The Black Shield of Falworth (1954) Reviews

• Enjoyable Adventure, Memorable Characters; Vivid as a Tapestry Come to Life

  silverscreen8882005-07-03

  This is an adaptation of Howard Pyle's "Men of Iron", and an unusually enjoyable film from start to finish. Ignore Tony Curtis's accent; it hardly matters to anyone that young and everyone in the film is bright, lively and suitable to his/her part. The direction by Rudolph Mate gives a light, sunny feel to the entire piece, and he keeps the action moving splendidly in my judgment. The storyline is classic. Myles and his sister Meg have been raised as peasants. One day they journey to Mackworth Castle and enter a new world, the world of noble landowners, quarrelsome young prigs and knights. Myles continues to search for the secret of his origins and finds it in the Library finally, the Black Shield of Falworth, shield of an attainted traitor--his father; of course he was innocent; and when Myles turns out to be a promising young knight of courage and natural skills, he is willing to be knighted in order to fight it out--at Prince Hal (the future Henry V's) plan--with the villain of the piece to claim his rightful heritage and wear the family symbol again. Along the way, he falls in love with the daughter of the household and his sister with his best friend in the dangerous and unruly body of young knights. In the cast along with Curtis and Barbara Rush as Meg are Janet Leigh, then Curtis's wife, as his love, Torin Thatcher in top form as the master of knights, David Farrar, Herbert Marshall as Mackworth, Dan O' Herlihy as Prince Hal, Patrick O'Neal as Walter Blunt (very good), and Craig ill as his friend Frances; others in the stellar cast include Ian Keith as Henry IV, Doris Lloyd, Rhys Williams, Maurice Marsac and others. Music was supplied by Hans J. Salter, and the screenplay adaptation of Pyle's novel is the work of Oscar Brodney. Irving Glasberg's cinematography is delightfully rich,the art direction by Alexander Golitzen and Richard H. Ledel very good indeed. Rosemary Odell's costume are worth the price of admission. But this is an in-depth adventurous look behind the grim tapestries that usually baffle the seeker into the late Medieval Age, There is humor in this film, much hard learning for the young knight-to-be, mystery, skillful dialogue and unusually well-developed characters. This is an enjoyable and memorable work that is bright and lively from start to finish.

• Perfectly Watchable

  loza-12005-06-26

  Instead of trying to portray real historical events, Hollywood instead opts for a fictitious story set in the England of Henry IV. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Unusually for Hollywood, they actually make an effort to get things right historically, and broadswords are used as broadswords and not as rapiers. The weaponry and military techniques are pretty OK for a Hollywood film, and are, on the whole, accurate. The fight sequences are very exciting and, along with the training methods, are probably the best bits of the film. As to Tony Curtis's accent. Well, we have in Geoffrey Chaucer an authentic idea of what the English language in London was like in the early 15th century. It is ridiculous to write the script in Chaucerian English - not if you want to fill the cinemas, at any rate. Compare Tony Curtis in Black Shield with Olivier in Henry V. Is Olivier's accent any more correct or authentic? This is not the deepest film ever made, but there is plenty to enjoy about it.

• My favorite movie as a boy

  Prof-322007-04-21

  I'm surprised and delighted to see so many other comments, two or three of them identical to the one I had planned to make. I too saw this movie at age 8, and enjoyed it so much, I thought it my favorite movie the whole time I was growing up. I haven't seen it since it came out 53 years ago (!) yet I still looked it up, when IMDb was invented. Other little boys obviously had the same experience I had. My favorite comedy moment (no plot spoiler) at age 8 was the one in which Tony, being disciplined, is forced to hold a cannon ball at arm's length overnight, and in the morning can't put down his arm. The young Janet Leigh was in the film too? She must have been ravishing, but I never even noticed, of course. Hope an affordable DVD comes out which I could share with my son before he's too old to fully enjoy it. Best wishes to you other guys. It wasn't your imagination; it really was special, if you were a boy.

• Uneasy Lies The Head That Wears The Crown

  bkoganbing2007-12-08

  The Black Shield of Falworth is the only other story I know that concerns itself with the time of Henry IV. He's played here by Ian Keith and the film like the Shakespeare plays about him concern efforts to topple him from his throne. But other than Prince Hal, played here by Dan O'Herlihy, the rest of the cast are fictional characters from a novel by Howard Pyle. Young Tony Curtis and his sister Barbara Rush have been raised in the forest by Rhys Williams. They are in fact of noble birth, but Dad was accused of treason, his lands forfeited and his family under a death sentence. They're sent still unaware of their identity to another nobleman's digs in this case Herbert Marshall's. Curtis trains first as a squire and then a knight by tough drill sergeant man at arms, Torin Thatcher. It's for the day he can challenge villain David Farrar and his equally villainous brother Patrick O'Neal for plotting against his father. Of course Curtis also falls for his then real life wife Janet Leigh who O'Neal is also interested in. The Black Shield of Falworth was the first Universal film in cinemascope and Universal was far more interested in the spectacle of the film than the story because they were competing with the small screen that was populating the homes of America. In his memoirs Tony Curtis says that the lack of interest in the story was all apparent, but that he did like working with director Rudolph Mate and his then wife Ms. Leigh. Favorite in the film however has to be Torin Thatcher. You won't forget this rough and rugged old knight with a Rooster Cogburn eyepatch and a staff to support him walking. Still he's one tough old bird. Coming in second is David Farrar who is plotting to take the throne away from Ian Keith. Which if you remember your Shakespeare was one that a lot of people felt he usurped from Richard II. So what we're watching The Black Shield of Falworth is just another reason why Ian Keith was not sleeping good at night.

• Bad accents, but great flick

  MartynGryphon2004-04-16

  To my mind, this is the best knights of olde movie ever made. Years ago it was the habit of British tv station BBC2 to have a movie on at 6pm most evenings and they were usually, either 40 & 50's westerns, historical yarns, melodramas or swashbucklers. One such film was The Black Shield of Falworth, I was a big fan of such films like The Vikings (Incidentally or co-incidentally both starred Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh) and decided to record this movie, if it was any good I'd keep it, but if not just tape over the damn thing. The movie was that good I still have it after 15/16 years. The plot is similar to Henty's Novel 'St George for England' in as much as it tells the story of a peasant boy ignorant of his noble blood for most of his upbringing. though that's where the similarities end. The American accents in a film set in medieval England are ludricrous, but the plot of the film is so engaging that you don't mind as much. Torin Thatcher gives us another scene stealing performance as the firm but fair Sir James and if it's possible, betters his performance as Humble Bellows in The Crimson Pirate. This film has everything, action, romance, subtle comedy, and an excellent music score. This is not one to miss and I can't wait to get this movie on DVD so i can give my old VHS copy a well deserved retirement.