War Lord, The (1965)

War Lord, The (1965)

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“I’ll not give her up; I can’t.”

Synopsis:
In 11th century Normany, when a knight (Charlton Heston) is sent by his duke to rule over a Flemish village, he soon falls for a beautiful young woman (Rosemar Forsyth) betrothed to the son (James Farentino) of the town leader (Niall MacGinnis), and decides to take advantage of a pagan custom allowing him “first dibs” on her — but will Heston’s jealous brother (Guy Stockwell) stand for this turn of events?

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Charlton Heston Films
  • Cross-Cultural Romance
  • Historical Drama
  • Medieval Times
  • Play Adaptation
  • Richard Boone Films

Review:
I’m not quite sure why Peary includes this historical drama — directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, adapting a 1956 play by Leslie Stevens called The Lovers — in his GFTFF. While the production values are fine:

… the storyline tells us far too little about this period of time in European history, other than focusing on the salacious (and contested) practice of droit du seigneur — that is, the “right” by feudal lords to sexual conquest of a virgin on her wedding night.

When Heston (sporting perhaps his worst movie hairstyle ever) first meets Forsyth, we’re meant to applaud him for not automatically violating her:

… and — after he feels a repellent buzz when attempting to touch her — to wonder whether she may have some kind of witchy pagan powers. Indeed, the clash of Christianity with Paganism is the film’s most intriguing potential theme, but it’s underdeveloped and seems to mostly serve as a curiosity factor.


The emergent romance between Heston and Forsyth (whose character is given virtually no personality) doesn’t go anywhere meaningful, and other supporting characters are equally opaque. There is a lot of medieval fighting and castle defending, if you enjoy that sort of thing:

… but otherwise you can feel free to skip this one.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

  • Vibrant sets and costumes
  • Russell Metty’s cinematography

Must See?
No; this one is only must-see for Heston completists.

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One thought on “War Lord, The (1965)”

  1. I suspect it was included for being one of Schaffner’s early films and for being generally well regarded; its profile in 1986 was much higher than today and it turned up on TV a fair bit. Videos and Laserdiscs were available throughout the ’80s and ’90s.

    Schaffner went on to the likes of Planet of the Apes (1967) and Patton (1970), both classics and very much must see films and revived today. He also made the fine Nicholas and Alexandria (1971) and Papillon (1973) and cult films like The Boys from Brazil (1978) and Sphinx (1980). Whilst I do like The War Lord, I don’t think it’s must see. A minor, largely forgotten film these days.

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