel, 1975.

Richards, Jeffrey. Swordsmen of the Silver Screen from Douglas Fairbanks to Michael York. London: Routledge, 1977.
Smith, Gary A. Epic Films. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1991.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film from Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Wayne, Jane Ellen. Robert Taylor. New York: St. Martin's, 1987.

Knights of the Round Table, The (1990). See Chevaliers de la table ronde, Les (1990).

Knights of the Square Table; or, The Grail (1917).
United States; dir. Alan Crosland; Edison.

Cast: Thomas Blake, Yale Boss, Andy Clark, Paul Kelly, George Romaine, and James Austin Wilder.

The leader of a gang of delinquent boys has as his prize possession a copy of Howard Pyle's The Story of King Arthur and His Knights. He and his fellow gang members compete with a rival group of Boy Scouts. The leader of the delinquents is wounded in a robbery and saved by a Grail Knight who appears to him. The delinquents then join the Scouts. The screenplay for this film was written by Scout Commissioner James Austin Wilder, who also played the role of the scout master. This little known cinematic gem is notable for its use of the Grail as a source of healing and its linking of the matter of Arthur with the problem of the proper education of boys.

Reviews:

Moving Picture World 4 August 1917: 849; 11 August 1917: 955-56.

New York Dramatic Mirror 4 August 1917: 18.

Scouting 5 (15 July 1917): 11.

Wid's 26 July 1917: 474.

Additional discussions:

"Boy Scout's Endorsement." New York Dramatic Mirror 25 August 1917: 26.

Hanson, Patricia King, ed. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Feature Films, 1911-1920. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.

Harty, Kevin J. "The Knights of the Square Table: The Boy Scouts and Thomas Edison Make an Arthurian Film." Arthuriana 4 (Winter 1994): 313-23.

Horowitz, Rita, and Harriett Harrison. The George Kleine Collection of Early Motion Pictures in the Library of Congress, A Catalog. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1980.

"Praise for Scout Film." New York Dramatic Mirror 4 August 1917: 24.

Lancelot and Elaine (1909). See Launcelot and Elaine(1909).

Lancelot and Guinevere (1963). See Sword of Lancelot, The (1963).

Lancelot du lac (1974).

France; dir. Robert Bresson; Mara Films.

Alternate title: Lancelot of the Lake.

Cast: Vladimir Antolek-Oresek, Humbert Balsan, Laura Duke Condominas, and Luc Simon.

Led by Lancelot, the Knights of the Round Table return from their unsuccessful quest for the Holy Grail. Lancelot swears to continue the quest on his own and tells Guinevere that they can no longer be lovers. Lancelot attempts one final assignation with the queen, but changes his mind at the last minute thus foiling a plot by Mordred to catch the two in the act of adultery. Instead, Lancelot attends a tournament in disguise wearing neutral colors but nonetheless distinguishing himself by his skill. Lancelot is, however, wounded in the last joust and rides off into the forest where an old woman tends his wounds. Meanwhile, Mordred has accused the queen of adultery, and Lancelot returns just in time to rescue her, accidentally killing Gawain's brother Agravain. Gawain swears revenge and is killed by Lancelot in battle. Guinevere insists on returning to Arthur, and Lancelot soon returns her to the king thereafter riding at Arthur's side to put down a rebellion led by Mordred. Lancelot is killed in that rebellion, the last word from his lips being "Guinevere." This moody film--generally either loved or loathed by the critics--is Bresson's personal meditation on the downfall of the Middle Ages. The Grail itself is consciously absent from the film, a symbol of the era's apocalyptic loss of a sense of the spiritual. For the general outlines of its plot, the film borrows extensively from the Mort Artu, the final section of the thirteenth century prose Arthurian Vulgate Cycle.

Reviews:

Amis du film et de la télévision 224 (May 1975): 16-17.

Audience 84 (June 1975): 5-6.

Avant-scène du cinéma 408-09 (January-February 1992): 102-08.

Cinefantastique 4 (Summer 1975): 37.

Cinéma [Paris] 190-91 (September-October 1974): 273-75.

Cinéma pratique 134-35 (November-December 1974): 224-26.

Cinéma Quebec 4 (May 1975): 34-35.

Cinema nuovo 33 (September-October 1974): 366-68.

Ecran 29 (October 1974): 57-59.

Ekran 12 (1974): 88-93.

Empire 65 (November 1994): 40.

Études [Paris] 341 (November 1974): 593-95.

[British] Federation [of Film Societies] News 33 (December 1975): 5.

Film 22 (January 1975): 3; 23 (December 1975): 4.

Filmcritica 25 (May 1974): 162-63.

Film en televisie 239 (April 1977): 38.

Film français 6 September 1974: 14.

Filmkritik 19 (August 1975): 378-80.

Film Review [London] November 1994: 22.

Filmrutan 17 (1974): 136-37.

Hollywood Reporter 7 October 1974: 17.

Image et son 285 (June-July 1974): 29; 291 (December 1974): 98-102; 292 (January 1975): 2-3.

Independent Film Journal 75 (14 May 1975): 10.

Listener 18 September 1975: 381.

Los Angeles Times 26 August 1975: 4. 12.

Monthly Film Bulletin 42 (September 1975): 199-200.

New Statesman 90 (5 September 1975): 287.

New York 8 (19 May 1975): 80.

New York Times 1 October 1974: 33; 5 June 1975: 50.

New Yorker 51 (9 June 1975): 117-18.

Newsweek 84 (14 October 1974): 131-33.

Partisan Review 41 (1974): 581.

Positif 162 (October 1974): 55-57; 163 (November 1974): 71-74.

Revue du cinéma 291 (December 1974): 98-102.

San Francisco Chronicle 19 February 1977: 35.

Sight and Sound 43 (Summer 1974): 128-30; NS 4 (November 1994): 62.

Skoop 11 (March 1975): 34-35.

Sunday Times [London] 23 October 1994: 10. 54; 17 November 1974: 35; 4 January 1976: 36; 31 August 1975: 24; 7 September 1975: 36.

Tablet [London] 229 (13 September 1975): 869.

Take One 4 (December 1974 [for September-October 1973]): 34.

Téléciné 214 (January 1977): 13-14.

Thousand Eyes 2 (March 1977): 7.

Time Out [London] 19-26 October 1994: 64.

Times [London] 20 October 1994: 37; 14 November 1974: 14; 5 September 1975: 7.

Variety 12 June 1974: 24.

Village Voice 31 October 1974: 110.

Additional discussions:

Aristarco, Guido, ed. Guida a al film. Milan: Fabbri Editori, 1979.

Armes, Roy. "Film Theory and Practice." London Magazine 15 (April-May 1975): 96-101.

Baby, Yvonne. "Metal Makes Sounds: An Interview with Robert Bresson." (Trans. Nora Jacobson.) Field of Vision 13 (Spring 1985): 4-5.

Bartone, Richard C. "Variations on Arthurian Legend in Lancelot du Lac and Excalibur." In Sally K. Slocum, ed. Popular Arthurian Traditions. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1992.

Bergan, Ronald, and Robyn Karney. Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide. Rev. ed. London: Bloomsbury, 1992.

Bertin-Maghit, Jean-Pierre. "De L'ecran à la classe: Lancelot du lac de Robert Bresson." Pédagogie 31 (February 1976): 53-64.

Buchka, Peter, et al. Robert Bresson. Munich: Hanser, 1978.

Codell, Julie F. "Decapitation and Deconstruction: The Body of the Hero in Robert Bresson's Lancelot du Lac." In Debra Mancoff, ed. The Arthurian Revival, Essays on Form, Tradition, and Transformation. New York: Garland, 1992.

Comuzio, Ermanno. "Robert Bresson, 'Lancillotto e Ginevra.'" Cineforum 134 (July 1974): 537-53.

Crotta, Bruno. "Lancelot du Lac: La guerre, le simulcare de la vertu." Camera/Stylo 5 (January 1985): 83-86.

Cugier, Alphonse. "'Lancelot du lac' de Robert Bresson: Le Moyen âge revisité ou la dimension tragique de xxe siècle." Cahiers de la cinémathèque 42-43 (Summer 1985): 119-24.

de la Brétèque, François. "Une 'Figure oblige' du film de chevalrie: le tournoi." Cahiers de la cinémathèque 42-43 (Summer 1985): 91-96.

Delmas, J. "Lancelot du lac: Robert Bresson et ses armures." Jeune cinéma 82 (November 1974): 19-24.

Dempsey, Michael. "Despair Abounding: The Recent Films of Robert Bresson." Film Quarterly 34 (Fall 1980): 2-15.

"Entretien avec Robert Bresson." Unifrance Film 45 (December 1957): 1-3.

Estève, Michel. Cinéma et condition humaine. Paris: Albatros, 1978.

-----. Robert Bresson. Rev. ed. Paris: Seghers, 1974.

Ferrero, Adelio. Bresson. Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1976.

Gauville, Hervé. "Lancelot du sang." Camera/Stylo 5 (January 1985): 100-03.

Hanlon, Lindley. Fragments: Robert Bresson's Film Style. Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1986.

Jutkewitsch, Sergej. "Die 'Cinematographie" des Robert Bresson (3): Ein politischer Regisseur." Film und Fernsehen 11 (1983): 45-49.

"Lancelot du lac, un film de Robert Bresson." Avant-scène du cinéma 155 (February 1975): 46-50.

Le Dantec, Mireille Latil. "Lancelot." Cinématographe 10 (November-December 1974): 38-42.

Margetts, John. "Robert Bressons 'Lancelot du lac': Monotonie und Depression." In Jürgen Kühnel at al., eds. Mittelalter-Rezeption II. Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1982.

Micciché, Lino. "Bresson: La Scrittura di una situazione interiore." Cinema sessanata 97-98 (May-August 1974): 27-34.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, L-M, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1986.

Oudart, Jean-Pierre. "Un Pouvoir qui ne pense, ne calcule, ni ne juge?" Cahiers du cinéma 258-59 (July-August 1975): 36-41.

Paquette, Jean-Marcel. "La Dernière métamorphose de Lancelot." Cahiers de la cinémathèque 42-43 (Summer 1985): 113-18.

-----. "La Dernière métamorphose de Lancelot: Robert Bresson." In Ulrich Müller, et al., eds. Lancelot. Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1984.

Prédal, René. "Poétique de Robert Bresson: expression plastique et approche de l'indicible dans Lancelot du lac." Recherches et travaux [University Stendahl] 37 (1989): 103-16.

-----, et al. "Dossier: Robert Bresson." Cinéma [Paris] 294 (June 1983): 3-32.

