Camelot is a 1967 film adaptation of the musical of the same name. Richard Harris stars as Arthur, Vanessa Redgrave as Guinevere, and Franco Nero as Lancelot. The film was directed by Joshua Logan.

Plot[link]

Unlike the original stage version, the main plot of the film is presented as a long flashback. In the opening scene, King Arthur (Richard Harris) is preparing for a great battle against his friend, Sir Lancelot (Franco Nero), a battle he does not wish to fight but has been forced into. Arthur reflects on the sad circumstances which have led him to this situation, and asks his childhood mentor, Merlin, for advice. Merlin appears to him and tells Arthur to think back. It is now that the main plot begins.^[2]

Arthur thinks back to the night of his marriage to his now estranged wife, Guinevere. It is an arranged marriage, and he has never met her before. He is understandably afraid of what lies ahead, ("I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight"). His solitude is broken by Guinevere and her entourage. Guinevere is also worried about marrying a man she has never met, and longs for an easier life, ("The Simple Joys of Maidenhood"). Like Arthur, she flees from her entourage to reflect on her future. Arthur accidentally falls out of the tree he is hiding on, almost crashing down on top of her. Not knowing each other's identities, they talk, and realise they have things in common. Arthur tells her what a wonderful place his kingdom is ("Camelot"), and they almost kiss, but are interrupted by men sent out to find Arthur. The men reveal Arthur's identity, and the couple are happily married. The plot shifts to five years later. Arthur confides to Guinevere his idea for a "Round Table" that would seat all the noble knights of the realm, reflecting not only a crude type of democratic ideal, but also the political unification of England. Knights are shown gathering from all over England. The plot shifts another five years, and word of Arthur's Round Table spreads to France. Inspired by Arthur’s ideas, the self-righteous French knight Lancelot makes his way to England, along with Dap, his squire, boasting of his superior virtues ("C'est Moi").

Lancelot's prowess impresses Arthur, and they become friends, but many of the knights despise him for his self-righteousness. Guinevere dislikes him at first, and incites three of the best knights- Sir Lionel, Sir Sagramore and Sir Dinadan- to challenge him to a joust, ("Then You May Take Me To The Fair").

The plan goes awry, however, as Lancelot easily defeats all three knights, almost killing Sir Dinadan (in the stage version it is Sir Lionel that he almost kills). Guinevere is so impressed that her feelings for Lancelot begin to change. Soon afterwards, it is revealed that, despite his vows of celibacy, Lancelot is in love with Guinevere, leading to the famous love triangle involving Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot. Guinevere knows it is wrong, however, and tries to get Lancelot out of her life, but he refuses to leave, ("If Ever I Would Leave You"). Arthur realizes that there is something going on between Lancelot and Guinevere, but cannot bring himself to alienate either of them, and so turns a blind eye. Mordred (David Hemmings), Arthur's illegitimate son from an affair with a woman named Morgeuse, arrives at Camelot, bitter at Arthur's refusal to recognize him and determined to bring down the fellowship of the Round Table by stirring up trouble. All this takes its toll on Arthur's disposition, and Guinevere tries, but fails, to cheer him up, ("What Do The Simple Folk Do?").

Mordred cunningly convinces Arthur to stay out hunting all night, knowing Lancelot will visit Guinevere in her chamber. Everything happens as Mordred expected. Guinevere admits her feelings for Lancelot, but still feels guilty, ("I Loved You Once In Silence"). Mordred rouses several knights, and they catch the lovers together, as he planned. Lancelot escapes, but Guinevere is arrested and sentenced to die at the stake. Arthur, who has promoted the rule of law throughout the story, is now bound by his own law; he can make no special exceptions for the Queen and/or his own wife. Preparations are made for Guinevere's burning, ("Guinevere"), but Lancelot rescues her at the last minute, much to Arthur's relief. In the film’s final scene, we return to the opening. Arthur is preparing for battle against Lancelot, at the insistence of his knights who want revenge, and England appears headed into the Dark Ages. He suddenly receives a surprise visit from Lancelot and Guinevere, who has become a nun. Arthur and Guinevere share an emotional farewell. The battle must continue, however. Prior to the battle, Arthur stumbles across a young boy named Tom, who wishes to become a Knight of the Round Table. Arthur is skeptical at first, but Tom espouses his commitment to Arthur's original ideal of "Not might makes right, but might for right." Arthur realizes that, although most of his plans have fallen through, the ideals of Camelot still live on in this simple boy. Arthur knights Tom and gives him his orders - to run behind the lines and survive the battle, so he can tell future generations about the legend of Camelot. Watching Tom leave, Arthur regains his hope for the future, ("Camelot (reprise)").

