unbelievably boring
I think that if most Hollywood producers would think first, then very
few, if any, movies about King Arthur would be made. With the exception of MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, I can't think of another Arthurian movie that was both worth watching and made money. This film, FIRST KNIGHT, CAMELOT, Excalibur (sorry, but I really hated this movie since it was so anachronistic and over-the-top) and a host of other dreadful films SHOULD be enough evidence to stop once and for all for choosing this theme. So what in particular is bad about this film? Well, the dialog and action are lethargic to say the least. And, Alan Ladd isn't so young any more and he was a big-time drinker by this time, so his playing a knight just isn't very convincing. And, worst of all, the movie just isn't interesting and I had to really struggle to pay attention. This is REALLY bad considering I am a fan of Ladd's movies. But all the blame can't be placed on Ladd's lackluster performance. No, the biggest problem was the silly script. First, at the Round Table was a bizarre knight, to say the least, in the form of Sir Palamides (Peter Cushing) as a "Saracen"--in other words, a Muslim Arabian! Just how he came to be in England, I haven't the foggiest notion! On top of that, Cushing's and the other Saracen's makeup changed a lot in the film--sometimes very light and other times they practically looked like minstrels!! Second, the outfits were occasionally amazing--and I don't mean that in a good way! The worst was the outfit worn by Ladd's fianc. 
What a Pity Alan
The Black Knight is an incredible film! How could a respected actor
like Alan Ladd get mixed up in such a flop! I've red that the actor made Black Knight right after his fine performance in a great movie like "Shane", back in 1953, and that as soon as he knew the real smash the western turned to be, he tried hard to stop the distribution of Black Knight. He was completely right. Alan Ladd looks ridiculous in a medieval story (sone sort of "Zorro") with a huge Helmet with huge wings that made him look even shorter than he really was. He spends half of the movie riding full speed on horseback from one place to another and getting nowhere. The plot is standard and not a bit original (the poor armour maker that fights tyranny in disguise, falls in love with a noble woman (Patricia Medina) and reaches knighthood after defeating he alone all the bad guys. The only thing the film leaves to viewers is the fine performance of Peter Cushing as the main bad guy, but there are a lot of better movies showing Cushing's ability to play villains. Can't understand how Ladd could get mixed up in such a terrible picture!. |
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