I normanni

I Normanni (a.k.a Attack of the Normans; The Normans; and Conquest of the Normans) is a Franco-Italian saga that has become a virtually lost movie since its release in 1962. Done on a relatively low budget, but enlivened by a busy plot and decent scenes, it is a passable slice of historical hokum from director Giuseppe Vari.

After decades of violent raids, the Normans have finally agreed to be at peace with the English and have begun to settle on British soil. Nobleman Olivier D'Anglon (Ettore Manni) becomes a great friend of the Norman settlers and falls in love with Svetania (Genevieve Grad), one of their youngest, prettiest women. However, the jealous and cruel Duke of Saxony (Cameron Mitchell) wants to overthrow the English king, so he has his soldiers disguise themselves as Normans in an ambush on the king and plants various clues which lead people into suspecting that D'anglon masterminded the attack. D'Anglon escapes a hanging and sets out to prove that he is not a traitor, aided by his Norman friends.

Coincidences and unlikelihoods come thick and fast, and a degree of forgiveness is needed from the viewer if they are to make it through the film without mumbling in disbelief. Also distracting (on the British version at least) is the rather weak dubbing. However, I Normanni has plenty of entertaining moments to compensate for its faults. It may be pretty forgettable stuff, but at least it moves at a good pace and provides a busy enough plot to occupy your mind. The quality of the performances varies from quite good (Mitchell, especially, in another villainous characterisation) to downright amateurish, but that just adds to the film's innocent charm.

Though not officially a Mario Bava film, as it turned out, a good deal of the battle sequences included in this one comprise of footage he had shot for the previous year’s peplum, ERIK THE CONQUEROR (1961) – I rewatched that film the very next day, and it was quite amusing to experience those intermittently duplicated moments!

Anyway, the movie under review itself is a typically modest offering – frankly not much worse than Bava’s own efforts in the genre (admittedly, not the horror maestro’s forte) and, in fact, rather livelier, too! It was, however, interesting to see Cameron Mitchell (the star of ERIK THE CONQUEROR and another Bava peplum I’ve just re-acquainted myself with, KNIVES OF THE AVENGER [1966]) tackling the role of the villain this time around!

The hero is played by peplum stalwart Ettore Manni and Mitchell is flanked in the dastardly stakes by two other Bava alumni – Paul Muller from I VAMPIRI (1957) and Piero Lulli from KILL, BABY…KILL! (1966) – to say nothing of the fact that the film was composed by Roberto Nicolosi and produced by Galatea (both of whom were also behind ERIK THE CONQUEROR and other Bava pictures)…and, if I’m not mistaken the score for ATTACK OF THE NORMANS pilfered a few themes from the earlier film as well!

The movie follows the typical peplum/Viking formula of sea battles, court intrigues (including usurped thrones), treason, torture, romantic jealousy, etc. and while certainly no classic, it emerges as a quite pleasant diversion nonetheless, especially for hardened fans of the genre like myself – not to mention the fact that Malta (the island I hail from) was, all those years ago, itself under Norman rule!

This Italian/German/French co-production is a lively and thoroughly old-school romp of swashbuckling action, romance in the unlikeliest situations and derring-do and heroism, benefiting from one of Cameron Mitchell's most believable roles as Count Wilfred, a wicked Duke who worms his way into the Queen's favour and proceeds to feed her a pack of lies and accuse her real friends of treason. Although the England portrayed in the film is distinctly Mediterranean in nature, the film has strong production values with convincing sets and splendid costumes, and the various action sequences are well-filmed and invariably exciting. The highlight in particular is a wonderful duel at the end of the movie between hero and villain, up there with the likes of the Errol Flynn/Basil Rathbone bout in THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD in terms of screen excitement.

There's a strong cast for a change, particularly in terms of Italian actors who usually end up not being the most interesting of characters in peplum or costume adventure films, typically relegated to predictable and uninteresting supporting roles. Here, genre mainstay Ettore Manni is excellent as the heroic Oliver, a wronged-man hero who must prove his innocence whilst facing off against Mitchell and his cronies. Eagle-eyed viewers may spot a small role from Paul Muller as an evil aide; Muller enjoyed villainous turns in this and the likes of AVENGER OF THE SEVEN SEAS before appearing in Italian horror and sleaze films of the '70s such as LADY FRANKENSTEIN. The rest of the supporting actors - not to mention the above-average actresses for the genre, picked for their acting rather than their looks here - are great and all involved do a commendable job.

ATTACK OF THE NORMANS is an always entertaining movie, with a plot that keeps twisting and turning with lots of action to keep it moving and never boring, and benefiting from one of Cameron Mitchell's best villainous performances as the dastardly bad guy. This is an example of colourful, action-fuelled entertainment and old-fashioned escapism at its finest.

An evil duke kidnaps the good king, keeps him in the dungeon while pinning the blame on the Normans, and tries to make the virtuous queen his bride and the peasants take arms.

Solid production, with some impressive sets, a few big battlefield scenes, a sea battle between two ships, the storming of a castle and interesting subplot regarding the king's long lost daughter (the beautiful Genevieve Grad) - if that isn't enough, you get a villainous performance by Cameron Mitchel as the Duke who stirs up trouble as well as kidnapping his uncle -the king. Sporting a goatee, he's one minute charming to the Queen, then next scheming nefarious plans. The hero is a young count on the side of the Normans (Etorre Manni) and expect some swashbuckling between him and the villain. Very energetically done. At one point the hero uses a golden pot to parry the villain's attacking sword. An enjoyable film.