''A Walk with Love and Death'' is a 1969 American

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

historical

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by John Huston and starring Anjelica Huston and

Assi Dayan Assaf "Assi" Dayan ( he, אסף "אסי" דיין; 23 November 1945 – 1 May 2014) was an Israeli film director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. Life Dayan was the youngest son of Israeli general and defense minister Moshe Dayan and peace a ...

Plot

The story is based on the 1961 novel by

Hans Koning Hans Koning (born Hans Königsberger, since 1949 officially Hans Konigsberger; July 12, 1921 – April 13, 2007) was a Dutch author of over 40 fiction and non-fiction books, was also a prolific journalist, contributing for almost 60 years to many ...

sberger, set at the time of the 1358 uprising of the peasants of northern France known as the

Jacquerie The Jacquerie () was a popular revolt by peasants that took place in northern France in the early summer of 1358 during the Hundred Years' War. The revolt was centred in the valley of the Oise north of Paris and was suppressed after a few week ...

. Heron of Fois (

), a student from Paris, crosses territory devastated by the upheaval and the ferocious reprisals of the nobility. He meets with Claudia ( Anjelica Huston), the aristocratic daughter of a royal official killed by the peasants, and they attempt to reach Calais. In the novel Heron's intended final destination is

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

while in the film "the sea" less specifically comes to represent an abstract freedom. While differing in their views of the ''Jacquerie''—Heron sympathises with the exploited peasantry while Claudia sees their rising as mindless savagery—the young couple become lovers. In the end they fail to escape the chaotic violence around them but await death "strangely happy - we had stopped running from them and we had our hour".

Cast

* Anjelica Huston as Claudia *

as Heron of Fois (as Assaf dayan) * Anthony Higgins as Robert of Loris (as Anthony Corlan) *

John Hallam John William Francis Hallam (28 October 1941 – 14 November 2006) was a British character actor, who frequently played hard men or military types. Early life John Hallam was born, the son of a superintendent at London Docklands, in 19 ...

as Sir Meles * Robert Lang as Pilgrim Leader *

Guy Deghy Guy Deghy (born Gedeon Aladar Istvan Deghy; 11 October 1912 – 25 February 1992), was a Hungarian-born actor who appeared largely in British films and television, as in the 5th episode of the first season of '' The Saint'' depicting Inspector ...

as The Priest *

Michael Gough Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British character actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer Horror Films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthu ...

as Mad Monk * George Murcell as The Captain * Eileen Murphy as Gypsy Girl * Anthony Nicholls as Father Superior *

Joseph O'Conor Joseph O'Conor (14 February 1916 – 21 January 2001) was an Irish actor and playwright. Early years O'Conor was born in DublinAlan Strachan ''The Independent'', 2 February 2001Stephen GilbertObituary ''The Guardian'', 25 January 2001 on ...

as Pierre of St. Jean (as Joseph O'Connor) * John Huston as Robert the Elder * John Franklyn as Whoremaster * Francis Heim as Knight Lieutenant *

Melvyn Hayes Melvyn Hayes ('' né'' Hyams; 11 January 1935) is an English actor and voice over performer. He is best known for playing the effeminate Gunner (later Bombardier) "Gloria" Beaumont in the 1970s BBC sitcom ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum'', for appea ...

as First Entertainer * Barry Keegan as Peasant Leader * Nicholas Smith as Pilgrim * Antoinette Reuss as Charcoal Woman *

Gilles Ségal Gilles Ségal (13 January 1929 – 11 June 2014) was a French actor, mime, and playwright. He performed on stage with Marcel Marceau, and in more than sixty films since 1954. He was born in Fălticeni, Romania. Among his most notable roles is that ...

as Entertainer *

Med Hondo Med Hondo (born Mohamed Abid Hondo; 4 May 1935 – 2 March 2019) was a Mauritanian-born French director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Considered a founding father of African cinema, he is known for his controversial films dealing with issu ...

as Entertainer * Luis Masson as Entertainer * Eugen Ledebur as Goldsmith * Otto Dworak as Innkeeper * Max Sulz as Peasant * John Veenenbos as Monk * Dieter Tressler as Major Domo * Paul Hör as Peasant Boy * Myra Malik as Peasant Girl * Michael Baronne as Soldier * Yvan Strogoff as Soldier

Production

The film marked the screen debut of Huston's daughter Anjelica Huston. It also marked the screen debut of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i actor

, son of Moshe Dayan.Long night's journey into day, Uri Klein, Haaretz
John Huston himself plays the role of a noble who defects to the rebels. Anjelica Huston had been in the running to play Juliet in director Franco Zeffirelli's adaptation of ''Romeo and Juliet (1968 film), Romeo and Juliet'', but John Huston withdrew her from consideration when he decided to cast her as Claudia in ''A Walk With Love and Death''. Huston felt that she was wrong for the role, and has commented on the experience that her father "miscast me first time out and I think he realized that. I was ready to act, but I wasn't ready to act for him ... I was difficult, I didn't want to act with no makeup, although I'd have done it for Franco." Father and daughter had a fractious relationship on set, with the young Anjelica having difficulty learning her lines and focusing, while her father grew more impatient and angry at directing her.

Music

The musical score was the work of the French composer

Georges Delerue Georges Delerue (12 March 1925 – 20 March 1992) was a French composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. Delerue won numerous important film music awards, including an Academy Award for '' A Little Romance'' (1980), three C ...

. It incorporated medieval folk music themes, making extensive use of lute, harpsichord, and recorders.

Box office

The film was not a box office success, although John Huston noted in his autobiography ''An Open Book'' (1980) that it was highly praised in France, where there was a greater understanding of the historical context. According to Fox records, the film required $3,900,000 in rentals to break even and by 11 December 1970 had made $825,000. In September 1970 the studio reported it had lost $1,637,000 on the film.

Reception

Some contemporary reviewers considered that the film held up the past as a mirror of the events of 1968, when it was made. Comparisons were variously made with the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

or the Paris rioting of May/June that year, which required filming to be relocated to Austria and Italy. However a recent and detailed analysis of both novel and film by the essayist Peter G. Christensen concludes that the story is literally a period one, intended to evoke the turbulence of its 14th century setting, rather than illustrating cultural or generational issues of the late 1960s.

References

External links

* * * *
''A Walk with Love and Death'' review
at

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''A Walk with Love and Death'' review
at Time Out * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walk With Love And Death, A 1969 films 1969 romantic drama films 20th Century Fox films American romantic drama films 1960s English-language films Films scored by Georges Delerue Films based on American novels Films directed by John Huston Films set in France Films set in the 14th century Hundred Years' War films 1960s American films