''Prince Valiant'' is a 1954 American

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, ani ...

directed by

Henry Hathaway Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven films. Backgrou ...

and produced by Robert L. Jacks, in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

and

Cinemascope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

from

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

. Based on the

King Features King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial ...

syndicated newspaper comic strip of the same name by

Hal Foster Harold Rudolf Foster, FRSA (August 16, 1892 – July 25, 1982) was a Canadian-American comic strip artist and writer best known as the creator of the comic strip '' Prince Valiant''. His drawing style is noted for its high level of draftsmanship ...

, the film stars

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...

Robert Wagner Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor of stage, screen, and television. He is known for starring in the television shows '' It Takes a Thief'' (1968–1970), ''Switch'' (1975–1978), and '' Hart to Hart'' (1979� ...

, Debra Paget and

Sterling Hayden Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor and decorated Marine Corps officer and an Office of Strategic Services' agent during World War II. A leading man for mos ...

Plot

Usurper Sligon, a worshipper of the old Norse god pantheon, and other rebel Vikings have forced into exile the Christian royal family of the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

kingdom of

Scandia Scandza was described as a "great island" by Gothic-Byzantine historian Jordanes in his work ''Getica''. The island was located in the Arctic regions of the sea that surrounded the world. The location is usually identified with Scandinavia. Jor ...

: King Aguar, his wife, and their son Prince Valiant. Aguar and his family come under the protection of

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...

. When Valiant has grown to a man, he is sent to

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as th ...

to undergo training as a knight under the tutelage of Aguar's family friend, the noble knight of the

Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that ...

, Sir

Gawain Gawain (), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest ...

. During his wanderings, Valiant witnesses a clandestine meeting between a group of Sligon's Vikings and a black-clad knight. Valiant is discovered by the Vikings, but with slyness and improvisation he manages to elude his pursuers. During his flight, Valiant runs into Gawain. After Valiant convinces Gawain that he is indeed the son of Aguar, Gawain listens to the prince's story of the mysterious Black Knight, a knight known only in rumor in Camelot, and takes Valiant to King Arthur. Arthur decrees that Valiant be trained as a prospective knight by undergoing the rigors of squirehood. One of Arthur's knights, Sir Brack, offers to train him, but Valiant is instead assigned to Gawain. Brack offers to take Valiant to the place where the young prince has seen the Black Knight in order to backtrack the mysterious figure. Once there, they separate, but shortly afterwards Valiant is ambushed by a group of bowmen and escapes with an arrow in his back. He stumbles into the territory of King Luke and is taken in by his daughters, Aleta and Ilene. Aleta and Valiant fall in love, but Luke disapproves of Valiant's Viking origin and so their relationship must remain a secret for the time being. From Aleta, Valiant also learns that Ilene is secretly attracted to Gawain. Valiant returns to Camelot and discovers to his shock that Gawain tried to find him, also ran into an ambush by the Black Knight, and escaped within an inch of his life. Noting that Brack had temporarily disappeared around the same time, Valiant becomes suspicious, but on the advice of Gawain he suppresses his suspicion. Some time later, Aleta and Ilene attend a tournament held in Camelot in their honor; as an added prize, the winner of this joust will win Aleta's hand. Valiant dons the armor of Gawain, who is too seriously wounded to participate, in order to win Aleta, but he fails and is unmasked. But then another contender appears and wins the bout before falling off his horse; this knight turns out to be Gawain. Awakening on his sickbed, Gawain beholds Aleta and falls head over heels in love with her, and out of respect for his patron Valiant does not dare tell him the truth. For his act of presumption, Valiant is confined to his quarters and forced to attend to his master. A mysterious messenger comes to the castle to see Brack, and the same night, Aguar's seal is thrown through the window of Gawain's chambers. Realizing that his parents are in trouble, Valiant immediately leaves Camelot, leaving a bewildered Aleta behind. But as he prepares to return to his home, he is ambushed and captured by Sligon's Vikings and the Black Knight, who reveals himself as Brack. Brack has made a pact with Sligon: For delivering Aguar's family, Sligon will assist Brack in conquering Camelot and thus becoming the King over Britain. Shortly, Aleta, unwilling to let Valiant run off, arrives and is subsequently captured, and the two are brought to Scandia, where Sligon prepares to execute them and Valiant's captured parents. However, a group of Christian Vikings, led by Aguar and Valiant's old friend Boltar, stage a revolution, and Boltar infiltrates the castle. Valiant escapes his cell and teams up with Boltar, who intends to assassinate Sligon and have Valiant give the attack signal to their cohorts once Sligon has fallen. But Valiant is discovered before Boltar manages to kill Sligon, and during his struggle with a guard, a false signal is given, signaling the Christian Vikings to attack too early. Just as things seem bleak, Valiant sets several parts of the castle ablaze, throwing the defenders into confusion, and slays Sligon in single combat. Some time later, Valiant returns to Camelot with Aleta and accuses Brack of treachery before the king and the assembled Round Table. Brack calls for a

trial by combat Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the ...

, and despite Gawain's protests and his offer to fight in Valiant's stead, the young prince accepts. After a long fight, Valiant succeeds in killing the traitor. He offers Aleta back to his master, but during the long period of worry, Gawain has finally come to learn the truth, and he and Ilene have fallen in love. In the end, having redeemed his honor by exposing the traitor, Valiant is made a fully privileged Knight of the Round Table.

Cast

Prince Valiant ''Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur'', often simply called ''Prince Valiant'', is an American comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretc ...

as Sir Brack *

as Princess Aleta of Ord * Debra Paget as Princess Ilene of Ord *

Sir Gawain Gawain (), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest W ...

