Talk:Knights of the Round Table (film)

The film credits may say this is based on Malory's Morte D'Arthur, but that's very loose. In this film, Mordred is already grown by the time that Arthur even attempts to claim the throne of England, and Arthur has to conquer him. In virtually all other versions, Mordred has not even been born at this time, and only appears when he begins to (successfully) plot the downfall of a Camelot that has been established for several years. I realize that to be family-friendly, they have to avoid the motif of Mordred being the product of unknowing incest, but this is ridiculous. The article should mention that in spite of claiming to be based on Malory, it radically, almost wholly deviates from him.--WickerGuy (talk) 05:53, 26 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Absolutely, it should be pointed out. But nobody was ever under oath about sources when transmitting or inventing Arthurian material. The credits are in the tradition of Geoffrey of Monmouth's claim he based his History of the Kings of Britain on "a certain most ancient book in the British language" he got from Walter of Oxford. And as for being ridiculous, that fiber too twists through the length of the line. The legend is so robust, so diverse in its appeal, that it is immune to travesty. If there's a Three Stooges short with Moe as Arthur, Curly as Lancelot, and Larry as Merlin, the fidelity it owes the tradition is to provide a stirring narrative. Jackaroodave (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 11:38, 14 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. In the original Modred is the incestuous offspring of Arthur and his half-sister Morgan Le Fay. That would probably be unacceptable in a commercial Hollywood production in the early 1950s - and they would have the Hays Office to deal with. Instead they show Modred and Morgan as (unmarried) lovers, but so discreetly that the audience is left to figure that out for itself. The couple are never shown kissing, or even embracing, until Modred is dying and a tearful Morgan is keening over him. I've always found this moment impressive, even moving. Richard Thorpe was a better director than he was usually credited with being - certainly not a studio hack. O Murr (talk) 18:46, 19 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The battle scenes in this film appear to be massively cribbed from Laurence Olivier's film of Henry V from 1944. Similar music, similar shots, similar color schemes down to a T.--WickerGuy (talk) 05:57, 26 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Not 'massive', but there certainly are similarities. The charge of Arthur's knights that opens the first battle is reminiscent of the charge of the French knights that opens the Battle of Agincourt in Olivier's film, with the cavalry moving from right to left across the screen in a long tracking shot. But, as Olivier and his team acknowledged, that itself was inspired by the charge of the German knights in Sergei Eisenstein's "Alexander Nevsky" (1938). ( Although, in my opinion, Olivier surpassed Eisenstein here if nowhere else, except for the final single combat between Henry and the Constable.) Miklos Rozsa doesn't attempt to copy William Walton's fabulous Charge music - he had enormous admiration for Walton, describing him in his autobiography as 'the best'. The armour, surcoats and horse harnesses are different, but the heraldic colours are similar. The costumes for both films were the work of the same designer, Roger Furse. O Murr (talk) 19:22, 19 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Laurence Harvey is mentioned as an uncredited cast member both here and on IMDb. I have never been able to identify him in the film. Does anyone have any more information on this issue? O Murr (talk) 08:31, 8 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

citing one random academic in an obscure academic article is not appropriate for this article or subject—Preceding unsigned comment added by Dondoolee (talk • contribs) 23:52, 28 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

It may be noted that, in the film's opening credits, 11 cast members are listed. Below is a reproduction of the form in which the cast is indicated:

The on-screen closing credits, however, list the names of three additional cast members, for a total of 14 billed performers. Below is a reproduction of the form in which the cast is depicted in the closing credits:

                                                                            Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 10:42, 26 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]