Pruitt, John. "Robert Bresson's Lancelot du lac." Field of Vision 13 (Spring 1985): 5-9.

Rider, Jeff, et al. "The Arthurian Legend in French Cinema: Lancelot du Lac and Perceval le Gallois." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1981.

Robert Bresson. Madrid: Filmoteca nacional, 1977.

Roud, Richard, ed. Cinema, A Critical Dictionary. New York: Viking, 1980.

Sémolué, Jean. "Lancelot du lac." Téléciné 191-92 (September-October 1974): 23-26.

Schrader, Paul. "Robert Bresson, Possibly." Film Comment 13 (September-October 1977): 26-30.

Sloan, Jane. Robert Bresson, A Guide to References and Resources. Boston: Hall, 1983.

Targe, André. "Ici l'espace naît du temps." Camera/Stylo 5 (January 1985): 87-99.

Thomas, Nicholas, ed. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers--Vol. 2: Directors. 2nd ed. Chicago: St. James, 1991.

Tinazzi, Giorgio. Il Cinema di Robert Bresson. Venice: Marsilo, 1976.

-----. "'Lancelot du lac': a proposito di Bresson." Cinema e cinema 2 (April-July 1975): 83-92.

Torri, Bruno. "Bresson: lo stile e la grazia." Cinema sessanata 97-98 (May-August 1983): 20-23.

Waters, John. "John Waters' Guilty Pleasures." Film Comment 19 (July-August 1983): 20-23.

Williams, Alan. "On the Absence of the Grail." Movietone News 47 (January 1976): 10-13.

Lancelot of the Lake (1974). See Lancelot du lac (1974).

Launcelot and Elaine (1909).

United States; dir. Charles Kent; Vitagraph.

Alternate title: Lancelot and Elaine.

Cast: W. Blackton, Leo Delaney, Charles Kent, Paul Panzer, and Florence Turner.

King Arthur declares a tournament, but the queen feigns illness. Lancelot then announces he will not compete, hoping that he can meet secretly with the queen during the tournament. However, when the queen orders him to compete in disguise, he borrows a shield from the castle of Astolot, agreeing also to wear the sleeve of Lady Elaine in the tournament. When Lancelot is seriously wounded in the tournament and carried from the field to a hermit's cave to revover, Elaine arrives to nurse him back to health. Lancelot declares his love for the queen, and Elaine dies of a broken heart after penning the story of her unrequited love for Lancelot. When news of her death and its cause reach Arthur's court, Elaine is given a solemn burial. The queen places flowers on her bier, and Lancelot keeps nightly vigil by her body to atone for his sins. Based on Tennyson's poem "Elaine," which was first published in Idylls of the King (1859), this film was critically well received because of its effective use of pageantry and the skill with which it told a love story.

Reviews:

Bioscope 27 January 1910: 53; 15 January 1914: supplement xxxi.

Moving Picture World 23 October 1909: 565; 27 November 1909: 759; 27 November 1909: 773.

New York Dramatic Mirror 20 November 1909: 16.

Additional discussions:

The Film Index: A Bibliography. Vol. 1: The Film as Art. 1941. rpt. White Plains, N.Y.: Kraus International, 1988.

"Launcelot and Elaine." Vitagraph Bulletin 1-15 November 1909: n.p. [film 949].

"Notes of the Trade." Moving Picture World 25 September 1909: 409.

Savada, Elias. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Film Beginnings, 1893-1910. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1995.

Legend of Gawain and the Green Knight, The (1983). See Sword of the Valiant (1983).

Legende von Tristan und Isolde, Die (1981). See Fire and Sword (1981).

Love Eternal (1943). See L'Éternel retour (1943).

Lovespell (1979). See Tristan and Isolt (1979).

Merlin (1992). See October 32nd (1992).

Merlin and the Sword (1982). See Arthur the King (1982).

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975).

Great Britain; dir. Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones; Python Pictures.

Cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.

Arthur, King of the Britons, rules uneasily. As he journeys throughout his kingdom on his trusty steed Patsy, he encounters peasants who yell Marxist socio-economic theory at him, the Black Knight, whom he defeats (eventually), and the Knights Who Say "Ni," whom he placates with a shrubbery. Meanwhile, Arthur's knights are having their own difficulties. Lancelot cannot seem to find anyone genuinely in need of rescue, and Sir Robin and Sir Galahad seem a bit reluctant to join Arthur in the quest for the Grail. Perhaps the funniest movie set in medieval times, Monty Python and the Holy Grail gives free reign to the comic talents of the six actors who comprise the Monty Python Troupe. What is being skewered here is not so much the legend of Arthur as previous cinematic treatments of that legend.

Reviews:

America 132 (31 May 1975): 428-29.

Amis de film et de la télévision 238 (March 1976): 7.

APEC--Revue Belge du cinéma 13 (April 1976): 38-39.

Arts and Entertainment 7 (July 1992): 23.

Cineaste 7 (Fall 1975): 15-18.

Cinefantastique 4 (Fall 1975): 39.

Cinéma [Paris] 205 (January 1976): 143.

Cineforum 159 (November 1976): 717-18.

Commonweal 102 (6 June 1975): 182.

Film Review 25 (June 1975): 8-9.

Films and Filming 21 (May 1975): 40.

Films Illustrated 4 (May 1975): 326.

Hollywood Reporter 13 March 1975: 18.

Image et son 301 (December 1975): 117.

Independent Film Journal 75 (30 April 1975): 13-14.

Jeune cinéma 93 (March 1976): 29-30.

Listener 10 April 1975: 480.

Los Angeles Times 23 July 1974: 4. 1.

Monthly Film Bulletin 42 (April 1975): 84-85.

New Republic 172 (24 May 1975): 20.

New Statesman 89 (4 April 1975): 458.

New York 8 (5 May 1975): 76.

New York Times 28 April 1975: 34.

New Yorker 51 (5 May 1975): 115-17.

Newsweek 85 (19 May 1975): 90.

Penthouse 6 (August 1975): 37-39.

Positif 171-72 (July-August 1975): 68.

Revue du cinéma 301 (December 1975): 117; 309-10 (October 1976): 247-48.

Rolling Stone 19 June 1975: 16.

Saturday Review 2 (31 May 1975): 44-46.

Time 105 (26 May 1975): 58-59.

Times [London] 10 May 1975: 9.

Variety 19 March 1975: 32.

Video Watchdog 17 (May-June 1993): 61-64.

Village Voice 5 May 1975: 81-82.

Vogue 165 (July 1975): 30.

Additional discussions:

Abel, Christian, et al. "Entretien: Monty Python." Revue du cinéma 351 (June 1980): 74-81.

Bishop, Ellen. "Bakhtin, Carnival and Comedy: The New Grotesque in Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Film Criticism 15 (Fall 1990): 49-64.

Blanch, Robert J., and Julian N. Wasserman. "Gawain on Film." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Burde, Mark. "Monty Python's Medieval Masterpiece." In Keith Busby, ed. The Arthurian Yearbook III. New York: Garland, 1993.

Burns, E. Jane. "Nostalgia Isn't What It Used to Be: The Middle Ages in Literature and Film." In George Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin, eds. Shadows of the Magic Lamp, Fantasy and Science Fiction in Film. Carbondale: Southern University of Illinois Press, 1985.

Byron, Stuart, and Elisabeth Weiss, eds. The National Society of Film Critics on Film Comedy. New York: Grossman, 1977.

Day, David D. "Monty Python and the Medieval Other." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Garel, Alain. "A propos du Monty Python's Flying Circus." Image et son 304 (March 1976): 21-26.

Gow, Gordon. "'he said with incredible arrogance. . . ." Films and Filming 21 (December 1974): 12-17.

Magill, Frank N., ed. Magill's Survey of Cinema: English Language Films. Second Series. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem, 1981.

McCall, Douglas L. Monty Python: A Chronological Listing of the Troupe's Creative Output, and Articles and Reviews about Them, 1969-1989. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1991.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Book). New York: Methuen, 1977 [Screenplay and related documents.]

Murray, Raymond. Images in the Dark, An Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Film and Video. Rev. ed. New York: Plume, 1996.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, L-M, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1986.

Nickel, Helmut. "Arms and Armor in Arthurian Film." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Perry, George. Life of Python. London: Pavillion, 1983.

Rubenstein, Lenny. "The Wondrous Return of the Wacky Monty Python's Flying Circus." Cineaste 7 (Fall 1975): 15-18.

Sigoloff, Marc. The Films of the Seventies. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1984.

Thompson, Raymond H. "The Ironic Tradition in Arthurian Film Since 1960." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film from Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Morte d'Arthur, The (1984).

Great Britain; dir. Gillian Lynne; BBC2

Cast: John Barton, Jeremy Brett, Nickolas Grace, Barbara Keller, and David Robb.

Arthur sees his kingdom dissolve in squabbles among his knights over the innocence or guilt of Guinevere. This made-for-television film of the last two books of Sir Thomas Malory's fifteenth century Morte Darthur is part dance piece, part staged reading, part mime show, and part teledrama.

Reviews:

Daily Express [London] 7 May 1984: 19.

Daily Telegraph [London] 7 May 1984: 13.

Evening Standard [London] 27 April 1984: 21.

Guardian [London] 7 May 1984: 12.

Listener 3 May 1984: 31.

New Statesman 107 (11 May 1984): 30-31.

Sunday Telegraph [London] 13 May 1984: 54.

Sunday Times [London] 13 May 1984: 54.

Television Today 21 April 1984: 19.

Times [London] 7 May 1984: 15.

Times [London] Educational Supplement 11 May 1984: 25.

Times [London] Literary Supplement 11 May 1984; 18 May 1984: 52.

Additional discussion:

Totten, Eileen. "The Knight's Tale." Radio Times [London] 5 May 1984: 8-9.

Natural, The (1984).

United States; dir. Barry Levinson; Tri-Star Productions.

Cast: Kim Bassinger, Wilfred Brimley, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey, Robert Prosky, and Robert Redford.

Rob Hobbs, an aging baseball player, returns at the invitation of Pop Fisher to play for the New York Knights, but his past, which the film explores in terms of the Arthurian legend, comes to haunt him. Based on Bernard Malamud's novel, The Natural, Levinson's film lacks the ironic tone of its original and changes the novel's ending. Clearly, this film was meant as a star-vehicle for Redford more than as a faithful adaptation of a literary source, and the Arthurian dimensions of the novel are obscured in the process.

Reviews:

America 150 (23 June 1984): 493.

Christian Century 30 May 1984: 563-64.

Cineaste 13 (October 1984): 45-46.

Cineforum 24 (November 1984): 77.

Cinéma [Paris] 310 (October 1984): 39.

