Martin Bradley It has to be seen to be believed though you need to be in a very giddy frame of mind to sit through it. "King Richard and the Crusaders" was Hollywood's idea of what Sir Walter Scott's "The Talisman" might look like as a film and it's a howler from start to finish. It was directed, if that's the word, by that master of mediocrity David Butler and a cast who really ought to have known better and were obviously only in it for the money, included Rex Harrison, (in black face as Saladin), George Sanders, (looking very sorry for himself as King Richard), Laurence Harvey, (as a Scots knight) and Virginia Mayo, (as an English rose). But it's the dialogue that 'elevates' the film to something approaching cult status. "War, war, that's all you think about Dick Plantagenet" says Virginia at one point and there are many more where that came from. Atrocious but all the better for it while, of course, young boys, surely its target audience, will love all the derring-do.

Hans C. Frederick I find myself agreeing with this English reviewer's assessment.( December 24,2006)It really should have had Errol Flynn as Sir Kenneth.He must have been unavailable for any one of a variety of reasons,and Harvey the closest substitute available.LH was capable of some things,and doing them quite well(although, for the life of me, I can't place my finger on a single one of them right at this particular moment.)But, warm, dashing, romantic, swashbuckling,he really was not.And why didn't they find Richard Todd, or Richard Greene, or any one of a number of up and coming young actors in the "bull pen" to perform the role of Sir Kenneth.

pninson The problem with this movie isn't so much the hokey dialogue, the relatively cheap sets, and the slapdash makeup. The story isn't bad, but it never gets as gripping as Max Steiner's spectacular musical score suggests it should be.There are a few good battle scenes and a good jousting match, but only Rex Harrison (in absurd makeup as Saladin) and George Sanders (as Richard the Lionheart) give the film any substance. Virginia Mayo still looks like Cody Jarrett's wife in WHITE HEAT; this is a substandard performance for her. For that matter, Rex Harrison still looks like 'Enry 'Iggins, despite all the soot they've smeared on his face to make him look like a Kurd.This is a fun film, but I can bring myself to give it five stars, because it was somewhat boring. It's campy, but not campy enough to be enjoyable from start to finish.At least I saw it in a widescreen German print (in English); to my knowledge there has been no video widescreen release of this film in any format.

Ray Faiola The main reason to indulge in KING RICHARD FOR THE CRUSADERS isn't the very cheap interiors reproduced in the wonderment of CinemaScope; it isn't the sleepy performance of mutton-chasing George Sanders; it isn't the cross-eyed heart-pounding (literally!) histrionics of Virginia Mayo; and it isn't even the surprisingly unsteady surliness of Robert Douglas (usually sharp as a rapier). Nope. Tune in to KING RICHARD for one of Max Steiner's grandest adventure scores. It's truly a thrilling work, with lovely melodies and rugged action set-pieces. But as good old Max said many times, "good music can help a picture but it can never save it." David Butler was a terrific director whose musicals and comedies have real spark and often puckish whimsy. Why he was handed this piece of cheese is a mystery. At least journeyman Curtiz could have made something worthwhile out of it. Oh well, it's still a great film to listen to.