Themes: Righting the Wronged, Heroic Mission, Knights and Ladies
Main Cast: Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, David Farrar, Herbert Marshall
Release Year: 1954
Country: US
Run Time: 98 minutes
Plot
Tony Curtis always seemed a little uncomfortable in costume epics, but this trait serves him well in Black Shield of Falworth. Based on the robust novel Men of Iron by Howard Pyle, the film casts Curtis as Miles, the son of a disgraced knight. Through the sponsorship of the Earl of Mackworth Herbert Marshall, Miles is trained for knighthood, an arduous process that earns him the ridicule of his fellow trainees, who regard him as little better than a peasant. Eventually, Miles proves his mettle by squelching a plan to oust King Henry IV Ian Keith from the throne of England. On a more personal level, Miles carries on a romance with Mackworth's daughter Lady Anne Janet Leigh, while Miles' sister Meg Barbara Rush finds happiness in the arms of knight-in-training Francis Gascoyne Craig Hill. The heavy of the piece is the Earl of Alban David Farrar, whom Miles must ultimately face down in a well-directed climactic set-to. Torin Thatcher, who'd previously costarred with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh in Houdini, delivers another topnotch characterization as the no-nonsense trainer of Miles and his fellow aspirant knights. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Rosemary Odell - Costume Designer, Rudolph Maté - Director, Ted Kent - Editor, Joseph E. Gershenson - Composer (Music Score), Hans Salter - Composer (Music Score), Herman Stein - Composer (Music Score), Bud Westmore - Makeup, Alexander Golitzen - Production Designer, Richard H. Riedel - Production Designer, Irving Glassberg - Cinematographer, Robert Arthur - Producer, Melville Tucker - Producer, Leslie I. Carey - Sound/Sound Designer, Joe Lapis - Sound/Sound Designer, Oscar Brodney - Screenwriter, Howard Pyle - Book Author
The film was Universal International's first feature in CinemaScope. It opened in New York City on October 6, 1954 at the Loew's State Theater. It was the second of five films in which husband and wife Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh appeared together on screen during their marriage (1952-1961).
Myles Falworth (Tony Curtis) and his sister Meg (Barbara Rush) live in obscurity on a farm in Crosbey-Dale (pronounced, kris' bē-dāl) with their guardian Diccon Bowman (Rhys Williams). This is to protect them from the attainder placed upon their family by King Henry IV of England (Ian Keith) due to their father being falsely accused of treason and murdered by the Earl of Alban (David Farrar). When a hunting party comprising the Earl of Alban, the lord of Crosbey-Dale, and another nobleman, Sir Robert, stop at their farm for refreshment, they are repulsed by Myles from molesting his sister.
This confrontation accelerates Diccon's plans to send them to Mackworth Castle. The Earl of Mackworth (Herbert Marshall), a close friend of their father, becomes their protector, and he sees in Myles the man who can rid England of the evil machinations of the Earl of Alban. Myles is trained to be a knight, is knighted by the king, and kills the Earl of Alban in trial by combat, foiling Alban's attempt to seize the English crown. Myles then marries the Earl of Mackworth's daughter, Lady Anne (Janet Leigh).
Differences from Men of Iron
The story of The Black Shield of Falworth differs from the novel in a number of ways. In the novel:
Myles's father and mother are still alive, and he knows his name to be Myles Falworth.
Myles does not have a sister Meg.
Francis Gascoyne has no lady as does Myles.
There is no "black shield of Falworth": the Falworth coat of arms is not an issue although the whereabouts of Myles's parents must be kept secret due to his father's attainder.
Falworth's great enemy is only unmasked at the end while in the film Alban is known as the hated tyrant throughout.
Myles goes to Earl Mackworth's castle (the castle Devlen in the novel) at a younger age (16).
Friar Edward is Prior Edward, who governs the estates on which Crosbey-Dale is located.
Sir James (with the surname "Lee" in the novel) is Myles's friend and confidant inside the Mackworth establishment; he was a battle companion of Diccon Bowman.
The Mackworth establishment is more stratified: the royal and noble persons are not so easily accessible.
Myles and Francis Gascoyne find a secret hideout, which they call their Eyry at the top of the "Brutus Tower."
Myles falls in love with the Earl Mackworth's niece, Alice, rather than his daughter Anne.
There is no Dame Ellen identified as attending the Lady Anne.
Walter Blunt is not the Earl of Alban's brother, and he disappears from the story after Myles has decisively defeated him.
Walter Blunt is not a suitor for the hand of Lady Anne of Mackworth.
Sir Myles jousts with the Count de Vermois's (Compte de Vermoise in the novel) champion the Sieur de la Montaigne: in the film he is slated to joust with Vermois himself, but he is prevented from doing so.
Mackworth has a brother, Lord George Beaumont, who also becomes interested in Myles's future.
The Earl of Alban does not try to seize the throne from King Henry, and he remains his friend.
King Henry is not so pleased by Myles's final victory over the Earl of Alban, and Myles and his family are only given full restitution when King Henry V ascends the throne.
False quotation
The film is famous for an apocryphal line, rendered as "Yonda stands da castle of my fodda" or similar. The plot details above show that this would not fit the story: there is no "castle of my father". The line is said to have come from a remark made by Debbie Reynolds on television.[1]
This chestnut used to be quoted in Radio Times whenever the film was on BBC television, and found its way into a 2007 study of Tony Curtis's work by Clive James. It clearly derives from American snobbery about Curtis's origins, and has crossed the Atlantic unchecked by film writers actually viewing the movie.[citation needed] Curtis has denied ever saying that line, but he did actually say a similar line in the movie Son of Ali Baba, released in 1952, that reads, "This is the palace of my father, and yonder lies the Valley of the Sun."