Cinématographe 103 (September-October 1984): 54.

City Limits [London] 19 October 1984: 22.

Commonweal 111 (15 June 1984): 373-74.

Daily News [New York] 11 May 1984: Friday 5.

Film en televisie 329 (October 1984): 12-13.

Films and Filming 357 (June 1984): 42; 361 (October 1984): 44.

Films in Review 35 (August-September 1984): 427.

Hollywood Reporter 7 May 1984: 8; 21 June 1984: 14.

Horizon 27 (April 1984): 52-53.

Jeune cinéma 162 (November 1984): 42-43; 163 (December 1984-January 1985): 34-35.

Kosmorama 30 (December 1984): 206-09.

Los Angeles Times 11 May 1984: Calendar 1.

Maclean's 97 (21 May 1984): 65.

Millimeter 12 (May 1984) 84-86.

Monthly Film Bulletin 51 (November 1984): 337-38.

Motion Picture Digest 11 (30 May 1984): 94.

Nation 238 (2 June 1984): 682-83.

National Review 36 (13 July 1984): 51-52.

New Leader 67 (11 June 1984): 21.

New Republic 190 (11 June 1984): 24-25.

New Statesman 108 (19 October 1984): 36-37.

New York 17 (21 May 1984): 94-95.

New York Native 4 June 1984: 24.

New York Post 11 May 1984: 19.

New York Times 1 April 1984: 5. 2; 6 May 1984: 2. 1, 17; 11 May 1984: C8; 14 June 1984: C 17.

New Yorker 60 (28 May 1984): 100-01.

Newsweek 103 (28 May 1984): 77.

Observer [London] 21 October 1984: 22.

Photoplay 35 (November 1984): 16-17, 20.

Positif 286 (December 1984): 67-69.

Revue du cinéma 397 (August 1984): 30-31.

School Update 117 (7 September 1984): 27-28.

Screen International 6 October 1984: 18.

Segnocinema 4 (September 1984): 53; 5 (January 1985): 71.

Soundtrack 3 (September 1984): 25-26.

Sport Magazine 75 (May 1984): 108.

Sports Illustrated 60 (7 May 1984): 71.

Time 123 (14 March 1984): 91.

Time Out [London] 18 October 1984: 49.

Variety 9 May 1984: 10.

Village Voice 22 May 1984: 57.

Vogue 174 (May 1984): 75.

Women's Wear Daily 11 May 1984: 7.

Additional discussions:

Curtin, Kevin Thomas. "The Natural: Our Iliad and Odyssey." Antioch Review 43 (Spring 1985): 225-41.

Desowitz, Bill. "Tri-Star's First Production Either Loved or Hated; Mixed Feelings Rare." Hollywood Reporter 23 May 1984: 6.

Griffith, James. "Say It Ain't So: The Natural." Literature/Film Quarterly 19 (July 1991): 157-63.

Krey, Robert, and Michael Haney. "Caleb Deschanel, ASC, and The Natural." American Cinematographer 66 (April 1985): 58-63.

Saperstein, Jeffrey. "Irony and Cliché: Malamud's The Natural In the 1980s." Literature/Film Quarterly 24 (January 1996): 84-87.

Silberman, Rob. "Mr. Smith Goes to the Ballpark." Jump Cut 31 (March 1986): 5-6.

Turchi, Peter. "Roy Hobb's Corrected Stance: An Adaptation of The Natural." Literature/Film Quarterly 19 (July 1991): 150-56.

New Adventures of a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The (1987). See Novye prikluchenia janke pri dvore Korola Artura (1987).

Novye prikluchenia janke pri dvore Korola Artura (1987).

Soviet Union; dir. Viktor Gres; Dovzhenko Studios.

Alternate title: The New Adventures of a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

Cast: Albert Filozov, Evdokia Ghermanova, Mark Gres, Alexander Kaidanovsky, and Sergei Koltakov, and Anastasia Vertinskaya.

. Hank Morgan, an American military pilot, crashes in the desert and awakens in the world of King Arthur where he sets out to introduce the age of chivalry to the wonders of modern technology. Arthur's world is none too keen to accept what Hank has to offer, so Hank challenges them to trail by combat. In the final battle, Lancelot defeats Hank, chivalric values are protected, and Hank returns to the twentieth century. The hero in this cinematic musical version of Twain's novel is Lancelot, who defeats Hank by discovering a great bell which, when rung, establishes harmony among all who hear its tolling.

Reviews:

Iskusstvo kino 3 (March 1989): 87-91.

Soviet Film 4 (April 1989): 18-19.

Additional discussions:

Cowie, Peter, ed. Variety International Film Guide 1990. Hollywood, Calif.: Samuel French, 1989.

The Motion Picture Guide, 1989 Annual (The Films of 1988). Evanston, Ill.: Cinebooks, 1989.

"On the Spot Report." Soviet Film 6 (1987): 18-19.

October 32nd (1992).

Great Britain; dir. Paul Hunt; October 32nd Productions.

Alternate title: Merlin.

Cast: Nadia Cameron, James Hong, Richard Lynch, Ted Markland, Peter Phelps, John Stone, and Rodney Wood.

California businessman Pendragon is actually a medieval tyrant intent upon seizing Excalibur from Merlin's equally ageless disciple Loong Tao. Pendragon hopes to use the sword to make time stand still and plunge the world into chaos on October 32nd. His plans are thwarted by Christy Lake, a reporter who is the reincarnation of Merlin's daughter, the Lady of the Lake, and geologist John Pope who is her eternal protector. This perfectly silly film, which understandably was dumped directly to American video in 1994, owes a debt to a variety of film traditions, including the kung-fu action yarn and the western. Less clear is its debt to anything recognizably Arthurian.

Review:

Variety 22 June 1992: 45-46.

Additional discussions:

Klisz, Anjanelle M. The Video Source Book. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.

Pallot, James, ed. The Motion Picture Guide, 1995 Annual (The Films of 1994). New York: Cinebooks, 1994.

Parsifal (1904).

United States; dir. Edwin J. Porter; Edison.

Cast: Adelaide Fitz-Allen and Robert Whittier.

Using a highly exaggerated style of acting, interspersed with trick camera effects, a group of actors present the following scenes from Wagner's opera: Parsifal Ascends the Throne, Ruins of A Magic Garden, Exterior of Klingson's Castle, Magic Garden, Interior of the Temple, Scene Outside the Temple, Return of Parsifal, and In the Woods. With this film, Edison had hoped to capitalize on the success of the 1903 stage production of the opera in New York, but the film's run had to be shortened when the owner of the copyright successfully sued Edison for using the script without permission.

Review:

Optical Lantern and Cinematograph Journal 1 (1905): 52.

Additional discussions:

Bush, W. Stephen. "The Possibilities of Synchronization." Motion Picture World 2 September 1911: 607-08.

Catalogue of Educational Motion Picture Films. Chicago: George Kleine, 1910.

The Film Index: A Bibliography. Vol. 1: The Film as Art. 1941. rpt. White Plains, N.Y.: Kraus International, 1988.

Harty, Kevin J. "The Arthurian Legends on Film: An Overview." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland Publishing, 1991.

Musser, Charles. Before the Nickelodeon. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.

Niver, Kemp R. The First Twenty Years, A Segment of Film History. Los Angeles: Locare Research Group, 1968.

-----. Motion Pictures from the Library of Congress Paper Print Collection, 1894-1912. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967.

"Parsifal." Edison Films July 1906: 50-53.

Savada, Elias. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Film Beginnings, 1893-1910. Metuchen, N.J. Scarecrow Press, 1995.

Spears, Jack. "Edwin S. Porter." Films in Review 21 (June-July 1970): 327-54.

Parsifal (1912).

Italy; dir. Mario Caeserini; Ambrosio Films.

Parsifal, having overcome a number of opponents and various temptations, assumes his rightful place as the guardian of the Holy Grail, curing the wounded King Amfortas in the process.

More detailed than Porter's 1904 Parsifal, Caeserini's film still suffers from a problem common to many early filmed operas, the inability to synchronize the film itself with the musical accompaniment.

Reviews:

Bisocope 30 October 1913: 427; 27 November 1913: 811-13.

Kinematograph Monthly Record 20 (December 1913): 59-60.

Moving Picture World 28 December 1912: 1307-08.

Additional discussions:

The Film Index: A Bibliography. Vol. 1: The Film as Art. 1941. rpt. White Plains, N.Y.: Kraus International, 1988.

Harty, Kevin J. "The Arthurian Legends on Film: An Overview." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland Publishing, 1991.

Jarratt, Vernon. The Italian Cinema. London: Falcon, 1951.

Lephrohon, Pierre. The Italian Cinema. Trans. Roger Greaves and Oliver Stallybrass. New York: Praeger, 1972.

Weinberg, Herman G., ed. Fifty Years of Italian Cinema. Rome: Carlo Bestetti-Edizioni d'Arte, 1955.

Parsifal (1953).

Spain; dir. Daniel Mangrane; Cine-Español.

Cast: Gustavo Rojo and Ludmilla Tcherina.

In fifth-century Spain as the barbarians invade, Parsifal seeks and eventually finds the Holy Grail, bringing peace to his troubled homeland. This little-known film version of the Grail story blends elements from Wagner's opera with elements from medieval legend and literature.

Review:

Film français 448 (13 November 1953): 20.

Parsifal (1982).

Germany; dir. Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, Gaumont-TMS Films.

Cast: Edith Clever, Aage Haugland, Armin Jordan, Karin Krick, Michael Kutter, Robert Lloyd, and Martin Speer.

The wounded King Amfortas awaits the arrival of a chaste fool who can cure him. A young man who has just killed a swan--a heinous act--is brought before him, and the court suspects that this simple boy may be the one to cure the king. The boy accompanies Amfortas and his retinue to the Grail Castle and witnesses many wonders which so overwhelm him that he says nothing and is dismissed. Soon the young man appears at the castle of Klingsor, Amfortas's enemy, and learns his name, Parsifal, and the meaning of everything he earlier witnessed. He defeats Klingsor and goes off into the forest. Years later, Parsifal returns and initiates the Grail ceremony healing Amfortas. The Grail itself spreads its benediction to all who salute Christ the Redeemer. Undoubtedly one of the most complex and possibly the greatest opera film ever made, Syberberg's film, which runs for more than four hours, presents Wagner's opera in a claustrophobic labyrinth that is constructed out of the cracks and crevices of an enormous model of the composer's death mask. The film succeeds by using elaborate sets, puppets, expert dubbing, and the daring conceit of having the title character played by both a man and a woman.

Reviews:

Acualité, L 9 February 1984: 89.

