Rainey Dawn Another good film surrounding the Arthurian Legend. This time the viking Prince Valiant of Scandia is the main focus. The young prince must restore his father back to his rightful throne in order to save his country by overthrowing the evil Pagan tyrant Sligon and restore the Christian faith to his native land. In order to do all that he must become one of the Knights of the Roundtable and uncover who the terrifying Black Knight really is.It's not an Epic film but right up there with the Epics of the time era. The film has a feeling of a grand scale & story. Set designs & costuming are up to standards along with the cinematography, choreography, stunts and acting. The film is vividly colorful with wonderful clear sound. It's a fun fantasy adventure film that lovers of the Arthurian Legend should easily enjoy.8.5/10

tomsview Years ago, when vinyl still ruled, I brought the record of Charles Gerhardt's "The Classic Scores of Franz Waxman". The opening track was music from "Prince Valiant". I hadn't seen the movie, but was surprised that the music seemed so light for an historical epic - almost a send-up of epic scores.When I finally saw the film, I realised that Waxman had caught the tone of the film perfectly. It is an adventure film that doesn't take itself too seriously although it is based on Hal Foster's beautifully drawn comic strip, which took itself very seriously indeed - "Peanuts" it was not.Robert Wagner's character, Prince Valiant (Val to his friends), belongs to a royal family of Christian Vikings. When Val's father is dethroned by Sligon, leader of pagan worshiping Vikings, the lad is sent with his pageboy haircut to Camelot to join King Arthur's Round Table as a way of helping his father regain the throne. However he discovers a plot against Arthur, which also involves Sligon. Along the way he gains friends, makes enemies, and finds romance with the tightly bodiced Princess Aleta.That's roughly the plot; the romantic elements probably wouldn't have been sophisticated enough for an episode of Andy Hardy, however the whole thing is handled with such flair that clichés, overly obvious plotting and the mishmash of American and British accents are brushed away by engaging stars, great locations and brilliant special effects.Prince Valiant was made shortly after the introduction of Cinemascope and if ever a movie was a showcase for the process it's this one; pan and scan on TV just doesn't do it justice.Whenever the great cinematic sword fights are listed, the one between Robert Wagner and James Mason in "Prince Valiant", is hardly ever mentioned, but it is one of the best blade-on-blade encounters ever.The film seems influenced as much by Robert Taylor's "Ivanhoe" as by Hal Foster, especially with all the jousting, and a beautiful blonde heroine contrasted with a beautiful raven-haired one: Joan Fontaine and Elizabeth Taylor in the former, Janet Leigh and Debra Paget in the latter.The production is lavish even if the Vikings in the film look more like a herd than a horde with ridiculous out-sized horns on their helmets - you would think the biggest danger they faced when raping and pillaging would have been poking each other's eyes out.Nevertheless "Prince Valiant" is simply good old-fashioned movie making; it's a full-blooded adventure, but given a light touch - it still delivers value for money.

moonspinner55 Exiled King of Sandia, whose throne was usurped by force, is given refuge by King Arthur at a secret location; now, the troubled King's green son is anxious to make matters right, leaving the family's hideout and eventually tangling with the elusive Black Knight of the forest. Simpleton epic based upon the King Features comic strip by Harold Foster is beautifully photographed by the esteemed Lucien Ballard, who manages to get a sheen from just about every location chosen. The costumes and castles are terrifically splendid, yet the film's miscasting quickly negates interest in the action. Robert Wagner isn't quite right for the energetic leading role; his perpetually blank look, callow manner, and wooden line readings are often embarrassing...and certainly the black wig does him no favors. Prince Valiant is chosen as squire to Sir Gawain (Sterling Hayden, in an even worse performance than Wagner's) and the two have romantic complications with a pair of sisters (Janet Leigh and Debra Paget, both lovely). James Mason is the mysterious Sir Brack, who may be after King Arthur's throne, but Mason doesn't exude much mystery--with his arch delivery and decadent manner, we know right away he's up to no good, which kills any suspense the plot might have had. The ladies are fun, and the presentation is certainly colorful; otherwise, this "Prince" is a pallid player in the Medieval adventure genre. ** from ****

vitaleralphlouis Fifty years ago moviegoers found that Fox's PRINCE VALIENT was much better than expected, thanks to Henry Hathaway's fine direction and a wealth of good sense from 20th Century-Fox. Fox was still well-taken with their new CinemaScope process that just begged for action and beautiful, colorful settings. This movie excels at all, but it's mostly the rock-solid story of King Arthur and the Vikings that makes it.Screen beauties Janet Leigh and Debra Paget almost never showed any leg in any movie, and herein (sorry) are fully covered as usual. Anyway, it's the men who dominate this story. Robert Wagner is perfect as Valient, and Sterling Hayden is at the top of his form, as is James Mason.Truth is that in the age of comic book movies (2000-2008) Hollywood's cocaine sniffers have no clue how to craft this genre with any classic quality. The secret is to focus on (1) story, (2) character development, (3) spectacular sets and scenery, (4) challenge, redemption, faith, patriotism. The religion and honor in Prince Valient would make today's godless movie industry cringe.These days the focus (if any) would be on animation, choppy editing, almost no dialog, and the usual/identical musical score: vim, vim, vim, vim on a violin while a chorus belts out wordless chants. Boring! Thus films like Jerry Bruckheimer's "King Arthur" -- to name just one, is no longer even a memory, let alone a classic.Treat yourself! Rent "Prince Valient" on DVD.