Siege of the Saxons

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.

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.

A truly abysmal film, saved only by the wonderfully arch villain - 'The Limping Man'- beautifully overplayed by Jerome Willis. As a keen Arthurian scholar and Dark-Age reenactor, I can say that this movie bears absolutely no relation to history - or even legend! Who was Edmund of Cornwall for goodness sake? He is unknown to this period of history.

However,it is the type of film that I would love to own,if only for Jerome Willis's character.

The film is so typical of its genre and is a 'must have' to complete anyone's kitsch collection of cheesy swashbucklers, in the same way that one has a copy of 'Agadoo' and 'The Birdie Song' in a record collection.

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 agree with most of the positive reviews above. But nobody mentioned the superb cinematography. It's so crisp, so clear, so focused … Which is a pity as the blurred footage inserted from other films therefore sticks out like a sore thumb. The film reminds me of "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid," in so far as the actors are obviously garbed in costumes that will match those we see later in this inserted footage. And half the fun is trying to identify from where the inserts come: Alan Ladd fighting at Castell Coch in Cardiff is the most obvious. But if you're a student of architecture, you'd better avoid this, as there are so many styles all mixed up, but all post-1066. And all this and Laurie Johnson too!