Just in time for Valentine’s Day. Knights of the Round Table, 1953, the love story of Lancelot and Guinevere, is playing on Turner Classic Movies on Tuesday, February, 14 at 2:00 p.m. est.  Closed captioned.

The film was highly successful costing $2,616,000.00 and making a profit of $1,641,000.00 or $14,536,985.95 in today’s money.

Ava Gardner and Robert Taylor in “Knights of the Round Table.”

This is a fine example of ’50’s style epics. Big name cast, colorful costumes,flashy swordplay, beautiful damsels and wild inaccuracies. The great Robert Taylor, who starred in several historical movies, is the honorable Sir Lancelot, a far more noble and pure portrayal than was recorded in all the legends, Ava Gardner is the stunningly beautiful Queen Guinevere, the ever dependable Felix Aylmer is the mysterious Merlin, Mel Ferer is a somewhat subdued and less than charismatic King Arthur. See it for the spectacle, costumes, word-play filled dialog and over the top Stanley Baker as Sir Mordred. Lancelot’s joust with Niall Mac Ginnis is very well done. 8 stars for pure eye filling entertainment value. Review by Wayner50 (United States) for the IMDB.

Some behind the scenes photos:

Left to right: phoning; photos; coffee; Mr. Taylor with Stanley Baker

Left to right: Mr. Taylor in armor (which he hated).

Left to right: Mr. Taylor with Mel Ferrer; Maureen Swanson; waiting for instructions.

Left to right: Robert Taylor and his co-star and friend and sometime lover Ava Gardner.

Left to right: Mr. Taylor with Richard Thorpe; taking a break; enjoying a ride on his huge horse.