Camelot Blu-ray Review
Not so brief but definitely shining.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, April 12, 2012
What a difference a mere two or three years make. In 1964 Jack Warner experienced one of the greatest triumphs of
his
long and storied career, when his production of the classic Lerner and Loewe musical
My Fair Lady took home a
bevy of Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor. Yes, there had been some controversy (considerable,
considering the more demure era back then) about the casting of Audrey Hepburn over Julie Andrews in the role of Eliza
Doolittle, but ultimately audiences didn't seem to mind all that much, and the film became one of the crown jewels of the
Warner Brothers pantheon, raking in huge profits and proving that Warner, not exactly known for its glamorous
musicals, could do them as well as anyone. A year later, Oscar bestowed its Best Picture award on yet another musical,
one starring Julie Andrews in fact, the legendary
The Sound of Music, which was if anything an even bigger hit
than
My Fair Lady had been. And so it seemed like a surefire recipe for lightning striking twice (or even thrice)
when Warner started moving ahead with plans for yet another sumptuous big budget musical based on a significant
stage hit by Lerner and Loewe (not so coincidentally having starred Julie Andrews in its Broadway incarnation), the
musicalization of the Arthurian legends
Camelot.
But something ineffable had changed between 1964 – 65 and
1967, when
Camelot opened (it's kind of interesting to note that no real blockbuster film musicals opened in
1966). Though we weren't
quite at the timeframe of multiple assassinations and,
later, the cynicism of Watergate, the roiling political atmosphere of Vietnam had definitely become more prevalent, and
the incipient "youth culture" movement seemed to be collectively thumbing its nose at any traditional fare that had once
been considered "surefire".
Camelot in fact attempted to trade in on the nascent hippie movement with a PR
campaign highlighting the almost "summer of love"
ethos of the Arthur – Guinevere – Lancelot triangle, replete
with baroque poster art by the then very popular Bob Peak (kind of the poor man's Peter Max). (Unfortunately the Peak
poster art is nowhere to be found on this new release, a real shame.) But another
starcrossed set of lovers,
Bonnie and Clyde (ironically another Warner Brothers release), ended up being the
pairing that 1967 audiences wanted to see, and though there would continue to be some huge musicals continuing to
be produced for the next several years, the handwriting was already on the wall for the once vaunted genre.
How
do you follow up what was generally agreed was perhaps the greatest musical of all time and which was
at
that point inarguably the most successful musical of its era? That was the quandary facing Lerner and Loewe
after
My Fair Lady opened on Broadway and became a critics' darling and a box office sensation. When
Camelot opened on Broadway in
1960, it was instantly obvious that lightning
hadn't exactly struck twice. Despite the fact that the show bears
perhaps
Lerner and Loewe's most sumptuous score, a set of songs probably more ravishing than even those of
My Fair
Lady, the stage play was hampered by an overly talky book that may have been extremely literate and even poetic,
but made the proceedings awfully draggy. For those of you who have seen the stage version of
Camelot, you
know that it is not unusual for the first act of the musical alone to run around two hours, the full running time of many
another show. There's also the simple fact that
Camelot is by its very nature something of a downer. After all,
the
"storybook" marriage of Arthur (Richard Harris) and Guinevere (Vanessa Redgrave) soon devolves into a
ménage a
trois with erstwhile Knight of the Round Table Lancelot (Franco Nero), ultimately leading to the demise of the fabled
kingdom. Not especially the stuff of "happily ever after," the typical course that musicals take.
Jack Warner was convinced that
Camelot would be another
My Fair Lady, and he poured enormous time,
effort and of course moolah into the production, bringing in a trio of then very hot younger stars in Harris, Redgrave and
Nero. Directing duties were handed over to Joshua Logan, a pro in both the Broadway stage and film worlds, though
one who had taken more than a few brickbats for his helming of the film adaptation of the legendary Rodgers and
Hammerstein musical
South Pacific. Logan attempted to connect to
this legendary material with an unusual gambit of zooms
and virtually nonstop close-ups, two elements distinctly at odds with the epic nature of the film, not to mention its
widescreen format. Audiences were largely nonplussed, though the film managed to eke out three Academy Award
wins in the technical categories, including for its gorgeous sets and costumes as well as the absolutely captivating
score
adaptation helmed by the iconic Alfred Newman and his associate Ken Darby.
Looking back now from the vantage point of 45 years since the film's original release,
Camelot bears the flaws
of its source material but is still an immensely enjoyable enterprise, due largely to the charisma of the three leads
(Redgrave in particular has never been more appealing nor more sensationally beautiful) and an truly impressive
production design. While the film is as overlong as its stage progenitor (it clocks in at around three hours), some subtle
reshifting and revisioning by Lerner (who wrote the screenplay) adds to the film's emotional resonance, especially since
the "happily ever after" is now told as a flashback from a decidedly less than happy perspective. The highlight of the
film is still undoubtedly the incredibly lovely Lerner and Loewe song score, which is brought to life with some of the best
work of Alfred Newman's long and storied career. The wedding scene in particular is a textbook example of brilliant
orchestration (listen to those evocative massed recorders) and impeccable vocal arranging (courtesy of Ken Darby).
It's rather fascinating to realize that the melancholy that hangs over much of
Camelot serves as a particularly
apt epitaph for an era of film musicals which was about to come to a crashing halt, as a number of high profile lumbering
adaptations of Broadway hits (as well as some misguided originals) would soon put an end to the genre.
Camelot serves as both a prime example of some of the mistakes that were made as the sixties were drawing
to a close, as well as a potent reminder of just how lush and glamorous musicals could be in the hands of expert
craftsmen. A new generation has replaced the stately charms of
Camelot with a quick cut
ethos that
may be more attention grabbing, but may just as well be more forgettable.
Camelot Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation
Yes, it's too long (maybe even
way too long). Yes, it attempts to cater to the Youth Movement, as it was politely
termed by the Silent Majority back in the day. Yes, it's full of too many close-ups and vertigo inducing zooms. But,
ultimately, who cares?
Camelot, for all its flaws (and I'm the last person to deny it's full of flaws) is a treasure of a
film, a relic of a bygone age when impeccable craftsmen brought a lifetime of experience to making a huge, stunningly
beautiful, film. If you've never seen
Camelot before, there's no better way than to start with this largely delightful
new Blu-ray. If you
have seen the film before, it will be like renewing an old friendship, only better than you
remember. With solid video and audio, and some great supplements (despite the appalling lack of an Isolated Score), this
release comes
Highly recommended.