Quentin Durward, 1955, Is Playing on TCM on January 14 (USA)

Quentin Durward, 1955, is playing on Turner Classic Movies on Saturday, January 14 at 2:00 p.m. est. Closed captioned.

Director: Richard Thorpe. Robert Taylor, Kay Kendall, Robert Morley, George Cole, Alec Clunes, Duncan Lamont, Marius Goring. Taylor plays Sir Walter Scott’s dashing Scots hero in this handsome but static costumer about Louis XI’s reign in 15th- century France. CinemaScope. TCM capsule review.

This is a film to be watched with a wide and affectionate grin. Outstanding are Robert Morley as Louis XI, the infamous and wily ‘Spider’ of France, and Robert Taylor as the eponymous Durward, a would-be chivalrous hero born out of his time who is none too sure of himself. The necessary, and highly satisfactory, heroics are spiced with a rich leavening of humor and some genuine moral questions – how much should a man sacrifice for his country’s sake? His love? His life? His honor?

But above all it is a joyous and thrilling romp that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Durward wants to be a knight in shining armor, but circumstances tend to conspire against him, and his lady is definitely the stronger-willed of the two; though like the audience, she cannot resist his puppy dog charm. And ambiguous, cynical, cowardly Louis is often in danger of stealing the show outright, as he sits at the center of his web and pulls the strings that manipulate all the other characters – a far-from-two-dimensional villain after my own heart!

Definitely a superior swashbuckler, with a saving vein of humor. Review by lgenWordsmith on IMDB

These are a few behind the scenes photos:

Left to right: with Stewart Granger, unknown fan or gypsy dancer, Kay Kendall

About giraffe44

I became a Robert Taylor fan at the age of 15 when his TV show, "The Detectives" premiered. My mother wanted to watch it because she remembered Mr. Taylor from the thirties. I took one look and that was it. I spent the rest of my high school career watching Robert Taylor movies on late night TV, buying photos of him, making scrapbooks and being a typical teenager. College, marriage and career intervened. I remember being sad when Mr. Taylor died. I mailed two huge scrapbooks to Ursula Thiess. I hope she got them. Time passed, retirement, moving to Florida. Then in 2012 my husband Fred pointed that there were two Robert Taylor movies that evening on Turner Classic Movies--"Ivanhoe" and "Quentin Durward." I watched both and it happened all over again. I started this blog both for fans and for people who didn't know about Robert Taylor. As the blog passes 200,000 views I'm delighted that so many people have come by and hope it will help preserve the legacy of this fine actor and equally good man.

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2 Responses to Quentin Durward, 1955, Is Playing on TCM on January 14 (USA)

Fulvia says:

January 11, 2017 at 5:38 pm

I really liked this movie. The costumes are beautiful and the acting of Mr.Taylor is excellent. I regret that he as a result no longer has made films in costume.
I would say my opinion about the lack of consideration (unless those present) that Americans have always had and still have on Mr.Taylor.In my opinion, Mrs.Barbara Stanwick did not favor the Mr.Taylor career, since he was already famous with “Camille” and not only because of Ms.Garbo.. Ms. Stanwick has hampered and tamished the career of Mr. Taylor. This is my opinion only.

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giraffe44 says:

January 12, 2017 at 12:05 am

She supposedly helped him early on but I don’t know. I also think she undercut him a lot! Thanks for writing.

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