La corona y la espada

One of the best sword and pageantry epics of the 1950s is MGM's "Ivanhoe". It's exciting, well acted and simply fun. However, despite "Quentin Durward" also starring Robert Taylor in yet another Sir Walter Scott novel, the experience is not nearly as satisfying. In fact, while the film isn't bad, it is a bit long and tedious at times.

When the story begins in the late 15th century, Quentin's elderly uncle is planning on marrying. While he is far from a great catch when you see him, he is a minor nobleman whose title would make a decent match back in the day. But before this old goat marries, he wants Quentin to leave their beloved Scotland and go to see the woman in France. He wants to be assured she's beautiful AND rich! Unfortunately, she's both....and Durward himself is smitten with her. There's a lot more to the film, involving Quentin going into the service of the very duplicitous King Louis...but essentially all this is subserviant to the romance.

The film looks good and was filmed on location. The castles are real and the costumes very nice. But the story itself and dialog...sluggish and hard to love. I found myself feeling tired throughout the film...and that normally means the film is a bit of a bore.

By the way, the portrayal of the Gypsies/Romani in this film is far from being politically correct. Deal with it or just skip the film.

A peripheral pleasure was the sight of those great English character actors, the backbone of so many heroic films. Alec Clunes for example, whose son, Martin, is such a favourite today. Wilfred Hyde White, usually an elegant toff, was here a barber with a delightful wig shaving Robert Morley. He of course was in danger of stealing the show, a villain with a winning smile and wonderful accent. I relished the sight of a Kay Kendall in what appeared to be a white nightdress; but even more more striking was the speed with which she added a robe, whilst running round the castle with Taylor. We so easily take the music for granted; here it was expertly matched to the action, wonderfully orchestrated and brilliantly played and conducted - but by whom? The composer Bronislaw Kaper? Was it recorded in London or Hollywood? The professional skill that these musicians displayed deserves far more attention. Too often today the score is synthesised, or inanely repetitious regardless of the scene and the action.

Richard Thorpe managed a few amusing moments in "The Adventures of Quentin Durward" which has a trapped Kay Kendall, whose only hard way to escape was to get rid from the evil black villain William De La Marck (Ducan Lamont).

Robert Taylor (Quentin Durward) engaged with De La Marck a rare but extremely exciting duel to-the-death with ax and dagger in the burning bell tower, swinging on the bell ropes in a rhythmic motion, getting from side to side with the sound of the ringing bells, until the destruction of the vile Count...

The best part of the film is the performance of the delicious heroine, Kay Kendall, 'one of the Cinema's few outstanding Comediennes,'whose beauty and artistic talent flourished the story, set in the 15th-Century France...

Kay Kendall (1926-59) went away much too young of leukemia...

Kay performed the maiden in distress, the medieval heroine fitting well into a motion picture which caught beautifully Scott's novel... The plot was simple: an elderly English Lord (Ernest Thesiger) sends his nephew (Robert Taylor) to seek in marriage a French Lady (Kay Kendall) on his behalf... He falls in love with her himself..

Sir Walter Scott wrote the novel in 1823... His 'Ivanhoe, 'The Talisman' and 'Rob Roy' have received most attention from filmmakers...

Another quality of "The Adventures of Quentin Durward" is the good acting of Robert Morley as the cunning, outrageous, very winding King, a characterization so different to his great performance as the weak-minded Louis XVI in "Marie-Antoinette" opposite Norma Shearer... This delightful British actor played excellent supporting roles in good-humored or pretentious roles...

Robert Taylor was the perfect cavalier, the man of word and sword, the romantic adventurer who appeared to relieve a charming Lady..

This is a film to be watched with a wide and affectionate grin. Outstanding are Robert Morley as Louis XI, the infamous and wily 'Spider' of France, and Robert Taylor as the eponymous Durward, a would-be chivalrous hero born out of his time who is none too sure of himself. The necessary, and highly satisfactory, heroics are spiced with a rich leavening of humour and some genuine moral questions - how much should a man sacrifice for his country's sake? His love? His life? His honour?

But above all it is a joyous and thrilling romp that doesn't take itself too seriously. Durward wants to be a knight in shining armour, but circumstances tend to conspire against him, and his lady is definitely the stronger-willed of the two; though like the audience, she cannot resist his puppydog charm. And ambiguous, cynical, cowardly Louis is often in danger of stealing the show outright, as he sits at the centre of his web and pulls the strings that manipulate all the other characters - a far-from-two-dimensional villain after my own heart!

Definitely a superior swashbuckler, with a saving vein of humour.

For a French viewer,it is always much fun to see how Hollywood treats our history.For sure,Louis the Eleventh would be amazed if he saw the Château de Chambord in his kingdom whereas this castle (400 chimneys)was built more than thirty years after his death.But on the other hand his castle of Plessis -Lès-Tours (Lès doesn't mean 'the' but "next to" ) was his favorite residence:it's here that he kept his Fillettes (=girlies) where he imprisoned his enemies.Unfortunately these cages do not appear in the movie.

However,Hollywood shows the historical figures as French conventions do in cinema:Robert Morley's shrewd smart king and Charles Le Téméraire (Charles the Bold)are depicted in the same way as in "Le Miracle Des Loups" a French classic swashbuckler which was filmed twice ,the first version by Raymond Bernard in the silent age.

"Quentin Durward" is entertaining stuff,suitable for the whole family but it is not as exciting as "Knights of the Round Table "-which featured a more beautiful leading lady in the shape of Ava Gardner- or mainly "the prisoner of Zenda" ,my favorite Thorpe movie.Besides,the part of the villain is too underwritten (remember James Mason in "Zenda").Best moment:the duel among the bells .