Siege of the Saxons (1963)

Defend Camelot Against the Saxons! The King Arthur legend gets a fanciful spin in this colourful but weak British offering. Directed by Nathan Juran and starring Janette Scott and Ronald Lewis, it’s all about medieval malarkey as Lewis’ Robin Hood type character wanders the lands with Scott’s disguised princess in search of Merlin (John Laurie). They need the great wizard to stop the dastardly Edmund of Cornwall (Ronald Howard) from seizing the throne of Arthur with help from the Saxons. It’s played for light hearted thrills, the cast having fun prancing about in their borrowed costumes (much of the production uses props, costumes and footage from some earlier swords and shields movies), and Juran never lets the story sag and knows when to perk things up with an action scene or some character merriment. Harmless fluff really. Played as the “B” picture to Jason and the Argonauts and in that context it’s a fun enough warmer upper! 5/10