Prince Valiant

The Sunday comic strip character gets the CinemaScope treatment in a fine film with marquee names to attract more than passing interest. Robert Wagner is just right as the young Viking prince who seeks to restore his father's throne. Circumstances bring Valiant to King Arthur's court where an English knight becomes his mentor and trains him in the art of combat. James Mason is great as a shadowy figure who figures prominently in the picture. Janet Leigh is a lovely maiden who is smitten immediately with Valiant, and Debra Paget is on hand to be romanced by an English knight. The film has action, suspense and romance, tournaments and thrilling battles before the final confrontation between Valiant and the Black Knight. Great cinematography, beautiful scenery and Franz Waxman's brooding score round out a quality film production.

While not nearly as good as Hal Foster's comic strip, this film is not nearly as bad as some reviewers would have you believe. James Mason makes a fine villain, and the action scenes are well directed by Hathaway. The biggest problem is that it is, after all, a fifties film, with all the good and bad points of the fifties. I am a big fan of the fifties, because it is the decade in which I started watching movies, but I am also aware that relatively low budgets and heavy handed censorship made even the best fifties films somewhat dubious -- e.g. A Streetcar Named Desire without any hint of homosexuality. Comparing Prince Valiant to most modern knights in armor films, I find it more fun than, say, Black Knight or Timeline.

Henry Hathaway's 'Prince Valiant' is an epic adventure story set in the Golden Age of Chivalry... It is the story of a Viking Prince who pledges to go to Camelot and there strive with honor and diligence to become a Knight at King Arthur's Round Table...

'Prince Valiant' is about a ghost who plots treason, a black-armored knight who appears and vanishes at will... It is about a deadly Black Knight, who uses his disguise to make a pact with a Viking traitor to overthrow a great king...

'Prince Valiant' is about a desperate squire who dares to wear the armor and identity of a chivalrous Knight of the Round Table... And about a loyal squire who crowns a mighty knight with a rock, and tries to win a beautiful princess for himself...

'Prince Valiant' is about the son of an exiled king who seeks King Arthur's help against the usurper, and becomes involved in a court plot... It is about a courageous lad who faces the treachery of a mysterious black knight, who is scheming betrayal and murder...

James Mason portrays the shining knight Sir Brack who suffers the indignity of being challenged on the field of honor by a squire in the guise of a knight...

Janet Leigh plays the lovely damsel with one purpose, to answer love fully...

Robert Wagner plays the young hothead with one vow to fulfill before he can think of anything else...

Debra Paget plays the shy and charming dark-haired princess with a secret wish...

Sterling Hayden plays Sir Gawain, the perfect knight who knows that his duty is to find the Black Knight and destroy him before his treason ripens...

Victor McLaglen plays the Christian Viking hiding behind a red curtain with a long knife in his hand...

Donald Crisp plays the exiled King of Scandia who was overthrown by a Viking traitor and escapes with his wife and son across the North Sea to Britain...

Brian Aherne plays Arthur, King of the Britons, who assures Valiant that 'knighthood cannot be had for the asking...' It must be won! Barry Jones plays the father of two lovely princesses who suffers to get the best knight for one of his daughters...

Well... I just love this movie! Its good old magic moves me to some of the most cherished memories stored in my mind... It is an agreeable historical piece that has prowess, romance, and grace, and a breathtaking duel, one of the best you will ever see...

I Know: Robert Wagner's hairdo is sort of unbearable; Janet Leigh's white wig is too much; Valiant's sword looks over-sized; Sterling Hayden behaves like a contemporary New Yorker; it's very easy to imagine who the black knight is; vikings didn't have horns in their helmets; and so on.

But somehow I found this medieval story based on Harold Foster's characters entertaining and I even enjoyed it. In fact I think that for 1954 "Prince Valiant" takes the most of Foster's novels about knights and vikings in the times of legendary King Arthur.

Good colorful locations, fine settings, good action scenes and a sort of "sticky" musical score that even sounds appropriate help the picture along with an acceptable script and Henry Hathaway's prolix direction.

Highlights o the movie are James Mason's convincing villain, Brian Aherne's fine portrayal of King Arthur and a violent and smashing final duel between Valiant and the unmasked Black Knight.

If you like medieval costume adventures you'll enjoy this one too.

In my childhood Prince Valiant was one of my favorites. There was this film and also an album to fill in with cards related to the film. Henry Hathaway did a real good work with this film, very good for all ages, but more for children. One of the things I liked was the way Valiant (Robert Wagner or his stunt) jumped and ran. He was very active and with pride. The film had a good acting of James Mason as the villain Sir Brack, Sterling Hayden as strong Sir Gawain; two beauties of those days, Janet Leigh and Debra Paget, and the ex-boxing champion, the Italian Primo Carnera as the villain Sligon, who badly talked in the scenes he participated. Although the film was made in studios, the photography and the environment shown were good.