Crusades, the

De Mille knew how to create tension, but also intimate scenes. True that from an historic point of view is not a very good film. but the spirit is there. The spirit of what a film must be.

Today when epic films are so "in", I recommend to some directors to watch films like this. He was a craftsman who needed few special effects to make a film interesting. And spent no time in long , boring speeches or interpretations to make the audience connect with his heroes.


Rousing Epic Production from the great Cecil B. DeMille   June 24, 2003
Simon Davis
Cecil B. DeMille has always been an unfairly regarded Producer and Director with the majority of his work dismissed as lavish hokum with no real value as cinema art. I believe that is a very unfair judgement on the man who really made the "Epic Production", his own in a long series of films stretching from the silent era right through to the mid 1950's. His role call of magnificent cinematic efforts is in my opinion an illustrious record and none shines better from that list than his lavish production of 1935, Paramount's "The Crusades" starring Loretta Young and DeMille regular Henry Wilcoxon.

Judged as hopeless history and romantic froth I appreciate this wonderful film from the point of view of its romantic story, terrific recreation of medieval times, costumes and superbly staged battle scenes,pagentry, and respectful dialogue that never once really belittles the serious and dark times this story is set in. "The Crusades", focuses in actual fact loosely on the third crusade that involved most of the major powers of Europe in a joint struggle to try and free the Holy Land from the clutches of the dreaded Saracens. The central story of the film while certainly fictionalised, is nevertheless well told and deals with King Richard (the Lion Hearted)of England who to avoid an unwelcome marriage to the Princess Alice (Katherine DeMille) of France and spurred on by a determined hermit (C. Aubrey Smith in a terrific performance) who is instilling the fighting spirit in all the countries of Christendom, takes up the sword to lead the crusade to the Holy Land. On the journey in order to feed his starving men he reluctantly agrees to a sham marriage with Berengaria, Princess of Navarre. What starts out as a hate at first sight relationship softens into a real love for both Richard and Berengaria in particular when after doing battle with the Saracens at the gates of the city of Acre Berengaria is captured by the besotted Sultan of Islam, Saladin (Ian Keith in another of his very fine supporting performances). Faced with loosing the one who's life now means everything to him Richard goes through a change of heart and rather than using the crusade as just an excuse to get away from more serious matters really begins to see the real reason for the campaign and the true value of those around him.

Henry Wilcoxon as King Richard and Loretta Young as Berengaria are both in top form here and indeed Wilcoxon, a DeMille regular in such great films as "Cleopatra", the previous year has never been better than here as the first uncouth head strong King who gradually develops a real soul and feeling for others. Loretta Young has a most untraditional character for the times to play. Her Princess is at times a feisty, determined, and brave young woman who creates a new life for herself with Richard despite the unpromising person she first encounters on the way to Jerusalem. Resplendant in medieval flowing robes and long blonde wig Loretta Young has one of her best roles of the 1930's decade and really blossoms under DeMille's direction. No DeMille production would be complete without a sterling supporting cast and "The Crusades", is no exception. The always excellent Ian Keith is Saladin Sultan of Islam, and he has a most interesting character who is depicted as a cultured man of feeling and not simply a bloodthirsty warrior out to kill and plunder. Katherine DeMille is suitably icy as the spurned Princess Alice of France and the always superb Joseph Schildkraut has one of his best 1930's roles as the devious Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat who through his treachery with Richard's brother John pays dearly for his disloyalty at the hands of the Arabs. Alan Hale is suitably boisterious as Richard's friend and musician Blondel and much of the comic interludes in the story are centred on his bluff character.

I have great admiration for all of the work of Cecil B. DeMille. He was without a doubt the great showman of movie legend and "The Crusades" like all of his epic productions is full of stirring speeches, lavish sets, enormous crowd scenes involving huge numbers of extras, and battle scenes on a scale that literally dwarf the story they are depicting. This all adds up to top notch entertainment of the very best kind that Hollywood could offer at this time. For exciting story telling on an epic scale DeMille is unsurpassed and "The Crusades" is unique in being both rousing entertainment and surprisingly quite poignant drama in it's quieter moments. If you enjoy movie making on a grand scale with every scene literally a feast for the eyes then you need go no further than Cecil B. DeMille's epic 1935 production of "The Crusades".


