|
The Cast |
|
The Crew |
|
The Songs |
|
What a pleasure to have The Overture available to us. For years, the pre-credit music was not used for it seemed irrelevant to the story but, I believe a great overture can quickly set the mood for the experience. The brief Overture to Camelot is no exception. It is a frantic melody that suggests the regal story top come. |
|
Fade in on a mysterious forest, the opening credits and the title song, Camelot, wonderfully orchestrated and executed. So, the movie starts and we are immediately catapulted to the end. Offscreen voices sing of the fallen queen, Guenevere as we are introduced to Arthur, looking tired and old... |
|
Arthur, looking alive and young long before the previous battle scene, sings of his anxiety for his upcoming arranged marriage to someone named Guenevere. The lyrics, as many are in the show are very creative and playful. The forest is now covered with a blanket of soft snow. Even the trees appear to be made of glass as the light of the setting sun spreads marvelous colors on all that surrounds. Harris' first song is a well done and a nice contrast from the misery of his previous scene. |
|
|
|
Offscreen voices reprise the title song to accompany beautiful footage of the future queen on horseback being introduced to Arthurs people. Then we see Arthur and Guenevere walking down the aisle to be wed surrounded by hundreds of candles. This whole montage is a visual high point in the story. |
|
|
|
This is a delicate scene, and very difficult to carry off. I don't believe the film succeeded in that. Guenevere playfully coerces three knights to challenge Lancelot to a duel, her goal being a more humble Lancelot. In most stage productions, Guenevere comes accross as a star-crossed lover with little choice in her fate. Unfortunately, I feel on film it comes across as blatant manipulation with a very dishonorable goal. So, the song is fun but continues to move Guenevere from a loving character to a firm villain. Her following scene has her selfishly manipulating her husband, and that secures this villainry even more. |
|
|
So, the first Act is complete and ironically for a musical, it is the monologue that culminates act one that is the most rewarding. Harris' performance is wonderful as he takes us by the hand and shows us his thoughts and emotional arc. This leads to the first view of his round table surrounded by knights... A gorgeous sight. Now, we are back from intermission and the Entr'Acte plays a beautifully orchestrated "How to Handle a Woman." |
|
|
Lancelot arrives in the kings chambers to discuss the arrival of Arthur's bastard son, Mordred. In an important moment, he sits and Arthur adjusts his seating so he is atop his chair back... He must be up higher than Lancelot... He now comes very close to telling Lance and Jenny he is aware of their affair and that the three must get through and passed it. Lancelot leaves Jenny and Arthur alone where they sing together. They quickly grow to enjoy each others company in a way they haven't since before Lancelot's arrival. The song grows as do the emotions... the scene ends with much sadness and regret. |
|
|
|
|
It seems all is lost. Arthur is back where the film started, about to attack Lancelots castle having lost his wife, his best friend, his self-respect and the round table. Then a young man, Tom of Warwick, approaches the king and offers his services as a knight. Arthur gets an idea to have Tom of Warwick tell the glorious story of King Arthur and teh Knights of the Round Table. All of Arthurs deeds are now guaranteed to be remembered, and that is enough for Arthur to be fulfilled as the film comes to an end. He sings this with Young Tom as he sends him on his way to tell the tale... |
From Stage to Screen |
The story of a successful man with a heart of gold who is jilted when his love runs away with a younger fellah. That sounds like the plot to Camelot, but is actually my own personal story of why I own Camelot in my movie collection. I was dating a girl (definately not a Guenevere) who was in love with all things Camelot. I bought this movie and we watched it often. Should I have been suprised when one day she did not show up at home and in fact had moved in with a younger fellah? (He was definately no Lancelot either.) But, set my story in Medievel times and what've you got...
...Camelot, from the creative team of Lerner and Loewe had a shaky transition from stage to screen. Initially, the stage production has a strange story structure. Each scene contains one or two songs with the exception of two very long plot exposition scenes which are songless. It is also rare for the main character's goals to be challenged and compromised and still claiming an upbeat ending. These elements rarely work on stage and it does not help the screen version with some 'unique' casting. Like the film version of South Pacific, Joshua Logan stumbles through direction of the show for the same reasons his stage productions were so brilliant. Many times, the film is shot in extremely uncomfortable close-ups and the overall pacing is uneven. The casting itself brought about much controversy. The casting of Richard Harris as Arthur upset many who wanted Richard Burton to reprise his role. These fans are usually way off the mark in their demands, always assuming that Burton (or whomever they are championing) was overlooked for the role. Many times, the person is unavailable or in many case, wants way too much money or control of the film production. But that control may have been a good thing if it would have stopped the production from hiring Franco Nero whose dialogue had to be completely dubbed. Which brings up an even more peculiar question, Why wasn't Vanessa Redgrave's schoolgirl singing voice dubbed. I'm sure Marni Nixon could have brought some much needed strength to the role. So, Camelot has been hailed by some as the worst movie musical of its decade. I cannot rightly agree with that, in fact, there are some wonderful elements. Great performances, wonderful art direction, beautiful orchestrations among them. |
If
you would like to discuss the website or to suggest another Movie Musical, contact |
The Castle Keep |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||
Order
the DVD here |
Order
the widescreen VHS here |
Order
the Video here |
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||
Order the Movie Sountrack here |
Order the Broadway Cast Recording here |
Order
the Sheet Music here |