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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"Knights of the Round Table"
was MGM's first feature produced in the newly
christened widescreen format of Cinemascope and
director Richard Thorpe's inexperience with its
2:35:1 aspect ratio, in retrospect, is the
stumbling block from which the film never
recovers. As an audience, we are treated to
drawn-out battle scenes (that are thrillingly
photographed), as well as lavish spectacle. But
the look and feel of the film is very stoic and
theatrical, like early films based on the works of
Shakespeare.
Robert Taylor, usually so natural, is, on this
occasion, uncomfortable and stiff as Lancelot. Mel
Ferrer fairs only slightly better as King Arthur.
Ava Gardner is wasted as Gueneviere. If you don't
know the story already, Gueneviere steps out on
Arthur with Lancelot, causing the noble pursuit of
Camelot to implode.
The sets are excessively artificial looking and
rear projection photography becomes glaringly
obvious in long shots. Over all, for its
historical context in the early days of widescreen
film, more than for its overall entertainment
value, "Knights" is a worthwhile movie.
Warner Home Video has given us a generally
good-looking print. No attempt has been made to
remove age-related artifacts from the negative.
Overall, the quality of the transfer is very
smooth though, at times, it can seem somewhat
digitally harsh. Exterior footage tends to suffer
from a considerable amount of film grain while
interiors are better balanced. Black levels are
perhaps a bit weak and fine details are lost in
darker scenes. Close ups look gorgeous. Long shots
suffer from pixelization. Fades between scenes
suffer from a sudden grainy transition that was
customary for all early Cinemascope film stock of
this period. The audio is stereo surround and
amply provided for considering the limitations in
the original recording. Extras include Mel
Ferrer's comment on the production, a movietone
trailer and the film's original theatrical
trailer. This is not a bad movie but it remains an
incredibly dated one. Nevertheless, "Knights of
the Round Table" offers up a good example of
vintage Cinemascope film making from the 1950s. |