Avant-scène du cinema 338 (July-August 1982): 51-55.

Casablanca 19-20 (July-August 1982): 56.

Cinéma [Paris] 283-284 (July-August 1982): 95.

Cinema nuovo 32 (August-October 1983): 8-9.

Cinématographe 79 (June 1982): 71-72.

Ciné Revue 21 (20 May 1982): 44.

Continental Film and Video Review 29 (August 1982): 44-45; 30 (May 1983): 10-11.

Ecran fantastique 25 (1982): 19-20.

Études [Paris] 357 (August-September 1982): 235-37.

Film Journal 86 (18 February 1983): 41.

Films 3 (June 1983): 34.

High Fidelity and Musical America 33 (June 1983): [between] 80 and 83 [18-20].

Hollywood Reporter 11 March 1983: 34.

Image et son 374 (July-August 1982): 78-80.

Los Angeles Times 20 July 1983: 6. 3.

Monthly Film Bulletin 50 (May 1983): 137-38.

New Republic 188 (14 February 1983): 24-26.

New York 16 (31 January 1983): 54-56.

New York Times 23 January 1983: 1. 46; 11 February 1984: 3. 8.

Newsweek 101 (31 January 1983): 54-56.

Opera [England] 34 (June 1983): 686-88.

Opera News 47 (12 March 1983): 42-43.

Positif 259 (September 1982): 65-66.

Revue du cinéma (La Saison cinématographique) Hors serie 26 (1982): 251-52.

San Francisco Chronicle 23 April 1983: 33.

Séquences 115 (January 1984): 40-42.

Sunday Times [London] 3 April 1983: 39.

Tablet [London] 237 (16 April 1983): 357.

Time 121 (24 January 1983): 84.

Time Out [London] 25 March 1983: 12-13; 29 December 1993: 135.

Times [London] 26 March 1983: 11; 31 March 1983: 10.

Times [London] Literary Supplement 8 April 1983: 352.

Variety 26 May 1982: 16; 9 February 1983: 18.

Video Review 11 (September 1990): 11.

Village Voice 22 February 1983: 60; 3 Feburary 1987: 41-42.

24 Images 19 (Winter 1983-1984): 13-14.

Wagner News 22 (April-May 1983): 11-15.

Washington Post 7 December 1984: Weekend 39.

Additional discussions:

"Beim 'Parsifal' keine Konfrontationem." Kino-Information 8 (22 April 1982): 5.

Bianciotti, Hector. "Le Sourire de Parsifal." Le Nouvel observateur 26 December 1981: 70-72.

Bonnet, Jean-Claude, and Michel Celemski. "Entretien avec Hans-Jürgen Syberberg." Cinématographe 78 (May 1982): 12-19.

Borie, Bertrand. "Entretien avec Hans-Jürgen Syberberg." Ecran fantastique 25 (1982): 20-21.

Dénes, Zoltai. "Opera és film." Filmvilág 29 (January 1986): 2-5.

Ellero, Robert, et al. "Conversazione con Hans-Jürgen Syberberg." Cinema e cinema 10 (January-March 1983): 66-69.

"A Golden Age of German Cinema." Continental Film and Video Review 29 (September 1982): 40-42.

"Hans-Jürgen Syberberg on His New Film 'Parsifal.'" Kino 1 (February 1982): 15.

Henahan, Donal. "The Wagnerian Enigma and Mystique Live On." New York Times 13 February 1983: 2. 1, 15.

Holloway, Ronald. "Exhibition Formula for Syberberg's 'Parsifal' Follows 'Epic' Scenario." Variety 20 October 1982: 33.

Just, Lothar R., ed. Das Filmjahr '82/83. Munich: Filmland Presse, 1983.

Larsen, Jan Kornum. "Tyskland--et vintereventyr." Kosmorama 30 (April 1984): 18-25.

Lászlo, Földényi F. "Az üdvkeres"s terhe." Filmvilág 29 (January 1986): 13-16.

Lévi-Strauss, Claude. "Od Chrétiena de Troyesa do Richarda Wagnerja." Ekran 8. 6 (1983): 9-13.

Magill, Frank N., ed. Magill's Cinema Annual 1983. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem, 1984.

Müller, Ulrich. "Blank, Syberberg, and the German Arthurian Tradition." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, N-R, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1986.

Nattiez, Jacques. Wagner Androgyne. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.

Porter, Andrew. "Musical Events: By Comparison Made Wise." New Yorker 59 (21 February 1983): 112-16, 119.

Sainderichen, Guy-Patrick. "Voyage à Munich." Cahiers du cinéma 331 (January 1982): 22-29.

Socci, Stefano. "Parsifal, film-opera dell'avvenire." Filmcritica 381-83 (Januray-February 1988): 7-13.

Stanbrook, Alan. "The Sight of Music." Sight and Sound 56 (Spring 1987): 132-35.

Syberberg, Hans-Jürgen. "Filmisches bei Richard Wagner." In Gerhard Heldt, ed. Richard Wagner: Mittler zwischen Zeiten. Anif, Austria: Müller-Speiser, 1990.

-----. "'nur der Kranke hält es aus.'" Medium 12 (April 1982): 27-29.

-----. "'ohne Neugier und Lust und Informationsredlichkeit.'" Medium 12 (September-October 1982): 78-80.

-----. Parsifal, ein Filmessay. Munich: Heyne, 1982.

-----. "'Vorführen braucht soviel Energie und Phantasie wie Machen.'" Medium 12 (December 1982): 31-33.

-----. "'wir sollen den anderen ins Gesicht spuken.'" Medium 12 (July 1982): 40-41.

Tous les films 1982. Paris: Éditions Chrétiens-Médias, 1983.

Vollemanns, Kees, and Agnes Schreiner. "Hans-Jürgen Syberberg." Skrien 131 (October-November 1983): 4-8.

Vrdlovec, Zdenko. "Kaj zmore glas." Ekran 8. 6 (1983): 4-8.

Parzival (1980).

West Germany; dir. Richard Blank; West Deutchse Rundkunk.

Cast: Wolfram Kinkel and Eva Schuchardt.

In a windowless attic, using puppets and toy props, a group of actors stage a much condensed version of Wolfram von Eschenbach's epic poem Parzival. Made for German television, this film of the story of Parsifal is unusual in its use of Wolfram rather than Wagner as a source.

Discussions:

Harty, Kevin J. "The Arthurian Legends on Film: An Overview." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Müller, Ulrich. "Blank, Syberberg, and the German Arthurian Tradition." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

-----. "Parzival 1980--auf der Bühne, im Fernsehem und im Film." In Jürgen Kühnel et al, eds. Mittelalter-Rezeption II. Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1982.

Perceval (1978). See Perceval le gallois (1978).

Perceval le gallois (1978).

France; dir. Eric Rohmer; Gaumont-Films du Losange.

Alternate title: Perceval.

Cast: Marie-Christine Barrault, Arielle Dombrasie, André Dussollier, Marc Eyraud, and Fabrice Luchini.

After a series of adventures which bring him knighthood at King Arthur's court, the young Perceval has a vision of the Holy Grail but fails to understand what he has seen. He then sets off to find the Grail again in a quest that takes him on yet another series of adventures. Finally, assuming the central role in a Passion play, Perceval is granted a second vision of the Grail. Unique among films about Perceval and the Quest for the Grail, Rohmer's source is Chrétien de Troyes unfinished twelfth century romance. The dialogue retains the verse form of the original romance in a modern French translation. Rohmer uses stylized painted sets reminiscent of manuscript illustrations that give the film a genuinely medieval look to provide a commentary on the necessity for the quest for the spiritual, in a medieval or a modern world.

Reviews:

Amis du film et de la télévision 272 (January 1979): 18; 275 (April 1979): 33.

Cahiers du cinéma 299 (April 1979): 41-46.

Christian Science Monitor 16 November 1978: 16.

Cinema nuovo 290-91 (August-October 1984): 61-62.

Cinemateca revista 39 (November 1983): 79.

Cinématographe 44 (February 1979): 11-15.

Continental Film Review 25 (August 1978): 16-17.

Ecran 76 (15 January 1979): 71-72.

Études [Paris] 350 (April 1979): 541-45.

Film a doba 25 (February 1979): 110.

Film en televisie 294 (November 1981): 33.

Film Quarterly 33 (Winter 1979-1980): 49-52.

Films in Review 76 (January 1979): 53-54.

Hollywood Reporter 12 October 1978: 1.

Image et son 334 (December 1978): 109-12.

Jeune cinéma 116 (December 1978): 28-31.

Nation 227 (11 November 1978): 520.

New Leader 61 (6 November 1978): 19-20.

New Republic 179 (21 October 1978): 30-31.

New York Times 6 October 1978: n.p.

Newsweek 92 (30 October 1978): 95.

Penthouse 10 (February 1979): 45-47.

Positif 216 (March 1979): 74.

San Francisco Chronicle 24 January 1979: 49.

Segnocinema 13 (May 1984): 68.

Shakespeare on Film Newsletter 8 (April 1984): 5, 9.

Studies [Dublin] 91 (Summer 1982): 193.

Tablet [London] 233 (December 1979): 1188.

Take One 7 (January 1979): 9-10.

Télérama 1517 (10-16 February 1979): 86-89.

Time 114 (20 November 1978): 104.

Times [London] 14 November 1979: 10.

Time Out [London] 8-15 January 1992: 143.

Variety 13 September 1978: 36.

Village Voice 23 October 1978: 23.

Additional discussions:

Adair, Gilbert. "Rohmer's Perceval." Sight and Sound 47 (Autumn 1978): 230-34.

Amiel, Mireille. "Des Arts, des armes et des lois. . . ." Cinéma [Paris] 242 (February 1979): 8-10.

Angeli, Giovanna. Eric Rohmer. Milan: Moizzi Editore, 1979.

-----. "Perceval le Gallois d'Eric Rohmer et ses sources." Cahiers de l'Association Internationale des Etudes Françaises 47 (1995): 33-48.

Beatie, Bruce. "The Broken Quest: The 'Perceval' Romances of Chrétien de Troyes and Eric Rohmer." In Debra Mancoff, ed. The Arthurian Revival, Essays on Form, Tradition, and Transformation. New York: Garland, 1992.

Bergan, Ronald, and Robyn Karney. Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide. Rev. ed. London: Bloomsbury, 1992.

Botermans, J. "De lange weg can Eric Rohmer." Mediafilm 142 (Spring 1983): 2-11.

Burns, E. Jane. "Nostalgia Isn't What It Used to Be: The Middle Ages in Literature and Film." In George Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin, eds. Shadows of the Magic Lamp, Fantasy and Science Fiction in Film. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1985.

