Rust on Arthur's Armor

 Camelot (1967) – The story of King Arthur, Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot, based on the smash Broadway hit of the same name.

Directed by Joshua Logan                    Starring – Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, Franco Nero

Why I Liked It – The music remains wonderful and singable.

I am going to upset people again.  It comes with the job.  From a Tony winning Broadway musical comes an overwrought mess of a movie adaptation.  Putting musicals on the big screen is hard.  There’s an extra level of “willing suspension of disbelief” that is required.  By the time “Camelot” came out, movie musicals were no longer the instant success they’d been.  When Warner Brothers decided to cast movie stars over musical theater actors, they set the movie up for an even bigger challenge. There are varying stories about whether the studio opted not to use the Broadway cast, or if offers to Richard Burton and Julie Andrews were declined. Either way, there’s a weakness at the very heart of the movie.  The distinction between straight acting and musical theater is very much on display here.

I’m certain that the studio thought they held an all aces hand with this one.  Huge hit show based on the bestselling “The Once and Future King” by T.H. White (which I didn’t like at all).  Plus there are multiple “parking lot” songs (those are the ones you’re still singing “in the parking lot” after the show is over).  That’s unsurprising since the original show was written by one of the great musical writing teams – Lerner and Lowe. Then add the romantic tie in to the tragedy of the Kennedy administration.  This was a favorite show of the late President’s, and the name had been attached to the early promise of his time in the White House.  That both stories end in tragedy strengthens the bond.  From their point of view, it turned out fine.  “Camelot” was one of the top ten grossing movies of 1967.  Despite reviews that were tepid, at best.

Everything that was wrong back then is magnified now.  It’s long, as musicals tend to be.  Three hours, with an Overture, Entre Acte, and Exit music, is a long movie.  Richard Harris (Arthur) has a distinctive singing “style” that is good enough.  Vanessa Redgrave (Guinevere) doesn’t bring the vocal presence needed to carry this kind of role off.  Franco Nero’s singing for Lancelot was dubbed by someone else.  His acting here is over-the-top-chew-the-scenery style.  The entire production looks, well, cheap.  There is a clear “dated” feeling to the whole thing that makes it harder to sit still for that long.

Then add in the characters aren’t especially likeable. From the opening minute of the show, we are presented with a weak and wishy-washy Arthur, a feather-brained Guinevere who turns out to have a nasty “mean girl” side to her personality, and an obnoxious Lancelot that no one in the show likes either.  The three of them behave like whiny thirteen year olds.  Arthur’s devotion to the two people he loves most in the world becomes a moody reluctance to take responsibility.  Lancelot becomes the classic teenage boy whose thinking is done below his belt buckle.  Guinevere descends ever deeper into cliche of a woman who has no control over what happens to her.  Classic “helpless female”.  Even in 1967 that was getting old.  Arthurian legend is complicated, but this is the only version in my experience that made me want to shout “Grow the *&^% up!” at the screen.

There was one stand out performance of note.  David Hemmings offers up the perfect vision of the cowardly, and manipulative Mordred.  Every time he was on the screen, I found myself muttering, “Just kill him, Arthur!”  There’s a curious side note on Hemmings here, he was the only trained singer in the cast.  His role has no songs.

So what are we left with?  Great music, spectacular music that will stay in your head for decades.  Some of the scenery was nice.  The actors all had moments when the show worked.  But there are too many sour notes here.  There’s a bizarre scene during the song “Take Me To The Fair” that is a series of cuts to different scenes that made no sense at all.  My reading later told me it was intended to show the passage of time in the story.  All it did was confuse me.

You can watch the movie for the music, although you won’t get the best performances.  If you love the music, buy a Broadway show recording.  The original cast is outstanding, if you can find it.

Otherwise?  I’d say you can pass on this one.

Rating – ** Not Impressed