Prince Valiant

Ah, for the days of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, when men were knights and boys wanted to be one. "Prince Valiant" is a fantasy swashbuckler film based on the long-time syndicated comic strip of the same name by Hal Foster. Robert Wagner isn't at the level of Douglas Fairbanks Jr. or Errol Flynn, nor is this film quite the actioner of those made by those actors. But, this is a fun and entertaining film from the mid-20th century when the tales of knights, pirates and adventurers were highly popular with Hollywood and audiences.

Foster's comic strip brought to life much of the lore of the legendary early British period. And, this is one of the first films about the main characters of the legend. The film has a fine cast. It's a picturesque story with great sets and costumes as imagined for the period.

The castles, coastal scenes, sword fights and tournaments of knights should still delight young audiences of the 21st century. And, the story isn't without romance with a couple of maiden beauties for whose hands in marriage most red-blooded knights would gladly vie.

This is a particularly good film for young boys well into the 21st century. The hero, Prince Valiant, is not an invincible knight who conquers all. Instead, he's a human being with faults who makes mistakes. Robert Wagner plays the part well as a young lad with dreams who stumbles and falls a couple of times in his pursuit of valor and honor. That makes a better lesson for today than the standard fantasies of super heroes that Hollywood cranks out.

First and the best adaptation upon ¨Hal Foster's Prince Valiant¨ famous comic strip ; this decent movie (1954) by Henry Hathaway boasts itself a great cast , such as Robert Wagner , Janet Leigh , Victor McLagen , Donald Crisp , Sterling Hayden and Debra Paget . Spectacular adventure with a lot of colorful pageantry and old-fashioned action , concerning about Prince Valiant , Black Knight , and King Arthur , though the movie falls short . It packs a non-sense blending of romance and Dark Ages action , as the screenwriters don't get the appropriate touch . Prince Valiant (Robert Wagner), son of the exiled King of Scandia , journeys to England . There Arthur (Brian Aherne) governs in the legendary citadel that is Camelot . Valiant attempts to become himself a knight at King Arthur's Round Table . His Knights of the Round Table commit acts of derring-do and spend their spare time jousting and enjoying feasts . There young Valiant who wields his sword with vigour is given the task to be the squire to Sir Gawain (Sterling Hayden who easily steals the acting honors) , one of King Arthur's knights along with Sir Tristram (John Dierkes) , Sir Lancelot (Don Megowan) , Sir Kay , Perceval , among others . Later on , Prince Valiant sets out to chase the Black Knight . But our real hero is wounded and he is then cared by the gorgeous princess Aleta (Janet Leigh) , as the young twosome fall in love . Meantime , an evil tyrant , and villainous leader Viking overthrows his father King Aguar (Donald Crisp) , the Christian King of Scandia .

This is a Medieval tale with adventures , full-bloodied action , unspeakable dialog , villainy , terrific jousting , love stories and heroism in the grandeur of Scope although in television set loses splendor . The movie displays breathtaking battles , being ambitious in scope with heroic confrontation and a striking final climax for a mortal duel . Handsome story , being decently written by Dudley Nichols , John Ford's regular , though contains some awkward narrative elements . Excellent settings , monumental castles , outdoors and tournaments or jousts are well staged . However this spectacular film never takes off as it should despite pomp and circumstance showed , being excessively sentimental , so you'll be excited and embarrassed alternately . In any case , filmmaker does some breathtaking set pieces and the attack of a Viking castle turns out to be colorful and vividly thrilling . This is the classic story of romantic adventure come to life enriched by glamorous color and overwhelming fights . Excellent performance by James Mason , displaying efficiently his interpreting skills , proving what a good player he really is . And Janet Leigh and Debra Paget look chastely desirable , as always . Supporting cast is frankly good though wasted , employing such notorious players and not building them roles with which to make a considerable impact , as the screenplay never give them a chance , there appear fine secondary stars as Donald Crisp , Brian Aherne , Barry Jones , Tom Conway and Neville Brand . Brilliant cinematography in CinemaScope by Lucien Ballard who photographs splendidly the jousting scenes and the burning of an impressive stronghold . Rousing and moving musical score by Frank Skinner . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Henry Hathaway .

