Sword of the Valiant ** (1984, Miles O’Keeffe, Cyrielle Clair, Leigh Lawson, Sean Connery, Trevor Howard, John Rhys-Davies) – Classic Movie Review 8492

The 1984 adventure film Sword of the Valiant is a rerun of the story from Mallory’s epic poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Director Stephen Weeks wanted Mark Hamill as Gawain, but the producers insisted on Miles O’Keeffe. 

With the charming sword and sorcery fantasy genre then in vogue in the 1980s, and the finance of The Cannon Group, director Stephen Weeks could enjoy the rare luxury of remaking his own 1973 film Gawain and the Green Knight.

The 1984 action adventure fantasy film Sword of the Valiant is a rerun of the story from Mallory’s epic poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, where the squire Gawain (Miles O’Keeffe) accepts the swordman’s challenge of the Green Knight (Sean Connery) to cut off his head with one swing of the blade. Then he employs a magic ring to rescue a fair maiden, Linet (Cyrielle Clair) from the warmongering Baron Fortinbrass (John Rhys-Davies)’s evil son, the lustful prince Oswald (Ronald Lacey), who has kidnapped her.

O’Keeffe plays the Middle Ages knight Sir Gawain in a dull, too-contemporary 1980s fashion, but Connery is predictably lively in his too rare moments as the Green Knight, and Trevor Howard is satisfying as King Arthur.

Also in the cast are Leigh Lawson Peter Cushing, Ronald Lacey, Cyrielle Clair, Emma Sutton, Douglas Wilmer, Lila Kedrova, Bruce Lidington, Thomas Heathcote, John Serret, Brian Coburn, David Rappaport and Wilfrid Brambell as Porter in final film role.

The Arthurian legend screenplay is by Philip M Breen, Howard C Pen and Stephen Weeks, with a plot that differs considerably from the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written in the late 14th century.

It is also known as Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

It was shot in Wales and Ireland, and at the Château de Pierrefonds and the Palais des Papes in France. The period costumes came from the stock rooms of the Royal National Theatre, the Bristol Old Vic, Berman’s and Nathan’s, the French Aristide Boyer and the Spanish Cornejo.

Weeks wanted Mark Hamill for Gawain, but producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus insisted on O’Keeffe.

The cast are Miles O’Keeffe as Sir Gawain, Cyrielle Clair as Linet, Leigh Lawson as Humphrey, Sean Connery as The Green Knight, Trevor Howard as King Arthur, Peter Cushing as Seneschal – Gaspar, Ronald Lacey as Oswald, Lila Kedrova as Lady of Lyonesse, John Rhys-Davies as Baron Fortinbras, Wilfrid Brambell as Porter, Bruce Lidington as Sir Bertilak, Douglas Wilmer as The Black Knight, Brian Coburn as Friar Vosper, David Rappaport as Sage, Emma Sutton as Morgan Le Fay, Thomas Heathcote, John Serret, and Brian Coburn.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8492

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