Victor McLaglen Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen (10 December 1886 – 7 November 1959) was a British boxer-turned-Hollywood actor.Obituary ''Variety'', 11 November 1959, page 79. He was known as a character actor, particularly in Westerns, and made sev ...

as Boltar *

Donald Crisp Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ...

as Aguar, exiled King of Scandia *

Brian Aherne William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States. His first Broadway appearance in '' The Barretts of ...

as King Arthur * Barry Jones as King Luke of Ord *

Mary Philips Mary Philips (January 23, 1901April 22, 1975) was an American stage and film actress. Biography The only child of Charles and Anna (née Hurley) Philips of New Haven, Connecticut, Philips was born in New London, Connecticut, and she was ed ...

as Queen of Scandia * Howard Wendell as Morgan Todd *

Tom Conway Tom Conway (born Thomas Charles Sanders, 15 September 1904 – 22 April 1967) was a British film, television, and radio actor remembered for playing private detectives (including The Falcon, Sherlock Holmes, Bulldog Drummond, and The Saint) ...

Sir Kay In Arthurian legend, Sir Kay ( cy, Cai, Middle Welsh ''Kei'' or ''Cei''; la, Caius; French: ''Keu''; Old French: ''Kès'' or ''Kex'') is King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table. ...

Primo Carnera Primo may refer to: People *DJ Premier (born 1966), hip-hop producer, sometimes goes by nickname Primo *Primo Carnera (1906–1967), Italian boxer, World Heavyweight champion 1933–1934 * Primo Cassarino (born 1956), enforcer for the Gambino cr ...

as Sligon, usurping King of Scandia * Don Megowan as

Sir Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...

* Richard Webb as Sir Galahad * Jarma Lewis as

Queen Guinevere Guinevere ( ; cy, Gwenhwyfar ; br, Gwenivar, kw, Gwynnever), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First ment ...

* Neville Brand as

Warrior Chief * John Davidson as

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in c ...

John Dierkes John Dierkes (February 10, 1905 – January 8, 1975) was an American actor who appeared in a number of classic Hollywood films. Before becoming an actor, he had been an economist. Life and career Dierkes was born on February 10, 1905 in ...

Sir Tristram Sir Tristram (IRE) (7 April 1971 – 21 May 1997) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who stood at stud in New Zealand, where he sired an extraordinary 45 Group One winners, including three Melbourne Cup winners. His progeny earned him ...

* Otto Waldis as Patch-Eye * Percival Vivian as Royal Physician * Robert Adler as Brack's Man-at-Arms *

James Dime James Dime (December 19, 1897 – May 11, 1981), nicknamed ''Sheik of Spring Street'', was a Yugoslavian-American professional boxer and actor known for '' The Last Hurrah'' (1958), '' So Big'' (1953), '' Steel Town'' (1952), ''Anne of the In ...

Production

20th Century Fox obtained the rights to the comic strip after MGM allowed their option to lapse. The film was the idea of producer Robert Jacks, the son-in-law of Fox head Darryl F. Zanuck. Fox bought the rights to eight years of published comic strip stories, but adapted only a 1937 storyline. In December 1952

was assigned as director. Medieval swashbucklers had been an experiencing a recent surge of popularity since the success of MGM's ''Ivanhoe'' (1952). In March 1953 Robert Wagner was cast to star in the title role. He had his hair cut to match that in the comic strip. The actor later joked "Dean Martin passed me on the lot and thought I was

Jane Wyman Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007)"Actress, P ...

". Shot in CinemaScope, the film - along with ''The Robe'' - would be the studio's biggest production of the year, with a budget of $3 million. Michael Rennie was going to play King Arthur and Robert Newton Bolthar. Hathaway and producer Robert Jacks left for England in April to scout locations. Eventually, neither Rennie or Newton would appear in the final film. The castle was constructed at a cost of $83,000. The castle battle sequence cost $250,000. Filming started July 7, 1953 on the Fox backlot although Hathaway shot background footage in Scotland from April through to June. The shoot took until November 1953. A sequel, ''Valiant and Aleta'' dealing with Valiant's married life with Aleta, was planned but never produced.

Reception

Box Office

According to contemporary reports the film made $2.6 million in North America, which did not recoup its reported cost of $2.9 million.

Critical

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

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 ...

'' wrote that the film was a faithful adaptation of the comic strip, and that the best part were the epic action scenes. He observed that the film would satisfy younger viewers. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "Although the picture comes in a bit overlength at 100 minutes, the direction and Dudley Nichols' scripting combine to bring it off acceptably against some rather dazzling settings, including authentic castles actually lensed in England". A rave review in ''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

'' called it "one of the most exciting and thrilling action-filled romantic adventure melodramas ever brought to the screen", and called Wagner "a human dynamo" in the title role.

John McCarten John McCarten (September 10, 1911, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – September 25, 1974, New York City) was an American writer who contributed about 1,000 pieces for ''The New Yorker'', serving as the magazine's film critic from 1945 to 1960 and B ...

of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' wrote in a negative review of the film that "as it flounders about, it cuts some unintentionally comic capers that might amuse you if you are feeling amiable ... Prince Valiant is played by Robert Wagner, who reads his lines in a vacant monotone and wears a long Dutch bob and a jerkin with the skittish air of a man trying to be funny in a lady's hat". ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' declared, "Judged as an articulated comic strip, the film is intermittently amusing; by any other standards, it is merely a tasteless costume-piece".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prince Valiant (1954 Film) 1954 films 1954 adventure films 20th Century Fox films American adventure films Arthurian films Films scored by Franz Waxman Films based on American comics Films directed by Henry Hathaway Films set in castles Films shot in England Live-action films based on comics Films with screenplays by Dudley Nichols Prince Valiant CinemaScope films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films