Other rendition was ¨Prince Valiant¨ (1997) by Anthony Hickock , it is another attempt to literally transfer a comic-strip about the Arthurian saga to the screen , including a modern dialog and the whole cast is far too distinguished to be appearing in this sort of caricature of Medieval legends and non-sense , it stars Katherine Heigl who is inappropriate here , holding an excessive ironic tone prankster , Stephen Moyer , Thomas Kretschmann , Ron Perlman , Joanna Lumley , Edward Fox and Udo Kier . And an animation retelling titled ¨Legend of Prince Valiant¨(1991) with voice by Robby Benson as Valiant and Efren Zimbalist Jr as Arthur . Other movies on the matter of legends of Arthur resulted to be : (1953) the classic ¨Knights of the Round Table¨ (by Richard Thorpe) , the musical ¨Camelot¨ (Joshua Logan), the fantastic ¨Excalibur¨ (John Boorman) , ¨First Knight¨ (Jerry Zucker) and recently ¨King Arthur¨ (Antoine Fuqua) . The picture will appeal to aficionados with chivalric ideals and epic movies fans , it is a passable production that will lose much on small television screen . Rating : 6.5/10 , acceptable , well worth seeing

Fifty years ago moviegoers found that Fox's PRINCE VALIENT was much better than expected, thanks to Henry Hathaway's fine direction and a wealth of good sense from 20th Century-Fox. Fox was still well-taken with their new CinemaScope process that just begged for action and beautiful, colorful settings. This movie excels at all, but it's mostly the rock-solid story of King Arthur and the Vikings that makes it.

Screen beauties Janet Leigh and Debra Paget almost never showed any leg in any movie, and herein (sorry) are fully covered as usual. Anyway, it's the men who dominate this story. Robert Wagner is perfect as Valient, and Sterling Hayden is at the top of his form, as is James Mason.

Truth is that in the age of comic book movies (2000-2008) Hollywood's cocaine sniffers have no clue how to craft this genre with any classic quality. The secret is to focus on (1) story, (2) character development, (3) spectacular sets and scenery, (4) challenge, redemption, faith, patriotism. The religion and honor in Prince Valient would make today's godless movie industry cringe.

These days the focus (if any) would be on animation, choppy editing, almost no dialog, and the usual/identical musical score: vim, vim, vim, vim on a violin while a chorus belts out wordless chants. Boring! Thus films like Jerry Bruckheimer's "King Arthur" -- to name just one, is no longer even a memory, let alone a classic.

Treat yourself! Rent "Prince Valient" on DVD.

While not nearly as good as Hal Foster's comic strip, this film is not nearly as bad as some reviewers would have you believe. James Mason makes a fine villain, and the action scenes are well directed by Hathaway. The biggest problem is that it is, after all, a fifties film, with all the good and bad points of the fifties. I am a big fan of the fifties, because it is the decade in which I started watching movies, but I am also aware that relatively low budgets and heavy handed censorship made even the best fifties films somewhat dubious -- e.g. A Streetcar Named Desire without any hint of homosexuality. Comparing Prince Valiant to most modern knights in armor films, I find it more fun than, say, Black Knight or Timeline.

There is such a sense of childlike wonder and fun in Henry Hathaway's 1954 Camelot tale, PRINCE VALIANT, that it's easy to forgive the obvious incongruities in accents (Robert Wagner's broad American tones...hard to believe he plays Donald Crisp's son...Sterling Hayden, looking and sounding more like Wild Bill Hickok than Sir Gawain...Victor McLaglen as the most Irish Viking you'll ever see!), and concentrate, instead, on the energy, pageantry, and sweep of the adaptation of Hal Foster's classic comic strip.

Certainly, one would be hard-pressed to assemble a finer cast; in addition to Wagner, Hayden, McLaglen, and Crisp, you have James Mason as the villain, Sir Brack, dazzling, and far more believable than he had been as Rupert of Hentzau in MGM's remake of THE PRISONER OF ZENDA; Janet Leigh and Debra Paget, both ethereally beautiful as the sisters, Aleta and Ilene; and Brian Aherne, as King Arthur, so perfect in the role that you wish his part had been larger.

In the early 1950s, there was a resurgence of swashbuckling films in Hollywood, and a new sub-category appeared, 'Knights in Training', with Fox's PRINCE VALIANT, and Universal's THE BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH (starring Tony Curtis) both devoting ample screen time to the education of squires in the knightly skills of jousting and sword fighting. These scenes are great fun to watch, particularly for children (knights had to go to school, too!), and paint a far more accurate picture of the difficult work involved in mastering the required talents than did the recent film, A KNIGHT's TALE.

As we follow the adventures of the Viking Prince as he restores his kingdom, finds love, and wins a place at the Round Table, special credit must be given to Franz Waxman's spectacular music. One of the most memorable scores ever produced for a film, the theme has become a staple at the Hollywood Bowl, and for the Boston Pops. Once heard, it is not forgotten!

While the magical elements of the story are downplayed (the mystical powers of the 'Singing Sword' are more implied than actually shown), the story itself has such a sense of wonder that it isn't missed. The heroes of Camelot are all present (Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, Gawain, and Galahad), and the Round Table scenes are as majestic as any film has ever accomplished.

PRINCE VALIANT may not be in a league with EXCALIBUR, but it certainly holds it's own against KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE, CAMELOT, and FIRST KNIGHT, and as a family film it can't be beat!