Several songs were omitted from the film version - "The Jousts", a choral episode in which the jousts, which occur offstage in the play, are described (in the film they are shown), "Before I Gaze At You Again", sung by Guinevere to an offstage Lancelot, "The Seven Deadly Virtues", sung by Mordred, "Persuasion", sung in a scene not in the film, in which Mordred persuades Morgan Le Fay, who is omitted from the film's screenplay, to conjure up an enchantment to keep Arthur in the forest so that Guenevere and Lancelot's affair can be exposed, and "Fie On Goodness!", sung by the knights, in which they bemoan the fact that they are no longer allowed to administer punishment no matter how inappropriate, but according to the law. (Actually, some of these songs were cut during the original Broadway run of "Camelot", because they made the play too long.)

The lyrics of the song "Follow Me", which was sung in the play by the water nymph Nimue to entice Merlin to her cave, were completely rewritten and the song was sung by an offscreen chorus in a new scene written for the film. Nimue does not appear in the film.

Cast[link]

• Richard Harris as King Arthur
• Vanessa Redgrave as Guinevere
• Franco Nero as Lancelot du Lac (with the singing voice of Gene Merlino)
• David Hemmings as Mordred
• Lionel Jeffries as King Pellinore
• Laurence Naismith as Merlin
• Pierre Olaf as Dap
• Estelle Winwood as Lady Clarinda
• Gary Marshal as Sir Lionel
• Anthony Rogers as Sir Dinadan
• Peter Bromilow as Sir Sagramore
• Sue Casey as Lady Sibyl
• Gary Marsh as Tom of Warwick
• Nicolas Beauvy as young Arthur

Releases[link]

While the official running time was 179 minutes plus overture, entre'acte and exit music, only the 70mm blow up prints and 35mm magnetic stereo prints contained that running time. The general release version ran 150 minutes. Cuts were made in dialogue throughout the film and a number of songs including "C'est Moi" and "What do the Simple Folk Do". Omitted scenes include Arthur explaining what he means when he says that Merlin lives backwards, and the entire flashback of Arthur in the forest recalling Merlin's schoolhouse.^{[citation needed]}

Television broadcasts and home video versions contain the complete, uncut copy of the movie. The severely (and some would say sloppily) cut general release version (150 minutes) has not been seen since the 1973 re-release.

Awards[link]

The film, nominated for five Academy Awards, won three ^[3] for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (John Truscott, Edward Carrere, John W. Brown), Best Costume Design, and Best Music-Scoring of Music (Adaptation or Treatment). It was also nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Sound.^[4] It also won three Golden Globe Awards and was nominated for an additional three.^[5]

The film is also notable as the only instance in which a song written for a Broadway show won a Golden Globe award. The category it won in, Best Original Song Written for a Motion Picture, is reserved only for songs explicitly written for films, not stage musicals, but in this instance, an exception was made, and the song If Ever I Would Leave You (mislabeled If Ever I Should Leave You on the award) won the Golden Globe that year. Whether this was an accidental oversight on the part of the Foreign Press Association, or a deliberate attempt to circumvent the rules, is unknown, but it had never happened before, and has not happened since. In addition, Frederick Loewe was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Score, although the score was written for the Broadway stage, and not for film.

Richard Harris won the 1968 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.^[6]

See also[link]

• List of American films of 1967
• List of films based on Arthurian legend

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Camelot (film)

• Camelot at the Internet Movie Database
• Camelot at AllRovi
• Camelot at Rotten Tomatoes