Prince Valiant (1954)

Great Film overall

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Even in the fifties Hollywood was adapting comic books? Thankfully the film was unsuccessful, otherwise the comic book film craze Hollywood has institutionalised now would have originated in those times. According to Aubrey Solomon and the Variety weekly it did not break even at the box office, with a budget of 2,970,000$ and an estimated total earnings of 2.6 million dollars. Hollywood was still protective of their films, so it did not earn anything outside of the theatres.Henry Hathaway did not lose his love for fast cutting he displayed in Rawhide, even in the early CinemaScope era. This is further proved by the aspect ratio of 2.55 instead of 2:35:1; the time before the put magnetic sound and optic sound on each film version, reducing the space for the picture itself. You could say the fast cutting style was determined by Robert L. Simpson, the film editor for both films. However Robert L. Simpson has shown to be willing to have long takes, as is shown in As Young as You Feel, Call Me Madam and The Best of Everything. So I think it is fair to credit the fast pace, especially for an early CinemaScope film, to Henry Hathaway. He did conform to the early CinemaScope standard consisting of heavy use of long shots and very long shots.You can really tell this was adapted from a comic book for kids, I had my suspicions, which were later fulfilled by the acknowledgment of my nostalgia-filled parents. There are many scenes that look like they were picked out of a random 'adventures of Valiant'. In my opinion they did not translate well to the big screen, especially for the epic spectacle it fruitlessly tries to be.Another problem was the combination of the early Bausch and Lomb anamorphic lenses and Technicolor, this required enormous amounts of light for the camera to capture the film. Quite a problem then, when the apotheosis of the film occurs in the dead of night; maybe it was better on the big screens in those times, but I could barely follow the action.Robert Wagner is a very limited actor in his role, he reminds me of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Hercules in New York (yes, that bad). It is evident he was casted for his physical feats and not his acting chops. I am also not fond of the performances of Janet Leigh and Debra Paget, both overacted horribly.To conclude, I do not recommend this film, even if you happen to be a fan of the old comic books.

Robert Wagner is Prince Valiant, who is on a quest to restore his father to his rightful throne. He travels to Camelot in an attempt to become one of the Knights of the Round Table, serving under King Arthur. While doing this, he discovers a Black Knight who has his own evil quest.I usually love films like this, so I thought I'd check it out. I'm sorry to say that though it took place in one of my favorite time periods, I wasn't very impressed with the film overall.The script was pretty much what you'd expect from films of this kind, and the scenery and costumes seemed pretty authentic. The plot was fine, though it was a bit disjointed in places, and at times, it was a bit boring. But once everyone stopped talking and the action started, it became pretty enjoyable. The attack on the castle and the last sword fight were by far the best parts, and both of those take place in the last 30 minutes of the film. The rest of it was rather forgettable.I don't need constant action to be entertained. In fact, one of my favorite films of all time is the Henry Fonda version of 12 Angry Men, which is all talk and no action. But the difference is that 12 Angry Men had an intelligent script, detailed characters and excellent acting.Prince Valiant had none of these things. In fact, I never thought I'd say this about any film starring James Mason, but the acting here is just terrible. Mason's performance is OK, though anyone could have played his part just as well, because it wasn't a very demanding role. There are no other memorable performances, and in all honesty, most of them were just awful. Robert Wagner has never impressed me with his acting skill, but in this picture, he's completely wooden. Just listen to the way he recites his lines. It's as if he put no attempt whatsoever into becoming the character. Actually, the same goes for just about everyone, except Mason. The actor playing Gawain was especially bad.I guess what plagues this film the most is the director. Judging by how the film turned out, it seems he mostly cared about the action sequences and nothing else. As I said before, the action in this movie is by far the best thing about the entire film. If this film's director were working today, he'd be just like George Lucas, who creates films with all style and no substance.The bottom line: 1 point for costumes/scenery, 3 points for action, 1 point for entertainment value, 0 points for acting, 0 points for directing. Total 5/10.

Henry Hathaway's 'Prince Valiant' is an epic adventure story set in the Golden Age of Chivalry... It is the story of a Viking Prince who pledges to go to Camelot and there strive with honor and diligence to become a Knight at King Arthur's Round Table...'Prince Valiant' is about a ghost who plots treason, a black-armored knight who appears and vanishes at will... It is about a deadly Black Knight, who uses his disguise to make a pact with a Viking traitor to overthrow a great king...'Prince Valiant' is about a desperate squire who dares to wear the armor and identity of a chivalrous Knight of the Round Table... And about a loyal squire who crowns a mighty knight with a rock, and tries to win a beautiful princess for himself...'Prince Valiant' is about the son of an exiled king who seeks King Arthur's help against the usurper, and becomes involved in a court plot... It is about a courageous lad who faces the treachery of a mysterious black knight, who is scheming betrayal and murder...James Mason portrays the shining knight Sir Brack who suffers the indignity of being challenged on the field of honor by a squire in the guise of a knight...Janet Leigh plays the lovely damsel with one purpose, to answer love fully...Robert Wagner plays the young hothead with one vow to fulfill before he can think of anything else...Debra Paget plays the shy and charming dark-haired princess with a secret wish...Sterling Hayden plays Sir Gawain, the perfect knight who knows that his duty is to find the Black Knight and destroy him before his treason ripens...Victor McLaglen plays the Christian Viking hiding behind a red curtain with a long knife in his hand...Donald Crisp plays the exiled King of Scandia who was overthrown by a Viking traitor and escapes with his wife and son across the North Sea to Britain...Brian Aherne plays Arthur, King of the Britons, who assures Valiant that 'knighthood cannot be had for the asking...' It must be won! Barry Jones plays the father of two lovely princesses who suffers to get the best knight for one of his daughters...Well... I just love this movie! Its good old magic moves me to some of the most cherished memories stored in my mind... It is an agreeable historical piece that has prowess, romance, and grace, and a breathtaking duel, one of the best you will ever see...

This film is one of those inane market deals. In the tradition of today's teenage driven film market this movie preceded today's SFX B-flick bonanzas with the same formula to grab young people's money.One of Robert Wagner's early roles sees him miscast (and in this way appropriately cast) as a civilized pagan Norseman, with altruistic ideals, but little experience to back up his high minded values.Comically over-sized swords are counterweighted by some of the battle scenes, but nearly no research went into this film, which isn't too surprising as its sights were aimed all that high in the first place.It's an interesting window at what 1950s Hollywood considered fluff action drama, and it's worth a look for that alone. Otherwise give it a pass.