Richard Thorpe, a director renowned for his prolific and diverse filmography, primarily with MGM, the epitome of Classic Hollywood's grandeur, reached the pinnacle of his career with a trilogy of medieval epics starring Robert Taylor. This trilogy began in 1952 with Ivanhoe, continued the following year with Knights of the Round Table, and concluded in 1955 with The Adventures of Quentin Durward, also simply known as Quentin Durward.
Quentin Durward, like Ivanhoe, is based on the novel of the same name by Walter Scott. The story begins in 1465, introducing Quentin Durward (played by Taylor), a noble but impoverished Scottish knight, who is financially supported by his wealthy and elderly uncle, Lord Crawford (played by Ernest Thesiger). Durward is dispatched to France to assess the suitability of his uncle's potential bride, Isabelle, the Countess of Macroy (played by Kay Kendall), a beautiful and rich French noblewoman. However, Durward soon discovers that the marriage is a political ploy, and Isabelle's lands hold strategic value, making her a pawn in the game between Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (played by Alec Clunes), and French King Louis XI (played by Robert Morley). Charles seeks the marriage to forge an alliance with Scotland, while Louis, infamous for his ruthlessness and lack of chivalry, intends to give Isabelle's hand to Count William de la Marck (played by Duncan Lamont), a renegade noble turned bandit, who has been hired by the French monarch to carry out his dirty work. The plans of both men will be thwarted by Durward, who, while still bound to the old and increasingly antiquated principles of honour and duty, can’t prevent himself from falling in love with Isabelle.
Like the previous two films in the trilogy, Quentin Durward was made with a large budget, in colour, on British locations and with a mostly British cast and crew. Like Knights of the Round Table, it provided audiences with the relative but impressive novelty of the Cinemascope widescreen format, making the film look even more epic. However, unlike its predecessors, Quentin Durward became a disappointment at the box office.
The reasons for this failure might be found in audiences being oversaturated with epics and demanding something new. Another issue can be found in the film's setting at the very end of the medieval era, when the ancient ideals of chivalry and feudalism were replaced by the Machiavellian rulers of emerging nation-states. The arrival of guns, which are actually quite extensively used in the film, made the old-school knights like Durward obsolete on the battlefield.
Although a few scenes in which characters have to dodge bullets while running in the woods make Quentin Durward look more like a western than a medieval epic, the film nevertheless serves its purpose as an escapist swashbuckling fantasy. Despite his age, Taylor functions well as an action hero, and the film even features a very interesting and innovative swordfight at the very end.
The acting is very good, with Taylor playing his character well and establishing decent chemistry with Kay Kendall, a British actress whose emerging stardom and life were tragically cut short by illness a few years later. Dependable character actor Robert Morley is great as the ruthless monarch who somehow finds ways to justify his immoral acts and even ends up looking more like a lovable rogue than a tyrant.
The film is helped by the soundtrack by Bronislau Kaper, who had replaced Miklos Rozsa, composer for the two previous films. The script, built around 15th-century dynastic and political intrigues, is definitely much simpler than in Game of Thrones, but it would require too much effort from some viewers with short attention spans. The best thing about Thorpe's direction, which isn't particularly imaginative, is the careful pacing, resulting in a relatively short running time. This allows Quentin Durward to be recommended for the less demanding fans of old-school period epics.
Scott’s novel was later adapted in 1971 into a French television miniseries starring Amadeus August and in 1988 into a Soviet film The Adventures of Quentin Durward, Marksman of the Royal Guard.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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