Camelot

[Lzcutter]

Camelot is on and I haven't seen it in over forty years. It's big, it's bloated, but Vanessa Redgrave is luminous (and it's amazing how much her daughter, Natasha, looked like her when Vanessa was her age) and the score is still as good as it was all those years ago when we (and the country) were much younger.

I guess Josh Logan thought Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet were too old for 1967 audiences to believe in the roles. Richard Harris, they say, campaigned hard for the role but some of his more quiet moments and close-ups reveal him not to always be in character, which takes away from sympathizing with him in the end.

Richard Kline, the cinematographer, did a great job of photographing and he was one of the cinematographers on the tv show The Virginian. In many ways, the cinematography is better than the direction!

I don't know that Josh Logan was the guy to direct this film. His choice of shots and the uneven acting (not to mention the wind machine in the If Ever I Should Leave You number) makes a case for a better director in my opinion. Though in 1967, not quite sure who that would have been. Robert Wise, maybe?

Oh wait, David Hemmings is about to arrive to chew the scenery. Gotta run. Was Roddy McDowell unavailable due to Apes or was the perennial youthful-looking Roddy deemed too old?

It was one of those mid-century musicals that should have been better given the fact that the story could be opened up on film and so much more be done visually with the story (ie, The Sound of Music) Instead, it suffers from being hidebound to the story and takes way too long to tell the simple story of a king betrayed by love.

For all the wonderful ways film can enhance a story, this one reaches for the heights but never gets close enough to be satisfying.

'tis a pity because it certainly could have been a keeper.

[JackFavell]

I agree totally with your review, lz. There is something going on in Camelot other than the story, and it is distracting....however, there are parts that are really wonderful. It's a really good/really bad movie!

I found your observations about Richard Harris were completely on. Sometimes he seemed as if he was about to stop and go for a coffee break, but I wonder if this has to do with the editing or directing choices, holding onto scenes for an iota too long, or stretching scenes out unendingly, like a sixties soap opera waiting for a music sting?

I think the actors did quite a good job generally speaking, I especially liked Vanessa at the beginning, because she had a cruel and exciting streak that made her more than just a fill in for Julie Andrews. But what did sixties audiences think when they walked in and saw Vanessa in Julie's part? I mean, that's a weird substitution - do you want the older audience who wanted to see the play but didn't, or do you want the young audience from Blow-Up? Did they think that they could please both? Maybe they could have, had the direction been better.

Some of the effects and art direction were wonderful. The direction was big and overblown, but that was OK. It was stagy, and shots were thrown in for effect, but that was OK. Scenes were overlong and edited badly, and that wasn't OK. It really made you feel like you wanted to look at your watch all the time - you'd just get into a scene or a character, and they would start cross cutting, or when you wanted to look away, there was an endless closeup. Deadly. The direction revealed all the mechanics of the moviemaking, when what you want is an epic fairy tale made human and poignant.

[moira finnie]

I think that the version of Camelot that was imprinted on my impressionable mind was the aural castles in the air created by the voices of Burton, Andrews, Goulet and McDowall at 33rpm singing Lerner and Lowe's beautiful score.

I remember being taken to see Camelot but it left me cold, except for the scene with Redgrave in the forest on her way to marry Arthur. After that, all I remember is thinking that Franco Nero as Lancelot looked beautiful, but I don't think he understood a word of what he was saying or singing.

[Uncle Stevie]

A most exciting time in my life when I got to see the Original Broadway Production of Camelot and with Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, Robert Goulet.

Roles and original castKing Arthur – Richard Burton
Queen Guenevere – Julie Andrews
Sir Lancelot – Robert Goulet
Merlyn – David Hurst
Pellinore – Robert Coote
Mordred – Roddy McDowall
Sir Dinadan – John Cullum
Morgan Le Fey – M'el Dowd**
Lady Catherine – Virginia Allen
Nimue – Marjorie Smith
Sir Lionel – Bruce Yarnell
Sir Ozanna – Michael Kermoyan
Sir Gwilliam – Jack Dabdoub
Sir Sagramore – James Gannon
Lady Anne – Christina Gillespie
Squire Dap – Michael Clarke-Laurence
Clarius – Richard Kuch
Tom of Warwick – Robin Stewart

[JackFavell]

Can you tell me what that production was like? Your impressions? I mean, was it epic or lavish in scale, similar to what the movie was trying to do?

Did you feel like a fairy tale had come to life, or was it more human, psychological, small scale? I really have no vision of what the play might have been like, except for the voices on the record, like Moira said. I think I saw a clip from it once on Ed Sullivan, but I remember the sets being more cartoonish - like in a book of fairy tales - I am not sure that the real show was like what they used on the ES show. I got the impression that the people were more important than the art direction, unlike the movie.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Oooh! Great questions for Uncle Steve, Jackie!!

I wanna know, too!

[Uncle Stevie]

You must remember I was a young married at that time and my bride, now of 49 years, was with me and we were celebrating something with this show. We both had been to a limited number of Broadway shows at that time in our lives.

