Roundly panned when it was first released, this CinemaScope film version of Sir Walter Scott's The Talisman can now be enjoyed on a "high camp" level. George Sanders plays King Richard the Lionhearted, while his arch-foe Saladin is over-acted by Rex Harrison. One of Richard's objectives during the Crusades is to reclaim the Holy Grail from Saladin's Mohammedan hordes. On the home front, Richard must contend with a group of conspirators dedicated to toppling him from his throne. In the middle of all this is the fictional Lady Edith,a British noblewoman played by Virginia Mayo in a manner that can best be described as overbaked. It is Ms. Mayo who delivers the film's classic line "Oh, fight, fight, fight! That's all you ever think of, Dickie Plantagenet!" In his American film debut, Laurence Harvey is as hammy as the rest of the cast as Sir Kenneth, Richard's right-hand man. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Review
It's surprising that any film with Rex Harrison, George Sanders, Laurence Harvey and Virginia Mayo, as well as a setting during the Crusades, can be plain old dull, but King Richard and the Crusaders manages that feat. Make no mistake about it; day old dishwater holds more appeal (and has more life and sparkle) than this leaden, seemingly endless would-be epic. Yes, there is a battle scene or two that has a spark of life, but hardly enough to make up for all that come before and after. Director David Butler has managed to film an amazingly static picture; some of J. Peverell Marley's nicely hued cinematography is delicious, but it's not enough to make the film roar to life. Camp aficionados will at least get a kick out of (the beautiful) Virginia Mayo's cringe-inducing line readings; to be fair, of course, she is handed a parcel of lines that would defeat the finest actor in the land. Sanders seems bored by the whole affair and puts precious little effort into his part. Harrison, in ghastly make-up, tries harder but merely bores, while Harvey's misguided efforts are laughable. Very young boys with a fondness for knights might enjoy Crusaders, but few others are likely to. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
Michael Pate - Montferrat; Paula Raymond - Queen Berengaria; Lester Matthews - Archbishop of Tyre; Anthony Eustrel - Baron De Vaux; Henry Corden - Philip of France; Wilton Graff - Duke Leopold of Austria; Nejla Ates - Moorish Dancing Girl; Nick Cravat - Nectobanus; Leslie E. Bradley - Castelain Captain; Mark Dana - 2nd Castelain; Peter Ortiz - Castelains; John Alderson - Mob Leader; Rudolph Anders - German Knight; Larry Chance - Castelain Spokesman; John Epper - Wounded Castelain; Lumsden Hare; Robin Hughes - King's Guard; Bruce Lister; Paul Marion - Arab Falconer; Leonard Mudie; Leonard Penn; Otto Reichow; Mark Hanna - Courier; Abdullah Abbas - Arab
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