Siege of the Saxons

The King Arthur legend gets a fanciful spin in this colourful but weak British offering. Directed by Nathan Juran and starring Janette Scott and Ronald Lewis, it's all about medieval malarkey as Lewis' Robin Hood type character wanders the lands with Scott's disguised princess in search of Merlin (John Laurie). They need the great wizard to stop the dastardly Edmund of Cornwall (Ronald Howard) from seizing the throne of Arthur with help from the Saxons.

It's played for light hearted thrills, the cast having fun prancing about in their borrowed costumes (much of the production uses props, costumes and footage from some earlier swords and shields movies), and Juran never lets the story sag and knows when to perk things up with an action scene or some character merriment. Harmless fluff really. Played as the "B" picture to Jason and the Argonauts and in that context it's a fun enough warmer upper! 5/10

I finished watching this movie about, oh, five minutes ago, and went straight to IMDb to read more about it, and was rather surprised to see that the only two members who've left comments thoroughly trash it. It's actually a highly satisfactory way to spend a rainy afternoon, what with an excellent cast (no, they're not hammy. If you want hammy there are plenty of other films to oblige you), an accomplished and effective score with lots of brass, and well choreographed fight sequences which give a good idea of how heavy those Anglo-Saxon weapons were. Cinematography is also pretty good, with castles that look the way we'd expect them to look. And the costumes are evocative without looking too fancy-dress (consider that this is 1963!). Pacing is good, and although it won't be in anyone's top twenty films, it does deliver a good time. Laurie is excellent as Merlin, mystical and frail with ancient hollow eyes.

A film so awful it can only appeal to swashbuckler buffs. I enjoy watching this take on the Arthurian legend with its anachronisms etc as detailed by other "fans". Check out Alan Ladd in the Black Knight and see how much footage Siege of the Saxons borrowed. Its very amusing how they shoe-horn in the armour and helmet worn by Alan Ladd in his superior swashbuckler to allow use of the final battle scenes which were obviously beyond the Siege's budget to stage properly. The first time I saw this tremendous film I was only about ten and I spotted Alan Ladd's helmet and armour straight away - I don't think I have seen another arthurian/medieval knight wearing short-sleeved armour which was another pointer to Alan Ladd's film and sure enough jousting and battle scenes are lifted in their entirety. And since when did King Arthur have a daughter?? Nice to see Dad' Army stalwart John Laurie playing Merlin though.

A truly abysmal film, saved only by the wonderfully arch villain - 'The Limping Man'- beautifully overplayed by Jerome Willis. As a keen Arthurian scholar and Dark-Age reenactor, I can say that this movie bears absolutely no relation to history - or even legend! Who was Edmund of Cornwall for goodness sake? He is unknown to this period of history.

However,it is the type of film that I would love to own,if only for Jerome Willis's character.

The film is so typical of its genre and is a 'must have' to complete anyone's kitsch collection of cheesy swashbucklers, in the same way that one has a copy of 'Agadoo' and 'The Birdie Song' in a record collection.

I fondly remember Siege Of the Saxons from a Saturday matinée I went to as a child. It may not play well with adults, but I don't think it was intended for grown-ups in the first place. It has a decent cast for the kind of film it is, and I recall Ronald Howard (son of Leslie) being quite good. There are some good battle scenes, none too graphic by today's standards. The movie is kid's stuff; the color is nice; the actors don't embarrass themselves; and the limping man looks as sinister as he's supposed to. I also recall Janette Scott as being quite attractive, as indeed she was. This would probably be a good movie for children. It's exciting in much the same way Robin Hood is.