To me, this movie is perfection.

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Fantastic!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Having first read the book, Men of Iron by Howard Pyle, I was very pleasantly surprised that the film was more enjoyable. From the title, through the plot and concluding with the climax, it was and is superlative. Although it has been in excess of six decades since my first viewing, the thrill from this movie has not lessened an iota. My rating is a solid "10." If, though, you are one who relishes nit-picking, you will probably be disappointed, as Falworth is definitely not an Oscar quality presentation.

SYNOPSIS: King Henry IV of England is dominated by the ambitious Earl of Alban. The Earl of Mackworth attempts to thwart his rival. Pawns in his strategy are the disgraced Myles Falworth and his sister, Meg, whose father was executed for treason.NOTES: Universal's first CinemaScope film was also released in a normal widescreen version… This is the second teaming of Tony Curtis and his real-life wife, Janet Leigh. Their first joint outing was in Paramount's Houdini (1953).COMMENT: For those of us who dote on the exploits of ye knightes of olde, "The Black Shield of Falworth" —especially in its richly pictorial CinemaScope version — is an absolute must. Howard Pyle's once-famous novel is vigorously brought to teeming life by as fine a group of players as such derring-do ever assembled. True, the accents of Mr. Curtis and Miss Leigh, don't altogether conjure up the medieval courts and pageants of Merrie England, but really those momentary distractions are of small account. What really matters is that both players not only look their parts but enter into their roles with enthusiasm and panache. This they definitely do. And of course, no such piffling complaints can be leveled against the delightfully villainous David Farrar, or suavely scheming Herbert Marshall and company. Here are 99 minutes packed with action and excitement, a bit of romance and even a jesting touch or two of welcome humor. And all not only briskly paced by director Rudolph Maté, but also most colorfully and vividly photographed by Irving Glassberg (a much under-rated cinematographer, if ever there was one).

As I am nearing the end of this eclectic but erratic month-long epic film viewing marathon, I have decided to dedicate this Saturday to revisiting my fondly remembered childhood memories of two vintage (but relatively minor) Technicolor swashbucklers which, thankfully, I purposely managed to acquire only recently: one is the latter-day Errol Flynn pirate yarn, AGAINST ALL FLAGS (1952; see below) and the other, naturally, the film under review.After all these years, THE BLACK SHIELD OF FALWORTH still emerges as the engaging romp I recalled it to be and is, in fact, a superior piece of Hollywood hokum – so much so that it’s quite a mystery to me how the film (which was even Universal’s very first Widescreen picture) is as yet unavailable anywhere on DVD and I have had to make do with a full-frame VHSrip which, in hindsight, is of surprisingly tolerable quality (with only the tell-tale excessive headroom being indicative of the fact that it was shot in a different aspect ratio). In any case, I think it is high time that, like Rock Hudson before him, Tony Curtis be given his own “Franchise Collection” DVD release from Universal which ought to contain (for starters) the equally exotic THE PRINCE WHO WAS A THIEF (1951; his first starring vehicle which was also directed by FALWORTH helmer, Rudolph Mate'), SON OF ALI BABA (1952) and THE PURPLE MASK (1955) – as well as any of the other Universal programmers Curtis starred in before emerging (if only briefly) with an altogether more adult image for Alexander Mackendrick’s superb SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957).Anyhow, back to FALWORTH: set in England during the reign of King Henry IV (Ian Keith), Curtis is (albeit unknowingly at first) the son of an unjustly accused and executed aristocrat who, along with his lovely sister (Barbara Rush), embarks on his way to knighthood by joining the men-at-arms school situated in the castle of an old ally of his father’s (Herbert Marshall) and tyrannically overseen by cantankerous but ultimately well-meaning one-eyed warrior (Torin Thatcher). The impressive cast is further bolstered by the appearance of Curtis’ then-wife Janet Leigh (as Marshall’s daughter who, naturally, falls for the uncouth graces of this “county bumpkin”), Dan O’ Herlihy (in a drunken, buffoonish caricature of Prince Hal – later King Henry V – which is merely a front to mislead the traitors within his father’s court), David Farrar (as the villainous Earl of Alban), Patrick O’Neal (as the latter’s brother and Curtis’ chief contender at training school and for the hand of Leigh herself) and Rhys Williams (playing the loyal servant who harbors Curtis and Rush at the beginning of the film).While some of the plot points got hazier with the passage of time, I still remembered the scenes of Curtis climbing the walls of the castle to go romance Janet Leigh during her afternoon croquet lessons, of Curtis stumbling around upon donning heavy armor for the first time and the exciting climactic jousting duel between Curtis and Farrar; needless to say, I now much preferred the various vivid sequences of training and combat to the bland romantic stuff but, still, I was disappointed that the immortal, much derided line supposedly uttered by Curtis in this film, “Yonda lies da castle of my fodda”, is never actually spoken, resulting in yet another Hollywood legend – a' la ALGIERS (1938; “Come wiz me to the Casbah”) and CASABLANCA (1942; “Play it again, Sam”) – which has, with time, grown to become accepted as fact!

I have always been a huge Tony Curtis fan and loved this movie when I was a kid. It has been marvelous to see his development from fluff like this (great fluff though) to The Sweet Smell of Success. He is one the the most versatile and underrated stars of the last 50 years. The unusually excellent cast make this movie rise above the usual such fare. As one of the other posters here state, the training sequences are great as is Torin Thatcher (almost as good as his evil wizard in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad).This movie is fun, anachronistic and historically inept but I love it almost as much now as I did as a child of 7/8 when I first saw it and revelled in the swash (and indeed buckle) of the medieval romp. Tony has never looked better and Janet Leigh is a dream. I remember playing Knights in armour all the way home with my pals after seeing this at the local fleapit. Power to you Tony!!! He never did say " Yonder lies the castle of my Fadda!" Suspend disbelief and enjoy!