DE MILLE SPECTACLE.   November 20, 2001
A holy man known as The Hermit arouses all the kings and princes of medieval Europe in a crusade to wrest the dominion of Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulchre from the Saracens. Richard the Lion-Hearted, King of England, having spurned the French princess Alice, accepts betrothal to Berengaria, whom he has never seen, in return fo subsistence for the Crusade, and she is formally married to his sword..................Synonymous always with all that the name DeMille stands for in relation to mighty, colourful pageantry and spectacle, massive settings and accoutrements, it tells a story of several of the early crusades. In 1935, DeMille was peerless in bringing the panoplied splendour of the past into torrential life upon the screen. As a picture, THE CRUSADES is historically worthless, didactically treacherous, artistically absurd. But none of those defects impaired its entertainment value. There are three main features which distinguished it from previous DeMille dillies: It was the noisiest, the biggest AND it had no bath scenes! As a footnote, Loretta Young was pregnant here with her daughter by Clark Gable, Judy Lewis; they had an affair during the making of CALL OF THE WILD earlier that year - the results of the affair was one of Hollywood's best-kept secrets.


True Love and True Cross come together well   July 17, 2001
Linda McDonnell (Brooklyn, U.S.A)
I rented this movie because my three-year-old nephew has a fascination with suits of armor, but I came away a fan myself! Henry Wilcoxin makes a great Richard, a young Richard who only goes on crusade to evade one arranged marriage, and then enters into another only to gain cattle for his band of soldiers. The movie concerns how Richard slowly comes to respect marriage and to understand "the true meaning" of the crusades, but only at the ultimate cost for his pride and his heart. Of course, I think anyone would come to respect marriage pretty darn quick if they learned the lady in question was Loretta Young, resplendent in her blond wig. She turns in an undated performance as a woman who loves one man but appreciates another, in this case a sexy Saracen who knows how to compliiment women. One of my other favorite characters was The Hermit aka The Holy Man, played by C.Aubrey Smith. I especially liked his staff, which has a rather unique crucifix carved into it. The Hermit is probably the bravest character in the movie, defying the Saracens even though it eventually costs him his life. And of course, then there are the lusty battle scenes, replete with boiling oil and flaming catapults. So, if you want to watch an excellent old spectacle, you won't be sorry to go on this "Crusade" with Wilcoxin and Young.


This movie is a must watch!   November 11, 2000
J. Cho (Loveland, OH)
Many of us have watched Demille's 10 Commandments because of its constant re airings on ABC, yet The Crusades is one of many of his works that deserve equal if not more attention. O.K. Its not historically accurate by todays standards of realism. It portrays chivalry with bravado and romanticism when in reality it was barbaric and crude. The beginning of the movie shows some very anti Muslim themes. Yet despite all this, the beauty of the film, the vistas, the thousands of extras in romantically filmed battle scenes,the characters and plot are very beautiful. Each shot if it were a still frame is worthy of being admired for its photographic beauty. For all you 10 Commandment fans, the same panoramic beauty shots, elegant costumes and romanticism of that movie is in this one too. The most wonderful thing I loved with this movie is that the real hero of the film is Berengaria. She is only one who really seems to want the right thing done, and is willing to make a stand to see it gets done. Even better, her beauty and femininity in no way took away from the dignity and intelligence of her character. This was such a delight and so refreshing considering the time period the movie was made and the historical era it portrays. As far as I can tell, this was the first attempt to put a heroine in a major production that was shown to be smarter than the male leads! This was also perhaps the first film to show thousands of extras in battle sequences. Braveheart, and Spartacus and so many other large epics owe Demille for breaking the ground in this area. Despite the politically incorrect aspects of the film, consider that the main characters are Christians, and that their anti Muslim views are to be expected considering their situation. Despite this, I think the message of the movie (and you will have to watch the entire movie to understand this) will convince everyone that the message of the film is that everyone, despite their religious differences should be respectful to all.