THE CRUSADES (1935)

Cecil B. DeMille's patented mix of sex, religion, and epic narrative works fairly well here, though at two hours, it's about 20 minutes too long. According to some sources, DeMille got a few historical details right but the movie puts entertainment over history (as Hollywood always does). Henry Wilcoxon is Richard the Lionheart, not a particularly noble king, who is anxious to get out of an arranged marriage with the sister of the King of France. His way out comes when a zealous old man known as the Hermit (C. Aubrey Smith) arrives from the Holy Land with stories of the barbarities of the Muslim invaders. Richard joins the Crusade because doing so releases him of any worldly vows that might stop him from going, such as his future marriage. Along the way, he agrees to marry the daughter of the King of Navarre, sight unseen, to get food for his army; assuming this to be just a ceremonial thing, he sends his minstrel (Alan Hale) to the wedding with his sword as a stand-in for him (this, too, apparently has some factual basis). However, when he gets an eyeful of Young, he is happy to be her flesh-and-blood mate. As the Christian army tries to force its way into Jerusalem, Young is kidnapped by the Sultan Saladin (Ian Keith), for whom she had expressed respect earlier. After some typical DeMille-style battles, a peace is achieved, partly through Young's diplomacy. Joseph Schildkraut is the villainous Conrad of Montferrat; Katharine DeMille (Cecil's adopted daughter) is the French princess and C. Henry Gordon is her father. Like THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, this has scenes of spectacle alternating with scenes of awkwardly staged dialogue; the more intimate the scene, the more awkwardly it plays out. Wilcoxon and Young look their parts, but never truly seem interested in each other. Ian Keith as the somewhat sympathetic bad guy is the standout actor here. I got a nice chuckle out of the Christian slave girls with their incredibly long and shiny hair, but this is not a camp-heavy affair. [TCM]