The King's Thief

I watched The King's Thief for one reason only, and that was that I am a bit of a Roger Moore fan. Alas, Roger isn't in the film very much, though what little he does he does well enough. However, I still enjoyed it as an easy-on-the-brain swashbuckler, the type of thing that Errol Flynn might have starred in twenty years earlier.

The plot is brisk and simple. It involves a plot to overthrow the king of England, recorded in a notebook which falls into the hands of a woodland bandit. The bandit is a bad man, but when he realises what is going on, he knows that he must do something to protect the monarch. In this way, the villain actually becomes the good guy. After a lot of swordplay and treachery, the bandit and his merry men save the king and catch the deceivers.

There's not much to remember about the film once it's over. There's one particularly suspenseful escape sequence, in which two bandits get out of Newgate prison, but besides that it kind of floats out of your head as quickly as it floated in. All the same, this is fun. It is the kind of movie your kids could watch without being exposed to blood and gore, sex and swearing. Yet at the same time it deals with action, murder, treachery and brigandry. I can't honestly recommend the film as a great viewing experience (it certainly isn't some kind of forgotten classic, so don't think it is), but if you want to pass an hour and a half on a Saturday afternoon, you could do a lot worse.

Even lavish sets and costumes and a background score by Miklos Rozsa can't save THE KING'S THIEF from the boredom of a banal script. Lots of flashing swordplay takes place, but none of it has enough sizzle to make up for a tiresome story about a scoundrel (David Niven) who is keeping his thievery a secret from Charles II (George Sanders).

The best sequence involves an adventurous escape from heavy chains in a prison dungeon and a final encounter in a tower holding fabulous jewels whereby our hero ultimately wins the approval of Charles II.

David Niven does well enough as the charming thief, handsome Edmund Purdom is nimble and rugged enough as a swashbuckling highwayman, and Ann Blyth is pretty in her costume finery. But none of them have more than cardboard characters to work with and the end result is a routine period adventure wasting a talented cast.

Even Rosza's score is less memorable than most of his work for this kind of swashbuckler.

Edmund Purdom plays "Michael Dermott" a petty crook and the hero in this tale of a 17th Century plot by the evil, ambitious "Duke of Brampton" (David Niven) to amass a fortune by denouncing as many wealthy nobles as he can before he can depose the weak Charles II (George Sanders) and rule Britain. Ann Blyth is the daughter of one such man who was hung for treason. She enlists the help of Purdom and they set out to foil these dastardly plans with the aid of the Duke's self-incriminating little black book. It's a fine looking film, and Niven and Sanders put some class into it. Otherwise, though, the leads are quite feeble as is the script.

How bad is this thing? Well, let's just say Robert Z Leonard was brought in to rescue it. Just think about that for a second. I mean, to paraphrase George Clooney in "Michael Clayton", Robert Z Leonard isn't the guy you bring in to RESCUE a piece of crap. He's the friggin guy you FIRE so you can bring in a guy (like Vince Minnelli on "The Bribe") to rescue a piece of crap. Also, it's most disconcerting to see David Niven in a moustache twirling villain part. He's such a good actor that he's ok but it speaks volumes about how his career was languishing at this mid 50s point, before Hecht Hill Lancaster rescued him and it in "Separate Tables", that he was consigned to parts that Christopher Lee would have spat upon. C minus.

PS...A previous reviewer wrote that this is his favorite Robert Z Leonard film. That's like saying Chad is your favorite poverty stricken nation.

Set in Charles II kingdom , when he is restored to the British throne , after Cromwell's Republic , and stars a handsome highwayman named Michael Dermott (Edmund Purdom) who holds up a villain , short-tempered Duke (David Niven who delivers the most indelible sight , making a surprisingly effective nasty) and acquires a notebook , which , in due course , he realises is the key to latter's scheme to eliminate a series of noblemen , yet really in the service of his own will of power . But Michael is caught and imprisoned along with his colleague Jack (Roger Moore) and , subsequently , both of whom escape across a risked getaway . While Lady Mary's (Ann Blyth) father is innocently accused of treason and is executed along with other allegedly traitors . It was carried out by the king's evil chancellor , the duke of Brampton , having them murdered and then expropriating their fortune , all under the auspices of protecting the throne from seditionaries . Then , Lady Mary travels to London to meet the duke , but instead meets Michael and both of whom fall in love . At the end Dermott becomes involved in a plot to steal the Crown jewels at the Tower of London and finds a worthy fencing adversary in the treacherous Duc of Brampton at an exciting final duel .

Edmund Purdom 's spectacular and overwhelming adventure features impressive duels , elegant costuming , adequate production design , marvelous gowns , loads of action and full of Restoration Regalia . Edmund Purdom is at his most agile and deft style and performs his own stunts . Purdom was 31 when he made this movie . Previously , Edmund made his best adventures and swashbucklers and played successes as ¨The student Prince¨, ¨The Egyptian¨, ¨Athena¨, ¨The prodigal¨ . It was all downhill for Purdom after this , as he emigrated Italy where starred ¨B¨ films , Sword and Sandals , Spaghettis and minor epics as ¨Herod the Great¨, ¨Nefertiti , queen of Nile¨ , and followed successive flops as ¨Mr Scarface¨, ¨Big Boss¨, ¨Dr. Frankestein castle of freaks¨. Nice acting by David Niven as Duke of Brampton , who has found a way of getting rich by accusing his enemies of treason and sequester their property . And Ann Blyth plays the damsel in distress seeking justice for her late daddy as a colourless female lead . Support cast is pretty well , plenty of familiar faces as John Dehner , Melville Cooper , Sean McClory , Alan Mowbray , Rhys Williams , Tudor Owen , Ian Wolf and a young Roger Moore and special mention for George Sanders as Charles II and leading a pack of Spaniels . This King Charles II was also played in ¨Restoration (1992) by Sam Neill , and George Sanders also portrayed him in ¨Forever Amber¨ (1947).

Richly costumed , including luxurious gowns and in glamorous Technicolor cinematography by cameraman by Robert H. Planck . Breathtaking and luxury set design and art design by Cedric Gibbons , MGM's ordinary , though mostly interiors . Here MGM turned out in a quiet corner of the backlot . Thrilling and evocative musical score by the great maestro and prolific Miklos Rozsa . The picture is not a masterpiece , being made in modest limits , with huge confidence and fair play by Robert Z Leonard . Robert directed all kinds of genres , but especially dramas and musicals , such as : Clown , The Duchess of Idaho , Nancy goes to Rio , In the good old summertime , When ladies meet , Ziegfeld girl , Pride and prejudice , Broadway serenade , Girl of the Golden west , The firefly , The great Ziegfeld , Dancing Lady , Strange interlude , The Divorcée and a Mormon maid . Rating : 5.5/10 , passable , a pleasing time-passer . An enjoyable vision to brighten any day .