My first impression was the scenery and the costumes. They were awesome and overpowering. We were stunned hardly before a note was sung. Then we cried. Burton spoke, Julie Andrews sang, and then Robert Goulet sang and we were blown away. The professionalism was breathtaking. I must say we were not aware of our environment and the richness of the event. We were pure and simple - entertained. They were all so damn full of talent you could not walk away without feeling privileged. The show was very good but it was the talent and production that was unstoppable. The evening was a star studded event and we will never forget it. No we did not realize what an impression this would make on the world but were glad to be a part of it.

We were very privileged to also see the original production of Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand. That show was all about Barbra and nothing else. We knew then we were in magic land watching and listening to her. She made that show.

Now I look back at my show business history and realize how lucky we were. Time flies to fast.

[moira finnie]

Oh, thanks so much, Stevie. That sounds like the ideal Broadway show experience. You were so fortunate to have been in that time and place. Just reading your brief, eloquent memories of the occasion makes me hear that music again.

[JackFavell]

Thank you for relating your experiences! I know it can be very hard to describe how a good play feels, especially after years have gone by. You are left with a few fleeting moments that stick out in your mind and an overall feeling or impression. I really appreciate you taking the time to tell us about it. I'm so glad you were able to be a part of musical theatre history - twice!

[Uncle Stevie]

You all made me cry just thinking about it. Thanks.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Thank you so much for sharing, Uncle Stevie! I felt privileged to learn about it all from someone who was actually there. It was lovely of you to share.

[mrsl]

.
Terrific reading in this thread thus far. Your questions and responses are exciting, so let me preface by saying this is not any kind of unhappy reflection on your posts. I received the album of the Broadway version for some reason and from the moment the orchestra began the overture, I was engulfed in magic. I closed my eyes and pictured the whole thing - YES, I truly was able to see it all in my mind. Burton with his Rex Harrison sing-song, Julie and Goulet and their magnificent voices probably at their peak at the time, oh yeah, no trouble at all imagining. A booklet was included and every now and then I would check out the photos to help with the visions. All through my teen age and 20's and 30's I was wild about musicals and never missed a single one.

Finally, when the movie came out, I wasn't even aware, but I had an infant, a one year old, and a two year old so I probably never even saw an ad. When it came on TV a couple of years later, I sat down happily to watch, and was so let down, I almost cried. Richard Harris was NO King Arthur. Arthur was supposed to be charming, funloving and foolish, that's why Guinevere fell instantly in 'like' and no longer quaked at the thought of marrying him, but that old geezer couldn't make me take a second look, even today. Robert Goulet, gorgeous in those silly puffed sleeve tunics and tights, especially with a cape, and that voice!!! The same goes for Julie Andrews, her voice made those songs sound like Cinderellas birds. I never saw the movie, I turned it off shortly after they met. I checked back in every now and then, but never saw anything to hold me. But, once again it's the same old thing, we can't all love the same movies, and we can't expect others to dislike the same things we dislike.
.

[Uncle Stevie]

Anne, I know from where you are coming. Rita and I went to see an after production somewhere with Richard Harris. I do not remember who else was in it. It was awful. I might have walked if we were not with friends, who by the way liked it. We were spoiled and it proved a point that the show alone was not very good. The songs were somewhat ok but the stars needed to be outstanding. I have stated before there are some performers just take over the show or the movie just because they are who they are. Case in point - How many times was Frank Sinatra terrible? Did Barbra Streisand ever disappoint you. Did you ever hate Cary Grant? There are a ton of super performers who take over when they perform. I get mezmorized by great people entertaining me.

It got me thinking about how many movies and shows that sucked because the actors did.

[JackFavell]

I used to dislike Richard Harris, thinking he was just a Richard Burton wanna-be, but then I saw some movies in which he turns in really good performances. I think maybe Camelot was not his high point.

Burton has a measure of majesty that Harris simply doesn't have, a looming presence, a hidden sadness or sometimes, bitterness. Harris has something Burton doesn't have, which is warmth and humanity. To me, both men can be brilliant, or awful, and it's the luck of the draw as to which it's going to be at any given time. They both try and fail as often as not.

For me, Burton was never better than as George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? because for perhaps the only time, he lets it all hang out. What I have seen of his Hamlet was wonderful. Again, the kingly presence is just right, the bitterness, the sadness being held at bay by wit is perfect. Camelot also plays to his strengths- the lonely king who is meant for greatness, but pays by remaining alone.

I really like Harris in The Molly McGuires and This Sporting Life. He's just himself in these two movies, not trying to be something else. These two characterizations, which in the hands of a lesser actor might come off as hateful, contain a lot of warmth and confusion, and this is what I have come to like in Harris. The truth is, I actually like Harris better, which I didn't realize until this conversation.

[Lzcutter]

Jacks,

I agree with much of what you say about Harris and Burton. I think Burton could be warm and humane but he had to be invested totally in the role and so many of his movies were done more for the money than for the love of the craft. He never seemed comfortable earning a living as an actor (as if somehow it was a profession not worthy of anyone) though it allowed him a lifestyle he could only have imagined had he taken any other road.

As for Harris, as he grew older I liked him better. The roles he had the last 15 years of his life are some of the most memorable for me.