Very well executed

Nice effects though.

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Copyright 1955 by Loew's Inc. An M-G-M picture. U.S. release: 21 October 1955. New York opening at the Mayfair: 23 November 1955. U.K. release: 26 March 1956. Australian release: 11 April 1956. Sydney opening at the St James. 9,011 feet. 100 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Refusing to marry her aged suitor, a duke's ward flees to the king.NOTES: M-G-M embarked on a movie version of Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe" in 1952. This marked the first time any Scott novel had been filmed since way back in 1923. The enormous box-office success of the new "Ivanhoe: prompted M-G-M to follow up with "Quentin Durward". Both these films were directed by super-fast, economy- conscious Richard Thorpe, who also turned his hand to M-G-M's first CinemaScope production, "Knights of the Round Table" (1953). These three movies all share two other features — they were all lensed in England and all starred Robert Taylor.COMMENT: Knighthood is indeed in full flower in this handsomely produced, energetically directed adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's classic novel of a Scottish swordsman's adventures at the French court. Mind you, Robert Taylor is certainly no Scot, but he plays the role with such dash and finesse, it really doesn't matter that his accent is all wrong for the part. And he's helped out by a truly wonderful support cast, including the lovely, high-spirited yet suitably vulnerable Kay Kendall in an ideal role, and Robert Morley perfectly at home as the crafty king. Except for one unfortunate scene (the rape of the monastery), director Richard Thorpe and screenwriter Robert Ardrey keep a nice balance between adventure and comedy. With the exception of this one scene, the film maintains the right flavor of derring-do and then comes to a fine action climax in a blazing bell-tower. The sets and color 'Scope photography are also most attractive.

This movie stinks! Although I have always liked Robert Taylor to some degree I do not find him believable in any period piece I have ever seen him in, including "Quo Vadis." He was a very handsome man and he did, at times, command your attention in some roles but I find his vocal inflections simply too American to be real. Taylor did come to stardom through the studio system and I have always thought they should have insisted he work with a dialect coach for these types of roles. Despite a cast that included Robert Morley, this film simply did not hit the mark. In my opinion the best movie I've ever seen him is was "Waterloo Bridge" where he co-stars with Vivien Leigh.

Mid-point in his career Robert Taylor was given Quo Vadis and was such a success in it that MGM then gave him Ivanhoe and Knights of the Round Table and finally Quentin Durward. Taylor did not like these films, he referred to them as his "iron jockstrap roles." He much preferred westerns and modern pictures. But he went with the flow so they say.The stream flowed well for him in Quentin Durward. What Walter Scott was trying to do in the novel and succeeds on the screen is juxtapose the lives of noble knight Quentin Durward and the scheming spider king Louis XI of France played superbly by Robert Morley. Louis XI is modern man, stripped of all pretenses, surviving on his wits. Durward is a figure from antiquity even in the 15th century.Louis XI is one of the most fascinating monarchs in history and we've seen him as a supporting character both in If I Were King and in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He was a guy who if one scheme didn't work, he had a backup plan, in fact about 5 or 6 backups. Most of us are lucky if we have 2 in any situation. But he had to rule that way. When he took the throne of France in 1461 they had ended the Hundred Years War and France was a devastated country. He couldn't afford to be starting any wars or he wouldn't have a country left. He had to rule by wile and stratagem and he succeeded. Too bad Robert Morley didn't make a film just about Louis XI. Great story, hope someone does it some day.One of the most exciting action sequences in film history is done here with Quentin Durward battling the villainous Walter DeLa Marck in a burning bell tower while they are both swinging on ropes holding bell clappers. You should see the film for that alone.

Around the time that Kay Kendall was awarded her role in this MGM costumer, Grace Kelly, who had first been considered for the role, said, in an interview in which she admitted declining the role, "All I would have had to do was clutch my jewel box and flee!" Along with her ceding the title role to Tippie Hedren in Hitchcock's "Marnie" (filmed after her ascension to the Grimaldi throne), Grace seemed to have had her sights set upon the real royalty of Monaco, rather than continuing her reign as one of cinema's loveliest princesses!