King Richard and the Crusaders (1954, Romance)

Starring: Rex Harrison, George Sanders, Virginia Mavo, and Laurence Harvey. Director: David Bailey. Based on novel by: Sir Walter Scott.

Rex Harrison is one of my favorite actors, so I was biased from the very beginning. Harrison's laugh is addictive! Furthermore, the romantic dialogue between Virginia Mavo and Laurence Harvey is engaging:

Lady Edith: No, no, my dearly betrothed. Richard would set the headsman on your neck - he has said as much.

Sir Kenneth: Then kiss me quickly, my bonnie, while these lips are still warm.

Lady Edith: No, no! (they kiss) Ah, this is a pleasant madness.

Sir Kenneth: A lunacy with which I would love to be afflicted... to the end of my life. If Richard would take my life, I must kiss softly.

Becoming curious, I read the novel by Sir Walter Scott, The Talisman. These characters are quite different in the novel. They don't even speak with one another -- their's is a silent chivalrous love. The romantic conversations are invented to satisfy a modern audience. The plot has been changed so drastically that it becomes sad at times. Where have Sir Walter Scott's magical words gone? What has to be included in a movie to keep an audience's attention?

However, there were still parts of the movie that kept me entertained. Rex Harrison's performance as Saladin was outstanding. Yet, in the book Saladin never has a conversation with Lady Edith -- Muslims are not allowed to look at an unveiled woman. Once again, you have Hollywood making a more dramatic conflict, yet these additions makes the story more interesting as Saladin says,"Allah, strike me mute if I ever say scarecrow."

The whole ending is ludicrous! Romantic, yes, but I do prefer the original. Sir Walter Scott's ending is realistic and the audience gets closure. The movie has been overcooked with too much emotional seasoning:

Lady Edith: As Queen of Islam, I could bring

peace to half the world while you rage through the other half

playing with your swords.

King Richard; Peace be quiet, she loves you skin a lynx, and you'll find a wench. The deeper they claw the more they love.....

Good movie! :-) The book is much, much, better, as usual! Still, this movie convinced me to read the novel!