Sword of Lancelot (1963)

Directed by Cornel Wilde. Starring Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, Brian Aherne, Michael Meacham, Archie Duncan, George Baker, Iain Gregory, Adrienne Corri, Mark Dignam.

Lancelot (Wilde, who also directed and co-produced) and Guinevere (Wallace) swoon for each other in between shared looks of constipation in this unimpressive medieval romantic adventure. King Arthur (Aherne) plays third fiddle in the forbidden romance, which is just as well since it gets tedious fast. Final battle scene is well-staged and marginally exciting, but it will only be seen by viewers that are still awake. Aside from sagely introducing soap to the unwashed Britons, Merlin (Corri) is drastically underused; Meacham had potential to be a memorably wicked Modred after seeing him share sinister whispers with his hunting bird, but alas he’s too often shuffled to the sidelines—he doesn’t even get to be onscreen when killing a major character, an incident which takes place so abruptly that the scene announcing its occurrence can’t even be trusted at first. Wilde’s screen presence as a stellar swordsman and lover can be best described as middling, while Wallace makes for one of the most insipid Guinevere’s to ever appear on film. Also known as Lancelot and Guinevere.

38/100