Cinéma français. Paris: Unifrance Film, 1978.

Cormier, Raymond J. "Rohmer's Grail Story: Anatomy of a French Flop." Yale French Review 5 (Winter 1981): 391-96.

Crisp, C. H. Eric Rohmer: Realist and Moralist. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988.

Delevaud, Gilles, and Jacques Montaville. "Entretien avec Eric Rohmer." Education 2000 18-20 (March 1981): 85-90.

Detassis, Piera. "Perceval di Eric Rohmer." Cineforum 234 (May 1984): 47-44.

"Dossier film: Perceval." Cinéma francçais 21 (1978): 37-42.

Douin, Jean-Luc. "Entretien avec Eric Rohmer; 'Perceval,' C'est Buster Keaton au moyen âge." Télérama 1517 (10-16 February 1979): 90-91.

"Eric Rohmer." Cahiers du cinéma 400 (October 1987): supplement 44-45.

"Eric Rohmer Talks about the Concept of 'Perceval.'" Continental Film Review 26 (June 1979): 16-17.

"Eric Rohmer's Perceval le gallois." Avant-scène du cinéma 221 (1 February 1979): 9-64. [Screenplay.]

Fieschi, Jacques. "Un Innocence mortelle." Avant-scène du cinéma 221 (1 February 1979): 4-6.

Filme 1981/1984. Dülmen: Katholisches Institut für Medieninformation, 1985.

Fisher, Lucy. "Roots: The Medieval Tale as Modernist Cinema." Field of Vision 9-10 (Winter-Spring 1980): 21-25, 33.

Grimbert, Joan Tasker. "Aesthetic Distance in Rohmer's Perceval le gallois." In Maud S. Walther, ed. Proceedings of the Purdue University Fifth Annual Conference on Film October 30-November 1, 1980. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University, 1980.

Huchet, Jean-Charles. "Mereceval." Litterature 40 (1980): 69-84.

Jourdat, Alain. "L'Espace comme support d'un récit romanesque." Technicien du film 272 (15 July-15 September 1979): 8-11.

Just, Lothar R., ed. Das Filmjahr 1984. Munich: Filmland Presse, 1984.

Larsen, Jan Jorum. "Virkelighed og vindmller." Kosmorama 28 (August 1982): 104-15.

Magill, Frank N., ed. Magill's Survey of Cinema: Foreign Language Films. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem, 1985.

Magny, Joël, and Dominique Rabourdin. "Entretien avec Eric Rohmer." Cinéma [Paris] 242 (February 1979): 11-19.

-----. Eric Rohmer. Paris: Rivages, 1986.

-----. "Eric Rohmer ou la quête du graal." Cinéma [Paris] 242 (February 1979): 20-23.

Mancini, Michele. Eric Rohmer. Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1983.

Marty, Joseph. "'Perceval le gallois' d'Eric Rohmer, un itinéraire roman." Cahiers de la cinémathèque 42-43 (Summer 1985): 125-32.

-----. "'Perceval le gallois': un symbolisme de l'alliance chrétienne." In Michael Estève, ed. Eric Rohmer 2. Paris: Minard, 1986.

Milne, Tom. "Rohmer's Seige Perilous." Sight and Sound 50 (Summer 1981): 192-95.

Movshovitz, Howard P. "Rohmer's Perceval: Narrative Time and Space in Medieval Literature and Film." In Maud S. Walther, ed. Proceedings of the Purdue University Fifth Annual Conference on Film October 30-November 1, 1980. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University, 1980.

Rider, Jeff, et al. "The Arthurian Legend in French Cinema: Lancelot du Lac and Perceval le Gallois." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Rohmer, Eric. "Note sur la traduction et sur le mise en scène de 'Perceval.'" Avant-scène du cinéma 221 (1 February 1979): 6-7.

Roud, Richard, ed. Cinema, A Critical Dictionary. New York: Viking, 1980.

Smith, Sarah W. R. "Rohmer's Perceval as Literary Criticism." In Maud S. Walther, ed. Proceedings of the Purdue University Fifth Annual Conference on Film October 30-November 1, 1980. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University, 1980.

Sterritt, David. "Rohmer's Thoughts About Perceval." Christian Science Monitor 27 December 1978: 18.

Tesich-Savage, Nadja. "Rehearsing the Middle Ages." Film Comment 14 (September-October 1978): 50-56.

Williams, Linda. "Eric Rohmer and the Holy Grail." Literature/Film Quarterly 11 (April 1983): 71-82.

Prince Valiant (1954).

United States; dir. Henry Hathaway; Twentieth Century-Fox.

Cast: Brain Aherne, Donald Crisp, Sterling Hayden, Janet Leigh, James Mason, Victor McLaglen, and Robert Wagner.

Exiled for crimes he did not commit, Prince Valiant travels to King Arthur's court to plead his cause. En route, he overhears a plot by an unidentified Black Knight to murder Arthur and alerts the king who makes him a squire of the Round Table as reward. Valiant soon becomes one of the most accomplished swordsmen of Arthur's court. When word from home reaches him that his father is in trouble, Valiant returns to free his family from prison, and, in a spectacular scene, he burns down the castle of his enemies. Returning to Camelot, he exposes the Black Knight, who turns out to be a disloyal knight of the Round Table. Again he is rewarded by Arthur, who makes him a knight, and marries his lady love with the king's blessing. Based on the long-running syndicated comic strip by Harold R. Foster, this film is a CinemaScope epic most notable for the climatic burning of the evil Vikings' castle.

Reviews:

America 91 (24 April 1954): 117-19.

Catholic World 179 (May 1954): 142-43.

Commonweal 60 (16 April 1954): 41.

Film Daily 2 April 1954: 6.

Films in Review 5 (May 1954): 241-42.

Harrison's Reports 3 April 1954: 55.

Hollywood Reporter 2 March 1954: 3

Kinematograph Weekly 6 May 1954: 16.

Library Journal 79 (15 April 1954): 766.

Life 36 (25 January 1954): 108-10.

Look 17 (29 December 1953): 34-35.

Monthly Film Bulletin 21 (July 1954): 85-86.

Motion Picture Herald 3 April 1954: 30; 10 April 1954: Product Digest Section 2254-55.

National Parent-Teacher 48 (June 1954): 38.

New Statesman and Nation 47 (1 May 1954): 598.

New York Times 7 April 1954: 40.

New Yorker 30 (April 1954): 93-94.

Newsweek 43 (19 April 1954): 106-07.

Sign 33 (May 1954): 62.

Tatler 212 (12 May 1954): 356.

Time 63 (12 April 1954): 106.

Times [London] 3 May 1954: 9.

Today 9 (June 1954): 14.

To-day's Cinema 29 April 1954: 6.

Variety 7 April 1954: 6.

Additional discussions:

Brownell, William H., Jr. "Comics Come Alive." New York Times 1 November 1953: 2. 7.

Buckley, Michael P. "James Mason." Films in Review 45 (January-February 1994): 6-13; 45 (March-April 1994): 20-34.

Canham, Kingsley. "Henry Hathaway: A Filmography." Focus on Film 7 (1971): 28-35.

Eyman, Scott. "'. . . I Made Movies. . . .'" Take One 5 (February 1976): 6-12.

Fuchs, Wolgang J. "Prinz Eisenherz." Jugend, Film, Fernsehen 19.3 (1975): 183-84.

Harty, Kevin J. "The Arthurian Legends on Film: An Overview." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland Publishing, 1991.

Hirschhorn, Clive. The Films of James Mason. London: LSP, 1975.

Hofstede, David. Hollywood and the Comics. N.p.: Zanne-3, 1991.

Kaminsky, Stuart M. "Legend of the Lost." Velvet Light Trap 14 (Winter 1975): 25-29.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, N-R, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1986.

Nogueira, Rui. "Henry Hathaway." Focus on Film 7 (1971): 11-27.

Reid, John H. "The Best Second Fiddle." Films and Filming 9 (November 1962): 14-16.

Richards, Jeffrey. Swordmen of the Silver Screen from Douglas Fairbanks to Michael York. London: Routledge, 1977.

Smith, Gary A. Epic Films. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1991.

Prince Valiant (1997).

Germany-Great Britain-Ireland-United States; dir. Anthony Hickox; Constantin Film.

Cast: Edward Fox, Katherine Heigl, Thomas Kretschmann, Udo Kier, Joanna Lumley, Stephen Moyer, Gavan O'Herlihy, Ron Perlman, and Ben Pullen

Morgen Le Fey [sic] steals Merlin's book of spells from his coffin and sends Viking warriors to Camelot to steal Excalibur. The wounded Gawain's squire, Valiant, sets out to retrieve the sword and to rescue Princess Ilene of Wales. His quest takes him from Wales to Thule, where he is recognized as rightful heir to the throne. In a final battle, Morgan and Thagnar, the Viking leader, are killed, as is Ilene, who is brought back to life by the Lady of the Lake as Valiant rescues Excalibur which he returns to a grateful Arthur who makes him a knight of the Round Table.
In this silly remake, Conan the Barbarian meets Foster's comic strip characters. Missing here are the Hollywood touches that at least made the 1954 film visually interesting. In its more interesting scenes, Hickox's film fades to panels from the original strip, but there is little else to recommend it, except perhaps Joanna Lumley's over-the-top portrayal of Morgan in full-length black leather gown and chain-mail headdress. Edward Fox plays an aging Arthur (cf. First Knight), whose haircut and beard would easily allow him also to portray Charles I if anyone wants to remake Cromwell.

Reviews:

Cahiers du cinéma 516 (September 1997): 82.

Daily Mail [London] 19 December 1997: 41.

Daily Record [London] 19 December 1997: 22.

Daily Telegraph [London] 19 December 1997: 22.

Empire 103 (January 1998): 42.

EPD Film 14 (August 1997: 46.

Film Review [London] January 1998:21.

Filmecho/Filmwoche 27 (5 July 1997): 51; 29 (19 July 1997):38.

Independent [London] 19 December 1997: 9;20 December 1997: 20.

Independent on Sunday [London] 21 December 1997: 2. 8.

Kino [Germany] 3 (1996):11.

Le Monde 7 August 1997: 20; 15 August 1997: 9.

Observer [London] 21 December 1997: Review 12.

Positif 439 (September 1997): 48.

Première [France] 246 (September 1997): 28.

Sight and Sound 8 (January 1998): 52.

Sunday Telegraph [London] 21 December 1997: Sunday 9.

Sunday Times [London] 21 December 1997: 7. 26.

Time Out [London] 17 December 1997: 111.

Times [London] 18 December 1997: 34.

Quest of the Holy Grail, The (1915).

