Camelot (1967)

directed by Joshua Logan
starring Richard Harris, Vanessa Radgrave, Franco Nero

My first thought watching this was: I hope this was recognized for art direction.

Spoilers: it was.

If there's one thing this movie gets right, it's the design, costumes, and general scenery. This is one of the classic, big-budget, massive-multiplayer Hollywood musicals of the 1960s, and it does the genre well. From the first shot of the icy branches of the forest during Guenevre (Redgrave) and Arthur's (Harris) first meeting, to their final parting beneath the same darkened trees, this film is just plain pretty.

Well, there's one exception. You know how movies always parody the backlit, overly orange, vaguely smokey, excessively and unrealistically windy moments where a woman enters a room to find her love waiting?

The good stuff starts at about 0:45.

My poor grandparents. They love this movie, and I loved watching it with them, but I burst out laughing when that happened.

Clearly, cheese is something this film exercises, too. Richard Harris himself complained about the unnecessary amounts of eye make-up he was required to endure. (I was so thrilled to hear this. His eye shadow and eyeliner were legitimately distracting. It wasn't like that with the other actors, either. Did the make-up person have a vendetta against Harris, or something?) Still, Harris carries the film with his acting and provides a strong center for the mythic tale.

The real strength of the movie, however, remains the spectacle. The music is enchanting, though definitely inferior to the original production. Props to Vanessa Redgrave for providing her own vocals, unlike her costar Franco Nero. (Poor Nero can't really act, either. Was he just chosen for his looks? Certainly Hollywood could have dug someone up both capable and attractive.) Redgrave can't hold a candle to Julie Andrews, of course, but who can? At least she performed adequately for the role, unlike another actress who took one of Andrews' Broadway roles and did not do her own singing.

Okay, I'll go take my Julie Andrews fangirlism elsewhere. In closing: fun movie, probably would be a bit more fun on stage, and a good example of the 1960s Hollywood musical.

(Though I'd really recommend The Sound of Music, myself.)

(...okay. I'm done.)

Coming Soon: Pulp Fiction, Vertigo, Hamlet, Dial M for Murder