King Arthur (Richard Harris, reprising his role) struggles to create a lasting, peaceful kingdom focused on justice and rule of law with the help of his wife, Guenevere (Vanessa Redgrave, also reprising), and best friend, Lancelot (Franco Nero, new!). But when those very same laws require him to condemn the two for their adulterous affair, Arthur must choose between his love and his country.
It won three Academy awards, one for every hour of runtime. Seriously, it is three hours long. No musical needs to be three fucking hours. I am certain the Broadway production was not that long. I'm pretty sure it never had the characters of Pellinore and Mordred, but it's been almost a decade so I'd have to do research to be sure. I'm basing this on the fact that they didn't have songs and you could cut both of them and still tell the same story.
This is not my favorite Lerner and Loewe. (That's Brigadoon.) The film does do an admirable job of showing the toll willful ignorance takes on Arthur both as a man and a king. It could have shown more of the friendship between him and Lancelot but then it would have needed a fourth hour and now we're moving into miniseries territory. Guenevere comes out as the worst character. She is portrayed as spiteful, shallow, and vindictive, and the blame for the affair falls squarely on her instigation. Lancelot is a helpless naif against her wiles. It is absolutely not my favorite take but sadly common for these legends.
It is only available if you have a Hoopla subscription or for rent from Vudu or Google Play, but I wouldn't bother. There are 5000 Arthurian retellings out there. Find a better one.
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