United States; D.W. Griffith; Triangle Productions.

Griffith had hoped to make a film based on Edwin Austin Abbey's famous series of Grail frescos in the Boston Public Library. The project was temporarily shelved in 1915, but an attempt to revive it after the First World War also failed, and the project remained unrealized.

Discussions:

"Film Flashes." Variety 28 May 1915: 16.

"Griffith to Make Holy Grail Picture." Moving Picture World 1 May 1915: 769.

Stern, Seymour. An Index to the Creative Work of David Wark Griffith. Part II: The Art Triumphant. (b) Triangle Productions: 1915-1916. Special Supplement to Sight and Sound. London: British Film Institute, 1946.

Re Artù e i cavalieri della tavola rotonda, Il (1910).

Italy; dir. Giuseppe de Liguoro; Milano Films.

Alternate title: King Arthur; or, The Knights of the Round Table.

This early film about King Arthur, about which few details survive, featured a cast of almost 100 actors and may have been based on Malory's Le Morte Darthur. The film was distributed in Great Britain by New Agency Films.

Review:

Bisocope 15 September 1910: 39.

Additional discussions:

Bernardini, Aldo. Archivo del cinema italiano. Volume 1. Il cinema muto 1905-1931. Rome: ANICA, 1991.

Prolo, Maria Adriana. Storia del cinema muto italiano. Milan: Poligono Società Editrice, 1951.

Seaview Knights (1994).

Great Britain; dir. Richard Kurti; Seaview Knights Productions.

Cast: Sarah Alexander, James Bolam, Clive Darby, Anita Dobson, Andrew Durant, Bob Flag, Neil Hildegard, and Steven Osborne.

In modern day Blackpool, a bank robber is knocked unconscious and awakens to think himself King Arthur returned to rescue a nation in decay. He enlists the aid of a taxi-driver whom he dubs Merlin and a group of petty thieves, whom he names his knights. His would-be assistants are, however, more interested in finding the £1 million he robbed from the bank before he was knocked unconscious. As they chase about looking for the money, Arthur boards a train for London to do battle with the Grey Knight. Once he arrives, he becomes unwittingly involved with a terrorist plot to blow up Parliament. The plot fails, and Arthur reawakens thinking he is Hamlet. This film is silly in all respects save one. The Grey Knight turns out to be the prime minister--read John Major here. Arthur's determination to defeat him in battle has, thanks to the recent British elections, an unforeseen prophetic note to its reworking of the theme of Arthur's return.

Review:

Variety 13 June 1994: 62.

Additional discussion:

Thynne, Jane. "£500 Can Buy Slice of the Action in a New British Film." Daily Telegraph [London] 16 June 1993: 7.

Shadow of the Raven, The (1988). See In the Shadow of the Raven (1988).

Siege of the Saxons (1963).

Great Britain; dir. Nathan Juran; Columbia Pictures.

Alternate title: King Arthur and the Siege of the Saxons.

After assassinating King Arthur, Edmund of Cornwall seizes the throne and kidnaps Arthur's daughter Katherine in the hopes of forcing her to marry him to legitimize his claim to the throne. The outlaw Robert Marshall intervenes, rescues Katherine, and, with the aid of Merlin, overthrows Edmund and the Saxons. Katherine is crowned queen and takes Robert as her consort. This unorthodox film version of the legend of Arthur incorporates elements of the legend of Robin Hood into its plot, but the end result is still a flatly-directed and only moderately interesting adventure film.

Reviews:

Daily Cinema 24 July 1963: 10.

Film Daily 8 August 1963: 4.

Films and Filming 9 (September 1963): 24.

Kinematograph Weekly 25 July 1963: 31-32.

Hollywood Reporter 22 August 1963: 3.

Monthly Film Bulletin 30 (September 1963): 133.

Motion Picture Herald 230 (4 September 1963): Product Digest Section 884.

Variety 21 August 1963: 17.

Additional discussions:

Chibnall, Bernard, and Michael Moulds, eds. The British National Film Catalogue. London: British National Film Catalogue, 1963.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, S, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1987.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film From Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Spaceman and King Arthur, The (1979). See The Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979).

Sword in the Stone, The (1963).

United States; dir. Wolfgang Reitherman; Walt Disney Productions.

Cast: (The voices of) Norman Alden, Sebastian Cabot, Junius Matthews, Alan Napier, Ricky Sorenson, Karl Swenson, and Martha Wentworth.

England needs a king, but legend states that only he who can pull a sword out of a stone may ascend the throne. A young boy named Wart meets the magician Merlin who agrees to educate him. Wart also becomes squire to his foster brother Kay, and when he forgets to bring a sword for his brother to use in a tournament, Wart pulls the sword from the stone, not knowing the significance of what he has just done. Named King Arthur, Wart is reassured by Merlin that he is indeed the rightful king. Based on T.H. White's novel The Sword in the Stone, this Disney film presents an animated version of the events of Arthur's enfance.

Reviews:

America 110 (11 January 1964): 55.

Commonweal 79 (13 December 1963): 350.

Daily Cinema 4 December 1963: 8.

Extension 58 (December 1963): 8.

Film Daily 3 October 1963: 14.

Film Facts 6 (9 December 1963): 286-87.

Films and Filming 10 (January 1964): 25-26; 352 (January 1984): 42-43.

Furrow [Ireland] 15 (August 1964): 539.

Hollywood Reporter 2 October 1963: 3.

Kinematograph Weekly 5 December 1963: 9.

Los Angeles Times 26 March 1983: 5. 7.

Monthly Film Bulletin 31 (February 1964): 22.

Motion Picture Herald 230 (16 October 1963): Product Digest Section 913-14.

New Republic 149 (21 December 1963): 29-30.

New York Times 26 December 1963: 33.

Photoplay 21 (January 1964): 21.

Tablet [London] 217 (14 December 1963): 1362.

Times [London] 12 December 1963: 15.

Variety 2 October 1963: 6.

Additional discussions:

Bär, Willi, and Hans Jürgen Weber, eds. Fischer Film Almanach 1980. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 1980.

Carey, Mary. The Sword in the Stone. Racine, Wisc.: Whitman, 1963. [Novelization.]

Duchène, Alain, and Odile Houen. "Merlin l'enchanteur ou le désenchantment." Banc-titre 40 (April 1984): 33-35.

Frank, Thomas, and Ollie Johnston. Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. New York: Abbeville, 1981.

Grant, John. Encyclopedia of Walt Disney Animated Characters. New York: Harper, 1987.

Grellner, Alice. "Two Films That Sparkle: The Sword in the Stone and Camelot. " In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Johnston, Ollie, and Frank Thomas. The Disney Villain. New York: Hyperion, 1993.

Krafsur, Richard P., ed. The American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films, 1961-1970. New York: Bowker, 1976.

Leebron, Elizabeth, and Lynn Gartley. Walt Disney, A Guide to References and Resources. Boston: Hall, 1979.

Matlin, Leonard. The Disney Films. Rev. ed. New York: Crown, 1984.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, S, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1987.

Plas, Marc. "'Merlin l'enchanteur' de Walt Disney: du roman médiéval au conte de fées." Cahiers de la cinémathèque 42-43 (Summer 1985): 103-04.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film From Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Sword of Lancelot, The (1963).

Great Britain; dir. Cornel Wilde; Emblem Productions.

Alternate title: Lancelot and Guinevere.

Cast: Brian Aherne, George Baker, Mark Dingham, Michael Meacham, Jean Wallace, and Cornel Wilde.

In order to marry Guinevere, the daughter of King Leodogran, Arthur must find a knight to defeat the giant who is Leodogran's champion. Lancelot accepts the challenge, mortally wounds his opponent, and escorts Guinevere to Camelot. Mordred plans to murder Guinevere, but Lancelot protects her, even as the two fall in love. Arthur and Guinevere marry, and at first she is loyal to Arthur. Eventually, she and Lancelot become lovers and are found out by Mordred. After Arthur banishes Lancelot and Guinevere enters a convent, Arthur is killed by Mordred who seizes the throne. Lancelot returns to defeat Mordred, but Guinevere remains in her convent to atone for her sins. This elaborately mounted production is clearly intended to be an intelligent adult version of the familiar story of Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere, and it largely succeeds, though it takes some minor liberties with its putative source, Sir Thomas Malory's fifteenth century Arthurian compendium Morte Darthur, especially in identifying Mordred as Arthur's brother.

Reviews:

Commonweal 78 (6 September 1963): 539.

Daily Cinema 3 May 1963: 5.

Film Daily 29 April 1963: 8.

Film Facts 6 (10 October 1963): 211-12.

Films and Filming 9 (July 1963): 24.

Hollywood Reporter 29 April 1963: 3.

Monthly Film Bulletin 30 (June 1963): 87.

Motion Picture Herald 229 (15 May 1963): Product Digest Section 809.

New York Times 10 October 1963: 49.

Newsweek 62 (28 October 1963): 97.

Sign 42 (June 1963): 42.

Times [London] 2 May 1963: 6.

Variety 1 May 1963: 6.

Additional discussions:

Chibnall, Bernard, and Michael Moulds, eds. The British National Film Catalogue. London: British National Film Catalogue, 1963.

Coen, John. "Producer/Director Cornel Wilde." Film Comment 6 (Spring 1970): 53-61.

Gow, Gordon. "Survival!" Films and Filming 17 (October 1970): 4-10.

Kaminsky, Stuart M. "Getting Back to Basics with Cornel Wilde." Take One 5 (October 1976): 22-24.

Krafsur, Richard P., ed. The American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films, 1961-1970. New York: Bowker, 1976.

Lancelot and Guinevere. London: Rank Film Distributors, [1963]. [Press book.]

Luciano, Patrick. With Fire and Sword, Italian Spectacles on American Screens 1958-1968. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1994.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, S, 1927-1983. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1987.

Parish, James Robert, and Don E. Stanke. The Swashbucklers. New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1976.

Richards, Jeffrey. Swordsmen of the Screen from Douglas Fairbanks to Michael York. London: Routledge, 1977.

Smith Gary. The Epic Film. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1991.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film From Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Sword of the Valiant (1983).

Great Britain; dir. Stephen Weeks; Cannon Films.

Alternate title: The Legend of Gawain and the Green Knight.

Cast: Cyrielle Claire, Sean Connery, Peter Cushing, Trevor Howard, and Miles O'Keefe.

At Christmastide, a mysterious Green Knight enters Camelot and challenges everyone present to an exchange of blows with an ax. A reluctant Gawain agrees and chops off the Green Knight's head. He offers Gawain a reprieve if within a year he can answer a riddle. Gawain sets off on a series of adventures, succeeds in answering the riddle, and marries his lady love. Somehow with this film, Weeks manages to make an even sillier version of what is arguably the finest Middle English romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, than he did in his 1973 film Gawain and the Green Knight.

