Knights of the Round Table (1953) on Netflix
Approved19531h 55mActionAdventureDrama
Britain is torn between warring lords. Merlin shows Arthur Pendragon a sword fixed in an anvil and stone, and Arthur draws it free. The French knight Lancelot pledges himself to Arthur.
- Netflix2.8/5
- IMDb6.2/104,550 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes50%
Trailer
Plot summary
Britain has fallen into anarchy, with rival lords at war. The sorcerer Merlin arranges a meeting between Arthur Pendragon and Morgan LeFay, his half-sister, and takes them to Excalibur, a blade embedded in an anvil and stone. Legend promises the crown of England to whoever draws it free. Morgan's lover Modred attempts it and cannot; Arthur removes it without effort. Lancelot, a knight from France traveling to join Arthur, meets the siblings Percival and Elaine and swears himself to Arthur after a duel. Modred brings together Arthur's enemies to dispute his claim to the throne, and Arthur defeats them in war and takes the crown. He gathers a company of knights, and England has peace. Lancelot rescues Arthur's betrothed, Guinevere, from a mysterious knight.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Knights of the Round Table (1953)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- George Sanders was originally cast as Modred in Knights of the Round Table but fell ill before shooting began, and Stanley Baker replaced him, fresh from making an impression in The Cruel Sea.
- Production of Knights of the Round Table was interrupted when two hundred extras, all members of the British extras' union, struck for a pay increase; after a month-long strike that affected other productions, MGM agreed to the union's demands.
- MGM was sued for $5 million in 1956 by a claimant who said Knights of the Round Table was based on a script submitted to the studio in the 1930s; the judge rejected the claim, finding both drew on Le Morte d'Arthur and Tennyson's Idylls of the King.
- Knights of the Round Table, directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S. Berman, was the first film in CinemaScope made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
- The Torquilstone Castle set that Alfred Junge had designed for Ivanhoe (1952) was expanded and re-dressed to serve as Camelot in Knights of the Round Table.
