Post by kijii on Jun 6, 2018 5:39:18 GMT
The Crusades (1935) / Cecil B. DeMille
This is a good example of one of DeMille's early black and white sound epics. I liked it and found it very entertaining. It is based on historical events of the Third Crusade (1190-1192) in which Richard I (the Lion-Heart) (Henry Wilcoxon) is coaxed to leave England in order to join forces with other European Christian monarchs of the day--Philip II of France, Hugo, Duke of Burgundy, King of Sicily, and Frederick, Duke of the Germans--to retake Jerusalem after it had been conquered by the Saracens under Saladin, Sultan of Islam (Ian Keith). After capturing Jerusalem, the Muslims had driven the Christians out of the city or sold them into slavery. According to the movie, a Christian holy hermit (C. Aubrey Smith) left Jerusalem to rally the European monarchs to mount a crusade to retake Jerusalem.
However, the most interesting part of this movie is the power struggles between England and France on the one hand, and Richard and his brother, John, on the other hand. [Think of the The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) or The Lion in Winter (1968) as background movies for the struggle between Richard (the Lion-Heart) and his brother, John].
The movie presents Richard as a jousting fun-loving monarch, something like Robin Hood with this merry men in the forest. He even has a minstral, Blondel (Alan Hale). Richard had been promised to Alice (Katherine DeMille), daughter of the King of France, to unite France and England. However, he uses the Crusade as an excuse to dodge the marriage and leave England. With the promise broken and Richard off to lead the Crusade, John tries to step in and take over the throne in his absence. While en route to Jerusalem, Richard agrees with the King of Navarre to marry his daughter, Berengaria (Loretta Young) in exchange for needed food and supplies. At first, Berengaria is honored by the arrangement but then she is insulted when Richard humiliates her, by sending his sword to the wedding as a token of himself. In the movie, Berengaria accompanies Richard on the crusade, but finds herself on the same ship as Alice.
Alice, Princess of France (Katherine DeMille): [after being told she must vacate her cabin on the ship for another royal lady] I am Alice of France, betrothed to King Richard. Who are you?
Berengaria, Princess of Navarre (Loretta Young): I'm his wife.
However, since movies only present an entertaining story of the real story, here is the history of the he Third Crusade, also known as The Kings' Crusade: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Crusade
Here is the full TCM synopsis of the movie with Spoilders:
I think DeMille's early black and white sound epics--The Sign of the Cross (1932)--Cleopatra (1934) --The Crusades (1935)--The Plainsman (1936)--The Buccaneer (1938)--and Union Pacific (1939) are all worth watching since there were all so big in scope for the time--i.e, epics. However, he often over-fills the screen, either with too much action or to many images at once. The screen seems to explode with just too much of one or the other.
With The Plainsman (1936) and Union Pacific (1939), the episodes seem to crash in one on the other...never quite letting up.
With the other three, the plethora of images on the screen, at any given time, seem to overfill the space of the screen.
This is a good example of one of DeMille's early black and white sound epics. I liked it and found it very entertaining. It is based on historical events of the Third Crusade (1190-1192) in which Richard I (the Lion-Heart) (Henry Wilcoxon) is coaxed to leave England in order to join forces with other European Christian monarchs of the day--Philip II of France, Hugo, Duke of Burgundy, King of Sicily, and Frederick, Duke of the Germans--to retake Jerusalem after it had been conquered by the Saracens under Saladin, Sultan of Islam (Ian Keith). After capturing Jerusalem, the Muslims had driven the Christians out of the city or sold them into slavery. According to the movie, a Christian holy hermit (C. Aubrey Smith) left Jerusalem to rally the European monarchs to mount a crusade to retake Jerusalem.
However, the most interesting part of this movie is the power struggles between England and France on the one hand, and Richard and his brother, John, on the other hand. [Think of the The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) or The Lion in Winter (1968) as background movies for the struggle between Richard (the Lion-Heart) and his brother, John].
The movie presents Richard as a jousting fun-loving monarch, something like Robin Hood with this merry men in the forest. He even has a minstral, Blondel (Alan Hale). Richard had been promised to Alice (Katherine DeMille), daughter of the King of France, to unite France and England. However, he uses the Crusade as an excuse to dodge the marriage and leave England. With the promise broken and Richard off to lead the Crusade, John tries to step in and take over the throne in his absence. While en route to Jerusalem, Richard agrees with the King of Navarre to marry his daughter, Berengaria (Loretta Young) in exchange for needed food and supplies. At first, Berengaria is honored by the arrangement but then she is insulted when Richard humiliates her, by sending his sword to the wedding as a token of himself. In the movie, Berengaria accompanies Richard on the crusade, but finds herself on the same ship as Alice.
Alice, Princess of France (Katherine DeMille): [after being told she must vacate her cabin on the ship for another royal lady] I am Alice of France, betrothed to King Richard. Who are you?
Berengaria, Princess of Navarre (Loretta Young): I'm his wife.
However, since movies only present an entertaining story of the real story, here is the history of the he Third Crusade, also known as The Kings' Crusade: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Crusade
Here is the full TCM synopsis of the movie with Spoilders:
When the Saracens take Jerusalem in 1187 A.D. and kill or enslave the Christian population, a holy hermit journeys to all the Christian kingdoms to preach a crusade to retake Jerusalem. King Richard of England, lusty and godless, joins the crusade only to avoid marriage to the disagreeable Alice, sister of King Philip of France. While Richard's brother John and France's Marquis of Montferrat conspire to control England and Palestine, Richard is forced to marry Berengaria, Princess of Navarre, to obtain food from her father to feed his starving army. Richard's rough manner and his use of a proxy in the wedding ceremony alienate Berengaria, but when Richard finally sees his bride, he forces her to accompany him to Palestine. During the long battle to take the city of Acre, John seizes Richard's throne, and Philip of France threatens to support John and leave the crusade unless Richard casts Berengaria aside and marries Alice. Richard's refusal to give Berengaria up overcomes her resistance to him, but the two agree not to consummate their marriage until Jerusalem is taken. Realizing that she is the obstacle to a unified war effort, Berengaria tries to commit suicide by exposing herself to enemy fire, but she is only wounded before Saladin, leader of the Islam forces, takes her away and nurses her to health. Spurred on by Berengaria's capture and the martyrdom of the holy hermit, the Christian armies take Acre and ride on to Jerusalem, where their forces are depleted in heavy fighting. Berengaria agrees to give herself to Saladin if he will save Richard from the treachery of Montferrat, and she plans to keep this promise even after Richard negotiates a peace with Saladin that frees the Christian captives in Jerusalem and opens the city to Christians. Saladin, however, realizes that Berengaria will always love Richard, who has finally come to God, and she is released to join her husband.
I think DeMille's early black and white sound epics--The Sign of the Cross (1932)--Cleopatra (1934) --The Crusades (1935)--The Plainsman (1936)--The Buccaneer (1938)--and Union Pacific (1939) are all worth watching since there were all so big in scope for the time--i.e, epics. However, he often over-fills the screen, either with too much action or to many images at once. The screen seems to explode with just too much of one or the other.
With The Plainsman (1936) and Union Pacific (1939), the episodes seem to crash in one on the other...never quite letting up.
With the other three, the plethora of images on the screen, at any given time, seem to overfill the space of the screen.