Reviews:

Cinefantastique 15 (May 1985): 53.

Monthly Film Bulletin 52 (May 1985): 164-65.

Philadelphia Inquirer 3 December 1984: 8E.

Starburst 70 (June 1984): 24-25.

Variety 5 December 1984: 17.

Western Mail [England] 27 July 1985: 19.

Additional discussions:

Berry, David. Wales and Cinema, The First Hundred Years. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1994.

Blanch, Robert J., and Julian N. Wasserman. "Gawain on Film." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Dupuis, Jean Jacques. Sean Connery. Paris: Veyrier, 1986.

Jackson, Paul. "Please Don't Scratch the Walls." Western Mail [England] 4 December 1982: 7.

Munn, Michael. Trevor Howard: The Man and His Films. London: Robson, 1989.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, W-Z, 1927-1984. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1987.

Parker, John. Sean Connery. London: Gollancz, 1993.

Pfeiffer, Lee, and Philip Lisa. The Films of Sean Connery. New York: Citadel, 1993.

Sellers, Robert. The Films of Sean Connery. New York: St. Martin's, 1990.

Tanitch, Robert. Sean Connery. London: Chapmans, 1992.

Tennessee Ernie Ford Meets King Arthur (1960).

United States; dir. Lee J. Cobb; Ford Startime.

Cast: Danny Arnold, John Dehner, Robert Emhardt, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Alan Mowbray, Vincent Price, Addison Richards, and Alan Young.

Trapped inside a time machine, Tennessee Ernie Ford finds himself transported back to England in the days of King Arthur where he has a series of comic misadventures liberally punctuated with home-spun wit. This rare example of noted actor Lee J. Cobb's work as a director strips Twain's novel of any of its satiric edge.

Reviews:

Daily Variety 12 May 1960: 11.

Variety 18 May 1960: 39.

Additional discussions:

Gianakos, Larry James. Television Drama Series Programming: A Comprehensive Chronicle, 1959-1975. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1978.

"Rivals Dethrone Tenn. Ernie's 'King' in Rating's Race." Daily Variety 12 May 1960: 11.

Terrace, Vincent. Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials 1937-1973. New York: Zoetrope, 1986.

-----. Television Specials. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1995.

To Parsifal (1963).

United States; dir. Bruce Baillie; Canyon Cinema Co-op.

Baillie presents a modern day reinterpretation of the legend of Parsifal set against the backdrop of the Sierra Nevadas. The director has commented that his film is a tribute to the hero, who never appears, and to Wagner's opera.

Discussions:

Bragin, John. "The Work of Bruce Baillie." In Gregory Battock, ed. The New American Cinema. New York: Dutton, 1967.

"Bruce Baillie: An Interview." Film Comment 7 (Spring 1971): 24-32.

Curtis, David. Experimental Cinema. New York: Delta, 1971.

Nygren, Scott. "Myth and Bruce Baillie's To Parsifal." Field of Vision 13 (Spring 1985): 3-4.

Polt, Harriet. "The Films of Bruce Baillie." Film Comment 2 (Fall 1964): 50-53.

Sitney, Alan P. "Bruce Baillie and the Lyrical Film." In Annette Michelson, ed. New Forms in Film. Montreux, Switz.: Corbaz, 1974.

"Special Section: The Films of Bruce Baillie." Harbinger 1 (July 1967): 15-36.

Whitehall, Richard. "An Interview with Bruce Baillie." Film Culture 47 (Summer 1969): 16-20.

Tristan and Isolda (1911). See Tristan et Yseult (1911).

Tristan and Isolt (1979).

Ireland; dir. Tom Donovan; Clar Productions.

Alternate title: Lovespell.

Cast: Richard Burton, Nicholas Clay, Cyril Cusack, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Kate Mulgrew.

Tristan journeys to Ireland to bring back Princess Isolt as bride for his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall. After slaying a dragon, Tristan meets Isolt. As the two journey back to Cornwall, they accidentally drink a love potion, and the two become lovers. Burton is essentially wasted in this tepid cinematic retelling of the legend of Tristan and Isolt. Clay (Tristan) also played Lancelot in John Boorman's 1981 film Excalibur.

Discussions:

Alpert, Hollis. Burton. Toronto: Paper Jacks, 1987.

McMunn, Meradith T. "Filming the Tristan Myth: From Text to Icon." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Films. New York: Garland, 1991.

Steverson, Tyrone. Richard Burton, A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1992.

Tobin, Yan. "'Ce soir, je ferai pleuer le public.'" Positif 236 (December 1984): 11-15.

The Video Source Book. 8th ed. Syossett, N.Y.: National Video Clearinghouse, 1986.

Willis, John. Screen World. [Volume 33]. New York: Crown, 1982.

Tristan et Iseult (1972).

France; dir. Yvan Lagrange; Film du Soir.

Cast: Yvan Lagrange and Claire Wauthion.

Lagrange filmed this visually striking if not always coherent retelling of the legend of Tristan in Iceland. The director characterized his film as a "visual opera."

Reviews:

Cinéma [Paris] 187 (May 1974): 138.

Ecran 25 (May 1974): 68.

Image et son 284 (May 1974): 103-04; 288-89 (October 1974): 364-65.

Kino [Poland] 9 (January 1974): 60-61.

Téléciné 188 (May 1974): 27.

Variety 18 July 1973: 14.

Additional discussions:

McMunn, Meradith T. "Filming the Tristan Myth: From Text to Icon." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Payen, Jean Charles. "Le Tristan et Iseult de Lagrange comme un anti-Tristan." Tristania 4 (May 1979): 51-56.

Paquette, Jean-Marcel. "Le Derniere metamorphose de Tristan: Yvan Lagrange (1972)." In Ulrich Müller, et al., eds. Tristan et Iseut, mythe europeen et mondial. Göppingen: Kümmerle, 1987.

Selcer, Robert W. "Yvan Lagrange: Impressions of a Filmmaker." Tristania 4 (May 1979): 44-50.

Vialle, Gabriel. "Musique, la quatrième dimension." Image et son 29 (December 974): 10-12.

Tristan et Yseult (1909).

France; dir. Albert Capellani; Pathé Frères, S.C.A.G.L.

Cast: Paul Capelliani and Stacia Napierkowska.

Tristan falls in love with his uncle's fiancée with tragic consequences.

Discussion:

Mitry, Jean. Filmographie universelle: tome deuxième. Primitifs et précurseurs 1895-1915. Première partie: France et Europe. Paris: IDHEC, 1964.

Tristan et Yseult (1911).

France; dir. Ugo Falena; Il Film d'arte italiana, S.A.P.F.

Cast: Francesca Bertini, Bianca Lorenzoni, Serafino Mastracchio, and Giovanni Pezzinga.

Alternate title: Tristan and Isolda.

Accompanied by his slave Rosen, Tristan journeys to Ireland to bring Isolda back to be the bride of his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall. Rosen is, however, jealous of his master's attentions to Isolda and attempts to poison Tristan. At the last minute, the poison is changed to a love potion, which both Tristan and Isolda drink. Once back in Cornwall, the two run off and are denounced by Rosen. Mark is, however, moved out of pity for their youth and pardons Tristan and Isolda, but the two, realizing that they cannot overcome their love, commit suicide.

Review:

Bioscope 28 September 1911: supplement v.

Additional discussion:

Bousquet, Henri. Catalogue Pathé des années 1896 à 1914: 1910-1911. Paris: Henri Bousquet, 1994.

Tristan et Yseut (1920).

France; dir. Maurice Mariaud; Nalpas.

Cast: Sylvio de Pedrelli, Frank Heurs, and Andre Lionel.

Alternate title: Tristram and Isolda.

Tristram of Cornwall defeats an Irish messenger demanding tribute, but is wounded in the effort. Put out to sea to die, he washes up on the Irish coast and is nursed by Isolda, daughter of the Irish king, who falls in love with him. Tristram sails back to Cornwall only to have to return to Ireland to bring Isolda back as bride for his uncle, King Mark. She reluctantly marries Mark, but her love for Tristram only grows, and the two run away. Caught, they are forgiven by Mark once Isolda proves her chastity by an ordeal of fire. Tristram sets sail and meets Yolande, daughter of the Duke of Brittany, who falls in love with him. Her lover mortally wounds Tristram who sends for Isolda. She arrives too late and dies in despair. This well-made and well-received film contains one unintentionally amusing scene. Tristram jumps from a very high tower, a distance of at least 200 feet, lands on his feet, and walks away unharmed.

Review:

Kinematograph Weekly 24 November 1921: 73-74.

Additional discussions:

Abel, Richard. French Cinema, The First Wave, 1915-1926. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.

Bardèche, Maurice, and Robert Brasillach. Histoire du cinéma. Rev. ed. 2 vols. Givors: Martel, 1953-1954.

Fescourt, Henri. La Foi et les montagnes. Paris: Montel, 1959.

Landry, Lionel. "La Reconstuction historique." Cinémagazine 3 (14 September 1923): 368.

Tristan und Isolde (1981). See Fire and Sword (1981).

Tristana (1970).

Spain; dir. Luis Buñuel; Epoca Film.

Cast: Antonio Casas, Catherine Deneuve, Jésus Fernández, Lola Gaos, Franco Nero, Fernando Rey, and Vincente Soler.

The young Tristana finds herself in the care of the much older Don Lope, but Tristana is in love with the much younger Horacio. Unwilling to make a commitment to Horacio, she returns instead to the care of Don Lope. When she loses a leg because of cancer, she marries Don Lope, but remains in love with Horacio. From the novel by Benito Pérez Galdós, Buñuel's film has a complicated political subtext about power and gender. In addition, it represents a contemporary revision of the Tristan legend, one of several which see Tristan as a woman.

Reviews:

Cahiers du cinéma 225 (November-December 1970): 58-60.

Celuloide 13 (February 1970): 14-17, 147.

Cineforum 260 (December 1986): 35-40.

Cinéma [Paris] 9 (July-August 1970): 22-23.

Cinema 2002 37 (March 1978): 82-83.

Cinema nuovo 23 (September-October 1970): 377; 24 (March-April 1971): 116-19.

Cinestudio 84 (April 1970): 33-34.

Daily News [New York] 22 September 1970: 77.

Evening News [Newark] 21 September 1970: 14.

Film Heritage 7 (Winter 1971-1972): 1-9.

Film Quarterly 24 (Winter 1970-1971): 52-53.

