This is the first book to examine the various uses of the Arthurian legend in Hollywood film, covering films from the 1920s to the present. The authors use five representational categories: intertextual collage (or cult film); melodrama, which focuses on the love triangle; conservative propaganda, pervasive during the Cold War; the Hollywood epic; and the postmodern quest, which commonly employs the grail portion of the legend. Arguing that filmmakers rely on the audience's rudimentary familiarity with the legend, the authors show that only certain features of the legend are activated at any particular time. This fascinating study shows us how the legend has been adapted and how through the popular medium of Hollywood films, the Arthurian legend has survived and flourished.
Author(s): Samuel J. Umland, Rebecca A. Umland
Year: 1996
Language: English
Pages: 224
Contents......Page 8
Illustrations......Page 10
Preface......Page 12
Acknowledgments......Page 16
1. The Mythopoeic Nature of the Arthurian Legend and Its Methods of Transmission......Page 18
2. The Arthurian Legend as Intertextual Collage......Page 38
The "Connecticut Yankee" Films......Page 42
A Connecticut Yankee (1931)......Page 50
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949)......Page 56
Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979)......Page 65
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1989)......Page 72
A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995)......Page 74
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)......Page 80
3. The Arthurian Legend as Hollywood Melodrama......Page 90
Knights of the Round Table (1954)......Page 91
Sword of Lancelot (1963)......Page 101
Camelot (1967)......Page 108
First Knight (1995)......Page 111
4. The Arthurian Legend as Forms of Propaganda......Page 122
The Black Knight (1954)......Page 123
Siege of the Saxons (1963)......Page 129
The Sword in the Stone (1963)......Page 132
Excalibur (1981)......Page 146
6. The Arthurian Legend as Postmodern Quest......Page 170
Knightriders (1981)......Page 171
The Natural (1984)......Page 180
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)......Page 184
The Fisher King (1991)......Page 192
Filmography......Page 204
Bibliography......Page 210
C......Page 216
E......Page 217
J......Page 218
M......Page 219
R......Page 220
T......Page 221
Z......Page 222
