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The Camelot legend has come to the screen in many forms -- from art film and action flick to the new-to-tape First Knight. But whatever the genre, the central triangle's always the same: King Arthur versus Sir Lancelot, for the love of Guinevere. Invariably, of course, the lady favors Lance, but sometimes the best man truly is the king. Herewith, a roundup of Round Table romances.
KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE (1953, MGM/UA) The Telling: Grand-scale CinemaScope costume epic. The Triangle: Arthur (Mel Ferrer) is noble, wise, and true. Lancelot (Robert Taylor) is straight as an arrow -- and stiff as a board. Come to think of it, so is Guinevere (Ava Gardner). Arthur's too good for either.
SWORD OF LANCELOT (1963, MCA/ Universal) The Telling: Tacky, clunky period pageantry. The Triangle: Arthur (Brian Aherne) is a silly old simp; Lancelot (Cornel Wilde) struggles with his faux French accent. Can you blame Guin (Jean Wallace) for getting herself to a nunnery?
CAMELOT (1967, Warner) The Telling: Lerner and Loewe's musical. The Triangle: Richard Harris' tortured Arthur talks his way through the title tune. Franco Nero's hunky Lancelot blurts ''If Ever I Would Leave You'' in an unintentionally funny tenor profundo. Vanessa Redgrave's Guinevere can't sing either -- but she's magnificent anyway. She and Harris strike sparks; Nero gets blown off the screen.
LANCELOT OF THE LAKE (1974, New Yorker) The Telling: French art-house deconstruction by director Robert Bresson, with knights who camp near a farmhouse Camelot. The Triangle: Arthur (Vladimir Antolek-Oresek) is depressed because he can't find the Holy Grail. Lancelot (Luc Simon) is racked by guilt over sleeping with the queen. Call them glum and glummer -- and since Guinevere (Laura Duke Condominas) is glummest of all, she deserves whomever she gets.
EXCALIBUR (1981, Warner) The Telling: Blood-and-thunder mythologizing. The Triangle: Lancelot (Nicholas Clay) is young, courageous, and handsome. But then, so is Arthur (Nigel Terry). Spunky Guinevere (Cherie Lunghi) might have had better chemistry with anyone in the then-unknown supporting cast, which includes Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, and Patrick Stewart.
FIRST KNIGHT (1995, Columbia TriStar) The Telling: A Camelot for the '90s: no Merlin, no Excalibur, no Holy Grail, but lots of speed-metal swordplay. The Triangle: Sean Connery's august Arthur is old enough to be Guinevere's granddad, while Richard Gere's hip Sir Lance fights like a ninja, walks like a gigolo, and talks like...Richard Gere. Camelot is lost!