Films and Filming 18 (January 1972): 58-59.

Hollywood Reporter 24 September 1970: 8.

Image et son 240 (June-July 1970): 128-29.

Life 69 (6 November 1970): 11.

Lumière du cinéma 10 (December 1977): 72-75.

Monthly Film Bulletin 454 (November 1971): 226; 456 (January 1972): 23.

Monogram 5 (1974): 19-20.

Morning Telegraph [New York] 22 September 1970: 3.

New York 3 (28 September 1970): 55.

New York Post 22 September 1970: 73.

New York Times 21 September 1970: 54; 27 September 1970: 2. 1, 3.

New Yorker 46 (26 September 1970): 123-24.

Newsweek 76 (12 October 1970): 112.

Observer [London] 3 October 1971: 35.

Positif 254-55 (May 1982): 86-87.

Revue du cinéma 470 (April 1991): 46.

Saturday Review 53 (3 October 1970): 50.

Séquences 180 (September-October 1995): 43.

Sight and Sound 40 (Spring 1971): 103; NS 3 (August 1993): 62.

Skrien 149 (September-October 1986): 16-17.

Télérama 8 March 1995: 109.

Time 96 (23 September 1970): 74.

To-day's Cinema 15 October 1971: 8.

Variety 8 April 1980: 16.

Village Voice 15 October 1970: 55.

Women's Wear Daily 22 September 1970: 20.

Additional discussions:

Baxter, John. Buñuel. London: Fourth Estate, 1994.

Buache, Freddy. The Cinema of Luis Buñuel. Trans. Peter Graham. London: Tantivity Press, 1973.

Buñuel, Luis. "Tristana." Avant-scène du cinéma 110 (January 1971): 7-54. [Screenplay.]

-----. Tristana. Trans. Nicholas Fry. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1971. [Screenplay.]

Dongan, Christine. "Tristana." Cahiers de la cinémathèque 38-39 (Winter 1984) 168-76.

Durgnat, Ray. "Tristana." Film Comment 10 (September-October 1974): 54-62.

Eidsvik, Charles. "Dark Laughter, Buñuel's Tristana (1970)." In Andrew Horton and Joan Magretta, eds. Modern European Filmmakers and the Art of Adaptation. New York: Ungar, 1981.

Edwards, Gwynne. Indecent Exposures: Buñuel, Saura, Erice and Almodóvar. London: Marion Boyars, 1995.

Grossvogel, David. I. "Buñuel's Obsessed Camera: Tristana Dismembered." Diacritics 2 (Spring 1972): 51-56.

Mellen, Joan. Women and Their Sexuality in the New Film. London: Davis-Poynter, 1974.

Miller, Beth. "From Mistress to Murderess: The Metamorphosis of Buñuel's Tristana." In Beth Miller, ed. Women in Hispanic Literature: Icons and Fallen Idols. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide, T-V, 1927-1984. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1987.

"[Dossier on]Tristana." Cahiers de la cinéma 223 (August 1970): 5-28.

Tristram and Isolda (1920). See Tristan et Yseut (1920).

Unidentified Flying Oddball, The (1979).

United States; dir. Russ Mayberry; Walt Disney Productions.

Alternate title: The Spaceman and King Arthur.

Cast: Jim Dale, Dennis Dugan, John Le Mesurier, Ron Moody, Kenneth More, and Sheila White.

With a look-alike humanoid robot in tow, a reluctant astronaut is inadvertently whisked back to King Arthur's Court to battle Mordred and Merlin on the king's behalf. Of all the adaptations of Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Mayberry's film--despite the license it takes with plot--may be truest to the humor found in the original novel.

Reviews:

Boxoffice 115 (6 August 1979): 20.

Columbia [New Haven] 59 (October 1979): 41.

Ecran fantastique 11 (1979): 7.

Film Bulletin 48 (September 1978): Review-D.

Films Illustrated 8 (July 1979): 412.

Independent Film Journal 82 (September 1979): 14, 55.

Monthly Film Bulletin 46 (July 1979): 154-55.

Screen International 198 (14-21 July 1979): 18.

Tablet [London] 233 (28 July 1979): 730.

Variety 18 July 1979: 16.

Additional discussions:

Crume, Vic. The Unidentified Flying Oddball. New York: Scholastic Book Services, 1979. [Novelization.]

Hardy, Phil, ed. Science Fiction, The Aurum Film Encyclopedia. London: Aurum, 1992.

Harty, Kevin J. "Camelot Twice Removed: Knightriders and the Film Versions of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Just, Lothar R., ed. Das Filmjahr '80/81. Munich: Filmland Presse, 1981.

Nash, Jay Robert, and Stanley Ralph Ross. The Motion Picture Guide 1927-1983, Volume 8, T-V. Chicago: Cinebooks, 1987.

Simon, Heather. The Spaceman and King Arthur. London: New English Library, 1979. [Novelization.]

Thompson, Raymond H. "The Ironic Tradition in Arthurian Films Since 1960." In Kevin J. Harty, ed. Cinema Arthuriana, Essays on Arthurian Film. New York: Garland, 1991.

Tous les films 1981. Paris: Éditions O.C.F.C., 1982.

Umland, Rebecca A., and Samuel J. Umland. The Use of Arthurian Legend in Hollywood Film From Connecticut Yankees to Fisher Kings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1996.

Vaines, Colin. "King Arthur's Yankee Enters the Space Age." Screen International 5 August 1978: 10-11.

Willis, Donald C. Horror and Science Fiction Films II. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1982.

Woman Next Door, The (1981).

France; François Truffaut; Les Films di Carrosse-TFI/UA

Alternate title: La Femme d'à côté.

Cast: Fanny Ardant, Michele Baumgartner, Gerard Depardieu, Henri Garcin, and Veronique Silver.

Mathilde and Bernard, formerly lovers and now each married to another, become obsessed with each other again. Their rekindled love affair becomes increasingly violent and ends with Mathilde shooting first Bernard and then herself. Truffaut offers up here what some have seen as a contemporary reworking of the legend of Tristan and Isolde.

Reviews:

Cahiers du cinéma 329 (November 1981): 51-52.

Casablanca 17 (May 1982): 51-52.

Chaplin 24.3 (1982): 141-42.

Christian Science Monitor 22 October 1981: 18.

Cine revue 61 (September 1981): 18-21.

Cineaste 12.1 (1982): 56-57.

Cineforum 22 (January-February 1982): 43-48.

Cinéma [Paris] 274 (October 1981): 98-99.

Cinéma de France 58 (September-October 1981): 15, 23.

Cinema nuovo 31 (June 1982): 45-46.

Cinématographe 73 (December 1981): 85.

Cinemateca revista 38 (May 1983): 55-57.
Continental Film and Video Review 28 (12 October 1981): 14-15.

Contrecampo 29 (April-June 1982): 85.

Daily News [New York] 12 October 1981: 37.

Film a doba 31 (July 1985): 404-05.

Film français 20 March 1981: 14.

Film og kino 50 (July 1982): 257-58.

Films [Great Britain] 2 (March 1982): 32-33.

Films and Filming 329 (February 1982): 32.

Films in Review 33 (March 1982): 172.

Hollywood Reporter 20 October 1981: 2.

Iskusstvo kino 12 (December 1983): 149-52.

Jeune cinéma 138 (November): 37-38.

Listener 28 January 1982: 27-28.

Monthly Film Bulletin 49 (February 1982): 27.

Nation 233 (7 November 1981): 484.

New Leader 16 November 1981: 17-18.

New Republic 185 (11 November 1981): 24-25.

New Statesman 103 (22 January 1982): 22-23.

New York 14 (2 November 1981): 60.

New York Post 9 October 1981: 48.

New York Times 9 October 1981: C8; 11 October 1981: 2. 19, 24; 18 October 1981: 2. 1, 30; 30 October 1981: C8.

Newsweek 98 (19 October 1982): 92.

Pic Biz 20 (July-August 1981): 3.

Positif 248 (November 1981): 59-61.

Revue du cinéma 366 (November 1981): 31-34.

San Francisco Chronicle 17 December 1981: 82.

Segnocinema 2 (March 1982): 58.

Séquences 37 (April 1982): 25-26.

Skoop 18 (June 1982): 35.

Skrien 121 (September 1982): 7.

Stills 1 (Winter 1982): 92.

Sunday Times [London] 24 January 1982: 40.

Time 118 (2 November 1981): 115.

Times [London] 22 January 1982: 11.

Times [London] Literary Supplement 12 February 1982: 160.

Variety 30 September 1981: 22.

Village Voice 14 October 1981: 47.

Women's Wear Daily 12 October 1981: 20.

Additional discussions:

Allen, Don. Finally Truffaut. New York: Beaufort Books, 1985.

Collet, Jean. François Truffaut. Paris: Lherminier, 1985.

DeFornai, Oreste. I Film di François Truffaut. Rome: Gremese Editore, 1990.

Guérif, François. François Truffaut. Paris: Edilig, 1988.

Insdorf, Annette. François Truffaut. Rev. ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

Le Berre, Carole. François Truffaut. Paris: Cahiers du cinéma, 1993.

Nicholls, David. François Truffaut. London: Batsford, 1993.

Truffaut, François. "La Femme d'à côté." Avant-scène du cinéma 389 (February 1990): 1-93. [Screenplay and special issue.]

Waltz, Eugene P. François Truffaut: A Guide to References and Resources. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1982.

Young Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A (1995).

Canada; dir. R. L. Thomas; Filmline International.

Cast: Paul Hopkins, Jack Langedijk, Nick Mancuso, Philippe Ross, Theresa Russell, Polly Shannon, and Michael York.

Nearly electrocuted by a short in his guitar amplifier, shy suburban teenager Hank awakens stunned to find himself in King Arthur's Court. Dubbed Sir Dude, Hank retraces with some 1990s updates the misadventures of Twain's Connecticut Yankee managing to save Camelot in the process from the wiles of Morgan Le Fay. The worst of three very bad adaptations of Twain's novel that turn the Yankee into a teenager--the other two are the commercially released A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995) and NBC's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1989)--this telefilm, which first aired on Canada's The Movie Network on 1 June 1995, was rightly dismissed by Greg Quill from the Toronto Star as "an embarrassment to Canadian filmmaking, a fiasco from start to finish."

Reviews:

Arthuriana 6 (Summer 1996): 115-18.

Globe and Mail [Toronto] 1 June 1995: C1.

Additional discussions:

Ailman, Sid. "Singer Sells New Album on Computer Network." Toronto Star 24 October 1994: C5.

Quill, Greg. "CBC Critics Best Heed a Warning from U.S." Toronto Star 1 June 1995: B8.