Prince Valiant | |
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Directed by | Henry Hathaway |
Produced by | Robert L. Jacks |
Written by |
Hal Foster (comic strip) Dudley Nichols |
Starring |
James Mason Janet Leigh Robert Wagner |
Narrated by | Michael Rennie |
Music by | Franz Waxman |
Cinematography | Lucien Ballard |
Edited by | Robert L. Simpson |
Distributed by | Twentieth Century Fox |
Release date
|
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Running time
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100 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $2,970,000 |
Box office | $892.6 million (US rentals) |
Prince Valiant is a 1954 adventure film in Technicolor and Cinemascope, produced by Robert L. Jacks, directed by Henry Hathaway, that stars James Mason, Janet Leigh, Robert Wagner, Debra Paget, and Sterling Hayden. The film is based on the syndicated newspaper comic strip of the same name by Hal Foster.
The forced exile of the Christian royal family of the Viking kingdom of Scandia (King Aguar (Donald Crisp), his wife, and his son Prince Valiant (Robert Wagner) by the Viking rebels was led by the usurper Sligon (Primo Carnera), a worshipper of the old Norse god pantheon. Aguar has since come under the protection of King Arthur (Brian Aherne), and once Valiant has grown to a man, he is sent to Camelot to undergo training as a knight under the tutelage of Aguar's family friend, the noble knight of the Round Table, Sir Gawain (Sterling Hayden).
During his wanderings, Valiant witnesses a clandestine meeting between a group of Sligon's Vikings and a black-clad knight. He is discovered, but with slyness and improvisation manages to elude his pursuers. During his flight, Valiant runs into Gawain, and after becoming convinced that Valiant is indeed the son of Aguar and hearing the prince's story of the mysterious Black Knight, who is not unknown to the knights of Camelot, Gawain takes Valiant to his king. Valiant is accepted by the king as a prospective knight, but first he has, like any other knight apparent, to undergo the rigors of squirehood. One of the royal knights, Sir Brack (James Mason), takes an extraordinary interest in Valiant and offers to train him, but Valiant is instead assigned to Gawain.