The War Lord

10/4/2015

This place has the dimensions of heresy. The War Lord stars Charlton Heston, Richard Boone, Rosemary Forsyth, Guy Stockwell, Maurice Evans, Niall MacGinnis, Henry Wilcoxon and James Farentino, amongst others. It's directed by future Oscar winning Director Franklin J. Schaffner (Best Director for Patton), and the screenplay is by PJohn Collier with the adaptation coming from the play, The Lovers, written by Leslie Stevens. The War Lord harks back to days of yore as we enter the 11th century and ancient Normandy. The film successfully brings the period down to the nitty gritty and doesn't glamorise either the characters or the way of life of the various social dwellers. Time has been afforded the pagan mythologies that existed back then, whilst the upper class' rights such as "droit de

10/25/2021

_**Mediocre medieval tale with Heston, Boone and Rosemary Forsyth**_ In the 11th Century, a knight (Charlton Heston) in the service of the duke of Normandy ventures to a village on the northern coast of France to finish and inhabit a castle-like fortress for defense against the raiding Frisians from further up the coast (which, today, would be Netherlands & Germany). Richard Boone plays the lord’s right-hand man, Guy Stockwell his brother, Maurice Evans a priest and Rosemary Forsyth a peasant girl. “The War Lord” (1965) is a deservedly forgotten Heston adventure of the Middle Ages along the lines of “The Vikings” (1958) but with bad haircuts and lacking the pizzazz that makes a movie great. It’s pretty much the “Braveheart” (1995) of the 60s, but nowhere near as effective (spe

6/1/2024

Not one of Charlton Heston's better efforts, this one. He's the overlord "Cyrysagon" who is sent to reimpose law and order at a remote Norman tower that is frequently being raided by the blond-haired Friesians. Together with his brother "Draco" (Guy Stockwell) and loyal henchman "Bors" (Richard Boone) they are soon embroiled in battles with their foe as well as engaged in the superstitions of the local, largely pagan, community where the lord has first "option" on any virginal newlywed. That's where "Bronwyn" (Rosemary Forsyth) comes in - much to the annoyance of her would-be husband and the local priest (Maurice Evans). When they manage to capture a young boy during a raid, they don't realise his importance - and with the Normans besieged in the tower, their only hope is that reinforcemen