Quentin Durward

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.

The Adventures of Quentin Durward is directed by Richard Thorpe and adapted to screenplay by Robert Ardrey and George Froeschel from the Walter Scott novel. It stars Robert Taylor, Kay Kendall, Robert Morley, George Cole and Alec Clunes.Music is by Bronislau Kaper and Eastman cinematography by Christopher Challis.

"Our story begins in Scotland in 1465~~when knighthood was a drooping blossom~~but the Scot, as usual, was poor in naught but cash."

So it begins, the tale of Quentin Durward (Taylor), who travels to France to find out if the Countess of Marcroy (Kendall) will make for a suitable bride for his aging uncle. Once there, though, Durward gets wrapped up in the political shenanigans of King Louis XI (Morley) and the Duke of Burgundy (Clunes). More pressing, mind, is that the Countess and Durward are attracted to each other.

The third part of an unofficial swashbuckling trilogy made by Richard Thorpe and Robert Taylor, Quentin Durward comes out after Ivanhoe (1952) & Knights of the Round Table (1953). Out of MGM's British studio at Elstree, film is delightful in period flavours and potent as a costume romance, but sadly lacking in vigorous wonders. The weakest of the three Thorpe/Taylor swashers, picture often has tongue planted firmly in cheek as it unfolds its story amongst some marvellous French and English locales. Cast are good value, especially the likes of Morley & Clunes, but Taylor at 44 is a bit long in the tooth to be entirely convincing in the derring-do department.

Good honest fun in the main, if a little too plodding in patches, but a climatic bell tower duel played out on swinging ropes is alone worth viewing the film for. 6/10

Anyone looking for insightful commentary on the human condition in a movie should avoid "Quentin Durward." Robert Taylor plays Durward, a poor knight out of place in his time, as he acknowledges to his uncle at the movie's start. Once the story preliminaries are over, Taylor goes on his mission to France, where everyone is against him, including Count de la Mark, the Beast of the Ardennes.

"Quentin Durward" has great castle background shots, great photography and pretty good action. Robert Morley's well fed appearance softens his role, a king who cheerfully sells everyone out, causing death and terror. In "Quentin Durward", life is cheap and death often comes in a grim manner. Without giving away the plot, there are a lot of peripheral characters who get messed up along the way. There are no big scale castle sieges like Ivanhoe, just the aftermath after de la Mark takes over the castle of the Bishop of Liege. The costumed characters in "Quentin Durward" have real problems, such as Kay Kendall's character, who is being forced into a marriage she doesn't want. Money, land and power are the driving forces of the bad guys (which would include de la Mark, Morley's Louis XI and even Durward's uncle).

In 1955, if MGM made a movie about crooked real estate speculators trying to rob a young woman of her inheritance, no one would pay to see the movie. Instead, MGM brings out the costumes, the great production values and a script tailored for Robert Taylor, including some snippy remarks, set in 15th century France.

Moviegoers in 1955 waiting for Robert Taylor to appear in his next MGM costume action movie were like the character in "Waiting for Godot." "Quentin Durward" was the end of a line of historical movies that MGM started 30 years earlier, with "Ben-Hur."

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..

During the early 1950's Hollywood had a magnificent obsession with what they called historical films. ' Ivanhoe ' arguably started them, and they were set in a mythical ' Middle Ages ' which must have helped many children of that era with their history lessons. ' Quentin Durward ' appeared reasonably late in this cycle, and Robert Taylor who had appeared in a few of them was paired with Kay Kendall, and as far as I could see there was little chemistry between them. In my opinion Kay Kendall with her great sense of humour steals the film, and with her wonderful voice shows how absurd this whole genre is. The story begins in Scotland with Taylor being sent to a troubled France to get a bride for his very old uncle, and to keep the story going he lands himself in a mess of politics that must have baffled many who saw the film. No spoilers except to say that there is a unique fighting scene where two men have a sword fight hanging from bell ropes in a burning castle. It is well worth waiting for because it is a fantastically good bit of film making. I love these films because of their delusional freedom to play fast and loose with historical fantasies. ' Quentin Durward' is not in my opinion the best, but it is highly enjoyable and Kay Kendall is worth seeing in any film.