Guilty Pleasure: a rather weak film that’s nevertheless enjoyable.
Grade: C+ (** out of *****)
In April 1961, Warner obtained the rights to produce a film adaptation, with Lerner attached to write the screenplay. However, it was temporarily shelved as the studio decided to adapt MyFair Lady first.
In 1966, development resumed with Joshua Logan hired as director. Original cast members of the Broadway production, Richard Burton and Julie Andrews, were approached to reprise their roles from the stage musical, but both declined, for various reasons; Burton demanded too high a fee.
Joshua Logan’s handsome, big-budget production of the King Arthur mythology was a dull, despite the high-caliber cast: Richard Harris as the King, Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Guinevere, and Franco Nero as Sir Lancelot.
The supporting cast included David Hemmings as Mordred and Lionel Jeffries as Pellinore.
The Broadway musical, by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (“My Fair Lady”), which starred Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet in the leads, ran for years.
Setting and Premise
As King Arthur prepares for battle against his former friend, Sir Lancelot, with his son Mordred, raising an army against him back in England, he reflects on the sad circumstances which have led him to this situation.
He recalls the night of his arranged marriage to Guenevere, afraid of what lies ahead (“I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight”). Guenevere herself is worried about marrying a man she has never met and longs for the romantic life of a desirable maiden (“The Simple Joys of Maidenhood”).
The book is rather weak, though some of the songs are good. But the main reason to see the picture is the production design by Aussie prodigy John Truscott, then only 29, who won an Oscar. (Truscott had designed the London stage production).
Camelot was released on October 25, 1967, to mixed reviews, but it was amoderate commercial success, due to the appealing cast and favorable word of mouth, grossing $31.5 million against a $13 million budget.
Casting Vanessa Redgrave
Logan desperately wanted to cast Vanessa Redgrave after watching her performance in Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966) and Blowup. At the time, Redgrave was performing in the stage play “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” so Logan had to wait months for her availability. Despite Redgrave’s not being a traditional singer, Logan was impressed by her renditions of folk songs. The studio was initially reluctant, due to her left-wing activism, but Logan negotiated for her casting, and Redgrave was signed in November, 1966 for $200,000 and permitted to do her own singing.
