CAMELOT - Stage vs. Film

[Marquise]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 8:19am

Richard Burton and Julie Andrews were in the OBC.
When the film was made in 1967 both had found success in movies.
Why then were their roles given to Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave?
For those of you who have seen the original production *and* the film which was better?

[EganFan2]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 8:24am

I heard that Burton didn't want to do it, and Julie Andrews didn't want to do the film if Burton wasn't in it. I don't know how true that is. I do know that Vanessa Redgrave demanded that "Cause a little war" be taken out of "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood". The stage show is much better than the film. The film is a piece of crap. The suits of armor are very obviously PLASTIC. When Lancelot pulls the armor off of the wounded knight you can tell it is. Then there is the flower child staging of "The Lusty Month of May" and so many other travesties.

[Marquise]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 8:31am

Thanks EganFan2!

"Then there is the flower child staging of "The Lusty Month of May"...

*lol* ~ i noticed that too in watching the film last night.
it's funny how that particular culture had such an influence *even* on a lerner and loewe musical! that whole sequence reminded me of one big love-in!

now i know gene merlino dubbed franco nero's singing but i've also read his speaking voice was also dubbed. is this true?
and if it is did nero give *any* performance in camelot other than to stand there and look good? *lol*

[Glebb]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 9:13am

I always get a kick out of how the director made Gwen and the Knights drunk at the end of Take Me To The Fair. Who expects anyone to sing well when tipsy?

[Magdalene]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 9:39am

The only part of the movie I liked was the end where Harris is wistfully singing about Camelot.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 10:04am

I actually thought the art direction was great. So was the sound design.

...But that was about it. Not exactly reasons enough to see it, unless you're a fan of art direction or sound design, or obsessed with Vanessa Redgrave. (I know a few people who are.) It's a very extravagant film, and also long and boring in spots.

Incidentally... it won Academy Awards for Art Direction, Costumes and Score Adaptation. Also nominated for Sound and Cinematography.

EDIT: Do any of you remember seeing the HBO taping of the Broadway revival with Richard Harris and Meg Bussart? I vaguely remember liking it.

Updated On: 12/1/05 at 10:04 AM

[Glebb]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 10:06am

The film is visually stunning and I think the director was quite clever making them drunk so they didn't have to sing well. :)

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 10:07am

Glebb --- Ha! Good point. If it's in question... justify it.

[Flahooley]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 6:14pm

Lancelot in the movie was handsome. Thats about it.

[robbiej]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 6:17pm

I remember being OBSESSED with the live stage taping shown on HBO. Wasn't Richard Munez Lancelot?

The only thing I couldn't get over was Harris' blue eyeshadow.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 6:52pm

robbiej --- God, that's right. I forgot about the "drag king." As I said I vaguely remember liking this, but...

As it's coming back to me now (slowly)... it ain't as pretty as I thought.



Below is a link for the HBO airing of the Broadway revival... Yes, Richard Muenz was Lancelot.
IMDb link

[Gingersnap]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 7:29pm

I'm not old enough to have seen the OBC, but I saw it revived on a tour with Richard Harris. He looked a little clownish in a sort of blonde page-boy wig, but the costumes and sets were glorious, the supporting cast was excellent (I don't have my program near me or I'd see who was involved). And Harris was wonderful in that final "Camelot" reprise.

I saw the movie not long after and hated it. It seemed too dated.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 7:38pm

how come the HBO taping isn't on DVD? sucks.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 7:53pm

I used to use the CAMELOT movie when I taught a unit on the King Arthur legend. My students would groan every time a song began. It's a classic case of how important a smooth transition between spoken dialogue and spoken word are in musical comedy.

[Demitri2]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 8:19pm

Love the score but have never cared much for the stage musical or the movie. Boring I find both and the second act has way too much book. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were mentioned as having an interest in doing the movie which needless to say never happened. It would have been great seeing Burton repeat his original stage role on film and a dubbed Liz would've been....a dubbed Liz. I had tickets to see Burton in the revival that played the Pantages in L.A. but he left the tour the week before due to illness and Richard Harris immediately took over the role. Harris' portrayl of the boyish Arthur in the first act was kind of embarrassing since he was a little long in the tooth by then. To achieve youth he pranced around, skipped and made childish grimaces at Merlin. This production is the one that was taped for HBO and to my knowledge it never was commercially released.

[EganFan2]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 9:23pm

Yes, Franco Nero was entirely dubbed, speaking and all. And he and Vanessa Redgrave became involved and had a kid during/after the film.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 10:23pm

That musical was one of my favorites growing up (including the movie, which I don't find boring at all) but now I'm older and I like the book better, I've read it something like five times. Lancelot is supposed to be ugly. It's one of the big things about his character. Someday I'm going to write a better musical based on The Once and Future King. Lerner and Loewe just didn't get it right.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 10:29pm

I was at the fabled performance of CAMELOT at Lincoln Center, where Burton was too drunk to continue and they had to put the understudy in from "I Wonder What The King?" until the finale.

[grizzabella]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 10:31pm

I love the score, and while I prefer the stage version to the film (Redgrave looked good, but that was about it), I've never been wild over either of them.(Same experience as Demitri2.) Still, I only saw Harris in the role, and I liked Burton on the OBC recording.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 10:16am

Dollypop---Do you remember in the first incarnation of Forbidden Broadway the spoof of "I Wonder What the King Is Drinking Tonight?"

Surely that performance was the inspiration. What a hoot! (Alibeit an uncomfortable hoot.) Poor Richard.

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 10:39am

The film is one of the classic examples of a lack of continuum in filming. Also, you can tell that it's a stage-director who did the film... when it should have been a film-director who knew what he was doing

[EganFan2]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 11:15am

"I Wonder What the King Is Drinking Tonight?"


Ooh, ouch.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 11:30am

Oh, it was very evident that Burton was smashed. He was weaving around the stage and was way ahead of the orchestra in "I Wonder What The King?". A person dressed as a soldier came out from the wings, stood in front of Burton with his back to the audience and spoke for a few moments. He left, the curtain fell and then there was an announcement that Richard Parry would be assuming the role of Arthur for the rest of the performance.

Parry was very good in the role.