(posted in the past-films newsgroup)
In the recent thread about Camelot, I don't think anyone mentioned
this DVD. Through the magic of Netflix I was able to watch the 1967
movie on my computer screen the night before last, and the 1981/82
stage play on DVD yesterday morning.
(Richard Harris haters should leave now.)
All we have of Richard Burton's Arthur is on the original cast
recording, and that is not Richard Harris's fault. So please, let's
stop blaming Harris for not being Burton. The fact is that
Richard Harris is quite good in the part, and his enthusiasm for
it helps a lot. The problem with the 1967 movie was not him.
The main problems were the horrible miscasting of Vanessa
Redgrave as Guenevere, and Alan Jay Lerner's horrific screenplay.
Shouldn't there be a law that playwrights may not write their
own screenplays? (Another example: Tom Stoppard's screenplay
of his 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'.)
Not everything about the movie is horrible. In addition to
Harris doing all of his scenes well, there are a few high points,
a good one being 'What Do the Simple Folk Do?' and its
dramatic end. But there is long heavy plodding between the
the movie's few high points.
Not so with this stage version (at the Winter Garden Theater).
There are gorgeous musical and dramatic moments galore,
with only a very few lags. It's easy to imagine how the original
play might have been, with Burton, Andrews, and Goulet,
while watching Harris, Meg Bussert, and Richard Muenz.
Bussert sings as if doing an imresssion of Julie Andrews, and
a quite good one, and Muenz has a strong voice, doing a
thrilling 'C'est Moi'.
The special treat, though, besides the principals, is watching the
play unfold, with startling scene transitions, musical bridges,
effects of lighting and highlighting, and more music and song than
is on the original cast recording. Here, the dramatic moments
are incredible; in the movie, they are all underwhelming.
The IMDb does this version of the play a disservice by calling it
TV.
It's not a made-for-TV movie, like the 2001 'South Pacific'. It's
a filmed stage revival (with audience); a BIG difference.
(question for this newsgroup)
Is there any way to see a film or kinescope, legally or
illegally, of the original cast Camelot?
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