La tizona del rey

A film so awful it can only appeal to swashbuckler buffs. I enjoy watching this take on the Arthurian legend with its anachronisms etc as detailed by other "fans". Check out Alan Ladd in the Black Knight and see how much footage Siege of the Saxons borrowed. Its very amusing how they shoe-horn in the armour and helmet worn by Alan Ladd in his superior swashbuckler to allow use of the final battle scenes which were obviously beyond the Siege's budget to stage properly. The first time I saw this tremendous film I was only about ten and I spotted Alan Ladd's helmet and armour straight away - I don't think I have seen another arthurian/medieval knight wearing short-sleeved armour which was another pointer to Alan Ladd's film and sure enough jousting and battle scenes are lifted in their entirety. And since when did King Arthur have a daughter?? Nice to see Dad' Army stalwart John Laurie playing Merlin though.

This is not a remake of The Black Knight but uses extensive footage from the 1954 Alan Ladd film, as well as the suit of armour he wore.

I assume this was brought out of storage for Ronald Lewis to wear - which begs the question did he only get the part because he was the same size as Alan Ladd? The film also used footage from other Columbia 1950's swashbucklers, possibly " Rogues Of Sherwood Forest "? Whateve it's failings, " Saxons " was chosen as co-feature to " Jason And The Argonauts " in the summer of 1963 and this ' colossus of adventure ' double bill ( as it was described at the time ) made a fortune, and was re-issued several times during subsequent school holidays.

The following summer, Charles H. Schneer, who was the producer of both " Jason " & " Saxons " put together another fantastic double bill - " First Men In The Moon " ( another Harryhausen movie ) and " East Of Sudan " which was mostly made up of stock footage from the 1939 Korda epic " The Four Feathers ", footage that had already been re-cycled once before in the 1955 Cinemascope remake of " The Four Feathers " entitled " Storm Over The Nile " !

I finished watching this movie about, oh, five minutes ago, and went straight to IMDb to read more about it, and was rather surprised to see that the only two members who've left comments thoroughly trash it. It's actually a highly satisfactory way to spend a rainy afternoon, what with an excellent cast (no, they're not hammy. If you want hammy there are plenty of other films to oblige you), an accomplished and effective score with lots of brass, and well choreographed fight sequences which give a good idea of how heavy those Anglo-Saxon weapons were. Cinematography is also pretty good, with castles that look the way we'd expect them to look. And the costumes are evocative without looking too fancy-dress (consider that this is 1963!). Pacing is good, and although it won't be in anyone's top twenty films, it does deliver a good time. Laurie is excellent as Merlin, mystical and frail with ancient hollow eyes.

I fondly remember Siege Of the Saxons from a Saturday matinée I went to as a child. It may not play well with adults, but I don't think it was intended for grown-ups in the first place. It has a decent cast for the kind of film it is, and I recall Ronald Howard (son of Leslie) being quite good. There are some good battle scenes, none too graphic by today's standards. The movie is kid's stuff; the color is nice; the actors don't embarrass themselves; and the limping man looks as sinister as he's supposed to. I also recall Janette Scott as being quite attractive, as indeed she was. This would probably be a good movie for children. It's exciting in much the same way Robin Hood is.

The siege of the Saxons is your run of the mill Arthur legend, with a damsel in distress, and crusty old Merlin waffling on about Excalibur. Unfortunately there are several things wrong with the film which spoil what could have been a good stab (pun intended) at this genre. The acting by the bit-part henchmen is for the most part risible and amateurish and the editing of the battle scenes is sloppy, with a lot of death scenes re-used for padding. However the two leads in Ronald Lewis and Janette Scott put in a good performance of the rugged scoundrel and the Queen wrongfully usurped from the throne, and there are some entertaining comedic scenes between the two.

In general it's enjoyable afternoon fare and if you like your swash-buckling swordplay, jousting and pointy helmets you won't be disappointed.