By Lee Pfeiffer
For all its fame, Camelot has always been treated like a second-rung achievement in the history of enduring Broadway musicals. The original 1960 stage production starred the dream cast of the era: Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet and ran two years on the Great White Way. The play also became hip to see because none other than President John F. Kennedy proclaimed it his favorite musical (hence the on-going references to the Kennedy clan and "Camelot"). Nevertheless, the show never achieved the enduring legacy of My Fair Lady, the all-time great Lerner and Lowe smash that was turned into an equally successful big screen musical in 1964 for Warner Brothers. Studio titan Jack L. Warner was determined to make Camelot another smash and enlisted top name talents. Alan Jay Lerner wrote the screenplay, legendary Joshua Logan would direct. The project became Warner's last great personal obsession and, in bringing it to the screen, he uncharacteristically spared no expense. The film was shot in part in Spain as well as the Warner Brothers Studio in Hollywood, where enormous Medieval sets were constructed, primarily King Arthur's castle. In adapting T.H. White's The Once and Future King for the stage, Lerner and Lowe had capitalized on the most legendary love triangle in all literature: between King Arthur, his bride Guenevere and the loyal knight Lancelot. As Lancelot strives to help Arthur bring a new era of justice and honor to England, their plans are threatened by his love affair between with the Queen. This gives Camelot a much darker storyline than most traditional musicals, save for perhaps West Side Story. For the most part the stage production is faithfully brought to the screen, though Lerner opens the film with a flashback sequence that alerts the audience they are in for a relatively downbeat storyline.
Logan and Warner cast three up-and-coming talents in the main roles. Richard Harris was a reluctant choice as King Arthur because he was primarily known for starring in British "kitchen sink" dramas and had never sung before on screen. In retrospect, it's hard to imagine even Burton giving a more nuanced and enjoyable performance. (Ironically, the film allowed Harris to embark on a successful career as a recording artist). Vanessa Redgrave is every bit his equal as Guenevere and the two perform their musical numbers like pros. Franco Nero, cast as Lancelot, is physically perfect and has the charisma that would see him gain stardom in Europe. (Among the leads, only he was dubbed for the singing sequences.) The film is flawed, to be sure, in that the plot moves at a glacial pace, particularly in the second act following intermission. Logan took heat from critics for sacrificing spectacle for extreme close-ups of the principals. However, this was his intention, as he said at the time he wanted to created an intimate story that would not be compromised by sweeping visual locations. Indeed, some of the sets are so obviously shot in the studio that it appears as though Logan simply filmed a stage production. Where the spectacle does appear is in the production design of John Truscott, who blew through the film's budget with his penchant for detail. (There are 3500 different costumes in the film. Redgrave's wedding gown took six months to create at a cost of $12,000 dollar - and that was in 1967.) Even Warner became alarmed at the budget overruns and, pressured by the studio's new owners, Seven-Arts, he pulled the plug before Logan could finish the film to his satisfaction. It's hard to imagine what else he intended to shoot, as some of the sequences are already over-long. However, the musical score is pure magic and the performances spirited. The supporting cast includes David Hemmings (fresh from starring with Redgrave in the sensational Blow Up) as the evil Mordred, the always-watchable Lionel Jeffries and Laurence Naismith as Merlyn, Arthur's magical mentor.
Warner's Blu-ray release is magnificent in every way. Packaged in a hardcover mini-book format with many wonderful photos, the set also includes a sampler CD of song highlights (that continues the deceit of crediting Franco Nero for songs he never sang!) Picture quality and sound are truly impressive, as are the array of bonus extras. These include a commentary track by film critic Stephen Farber and a refreshingly candid documentary that looks at the making of the film and its legacy. (Typically, no one is given the dignity for having created the documentary.) The retrospective doesn't sugarcoat the fact that the film was a major financial flop and points out, with insight, that while Warner was nurturing this mega musical production, he all but ignored the anti-Establishment films that would become surprise hits for the studio, namely Bonnie and Clyde and Cool Hand Luke. There is also a vintage featurette about the legend of King Arthur and a most-welcome half hour TV special that covered the New York premiere of the film. (Much of the fun is watching contemporary celebs such as Ed Sullivan, Truman Capote, the Kennedy "girls" and Faye Dunaway arriving in style at the Warner Theatre on Broadway). There are also a number of different trailers and TV spots.
I was fortunate enough to see Burton in his late career revival of the play in the 1980s at Lincoln Center, as well as a stage production some years later starring Richard Harris, thus, I have great affection for this work, overlong as it may be. This is the ultimate edition of an enduring musical that may never quite equal the stature of other more celebrated works, but nevertheless remains as inspiring and moving as it is entertaining. Curiously, despite the enormous financial loss suffered by Warners on this film, Paramount enlisted Lerner, Logan and Truscott for their 1969 mega-budget musical Paint Your Wagon, which proved to be such a boxoffice disaster that it effectively ended each man's career in the cinema. Like Camelot, however, it remains a top-notch musical. Here's hoping Paramount finally goes the route of Warners and presents us with a special edition Blu-ray of the film.
Click here to order discounted from Amazon