Camelot (1967)

 

Camelot is one of the more famous (or infamous) roadshow musical films of the 1960s. An adaptation of the Broadway musical that starred Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet, the film version features instead Richard Harris as King Arthur, Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Guinevere, and Franco Nero as Sir Lancelot—none of whom are especially well known for their talent for singing. Harris would later release a “hit” version of the song “MacArthur Park,” but here his prowess at vocalizing is not on full display. In fact, he’s not even particularly adept at lip synching to his prerecorded tracks. Redgrave’s singing is passable, but her voice is rather thin in many of her numbers. Nero’s thick Italian accent makes his speaking voice difficult to follow at times, so it’s little surprise that Lancelot’s songs were dubbed by Gene Merlino instead. The film, like the musical on which it is based, covers some of the more familiar moments of the Arthurian legend: the beginnings of the relationship between Arthur and Guinevere, the formation (and later dissolution) of the Round Table, the arrival of Sir Lancelot from France and his burgeoning relationship with Guinevere, the attempted creation of an impartial court system, and the emotional struggle Arthur faces in charging his wife and his best-loved knight with treason. While there’s a lot of potential for excitement here, much of the film is really quite boring. Only a few moments break through the tedium. For instance, Guinevere doesn’t like the Frenchman much at first, so she sets up three of his rivals at the Round Table to defeat him, but when he almost kills one of them and cries over the potential loss of his fellow knight, Guinevere and Lancelot begin to bond with each other. In the film’s second act, their relationship becomes a more central focus, and the chemistry between the two is quite evident (no doubt due, in part, to the real-life relationship between Redgrave and Nero). Similarly, the songs are all well-known and quite lovely lyrically, but for me, only a couple of the film’s versions are worthy of attention: “The Lusty Month of May” and “If Ever I Would Leave You.” The rest of the songs sound more like a community theater production of Camelot. The arrival of Mordred (David Hemmings), Arthur’s illegitimate son by Morgause (who never appears on screen), briefly energizes the film thanks to Hemmings’ impish appeal, but his role is rather small. It’s actually little more than a plot device to ensure that Guinevere and Lancelot get caught. There’s also very little of Merlyn in this film, sadly, only a couple of small moments, and when he transforms Arthur into first a fish and then a hawk, those changes are not depicted on screen—a lost opportunity to insert some much-needed cinematic magic. Another missed opportunity involves the sets and costumes, which obviously received a lot of attention from the production team. As beautiful as they often are, though, many of the colors used in the film are quite drab, perhaps in a misguided attempt to be “realistic” in the depiction of the clothes and settings of the Middle Ages. Who at the time would have necessarily wanted realism in the film version of a lavish Broadway musical? (Who, necessarily, would want it now?) Hollywood keeps remaking films that have gone on to become classics, but it would make more sense to remake a film like Camelot, one that wasn’t actually successful. There is a great story here and some beautiful music; they just need a better film to encompass them.

Oscar Wins: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, and Best Scoring of Music (Adaptation or Treatment)

Other Oscar Nominations: Best Cinematography and Best Sound