The Crusades (film)

The Crusades
VHS cover for The Crusades
Directed by	Cecil B. DeMille
Produced by	Cecil B. DeMille Henry Herzbrun (executive producer)
Written by	Harold Lamb Waldemar Young Dudley Nichols
Starring	Loretta Young Henry Wilcoxon Ian Keith C. Aubrey Smith Katherine DeMille Joseph Schildkraut Alan Hale C. Henry Gordon George Barbier Montagu Love Ramsay Hill Lumsden Hare Maurice Murphy William Farnum Hobart Bosworth Pedro de Córdoba Mischa Auer Albert Conti Sven Hugo Borg Paul Sotoff Fred Malatesta Hans von Twardowski Anna Demetrio Perry Askam Vallejo Gantner
Cinematography	Victor Milner
Edited by	Anne Bauchens
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures (original) Universal Studios (current)
Release dates	August 21, 1935
Running time	125 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,376,260
Box office	$1.7 million

The Crusades is a 1935 American historical adventure film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and originally released by Paramount Pictures. It stars Loretta Young as Berengaria of Navarre and Henry Wilcoxon as Richard I of England. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Victor Milner) as well as for Best Foreign Film at the Venice Film Festival in 1935.

Plot

Mostly taking elements from the Third Crusade, King Richard the Lionheart is enlisted in a crusade to bring Jerusalem back into Christian hands in order to get out of a betrothal with Princess Alice of France. En route, Richard meets Berengaria, Princess of Navarre and marries her in exchange for food for his men. During the Crusaders' attempts to get past the walls of Acre, Berengaria is captured by the Muslim Sultan Saladin and he brings her back to Jerusalem and attempts to woo her. Eventually, the Crusaders make their way to Jerusalem and after many battles Saladin declares a truce and Richard agrees. Berengaria and Richard fall in love and all the gates of Jerusalem are opened.

Cast

• Loretta Young – Berengaria, Princess of Navarre
• Henry Wilcoxon – Richard, King of England
• Ian Keith – Saladin, Sultan of Islam
• C. Aubrey Smith – The Hermit
• Katherine DeMille – Alice, Princess of France
• Joseph Schildkraut – Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat
• Alan Hale – Blondel
• C. Henry Gordon – Philip the Second, King of France
• George Barbier – Sancho, King of Navarre
• Montagu Love – The Blacksmith
• Ramsay Hill – John, Prince of England
• Lumsden Hare – Robert, Earl of Leicester
• Maurice Murphy – Alan, Richard's Squire
• William Farnum – Hugo, Duke of Burgundy
• Hobart Bosworth – Frederick, Duke of the Germans
• Pedro de Córdoba – Karakush
• Mischa Auer – Monk
• Albert Conti – Leopold, Duke of Austria
• Sven Hugo Borg – Sverre, The Norse King
• Paul Sotoff – Michael, Prince of Russia
• Fred Malatesta – William, King of Sicily
• Hans von Twardowski – Nicholas, Count of Hungary
• Anna Demetrio – Duenna
• Perry Askam – Soldier
• Vallejo Gantner – Marshal of France

Reception

Andre Sennwald of The New York Times called the film a "grand show" and "two hours of tempestuous extravaganza". Sennwald also praised the "superbly managed" staging of the attack on the city of Acre and cited "excellent performances" all around, stating in conclusion, "It is rich in the kind of excitement that pulls an audience irresistibly to the edge of its seat." Variety also praised the film, writing, "Probably only DeMille could make a picture like Crusades – and get away with it. It's long, and the story is not up to some of his previous films, but the production has sweep and spectacle." Film Daily declared it "one of the best DeMille pictures ... The battle scenes are among the most thrilling made since the inception of talking pictures." John Mosher of The New Yorker was less enthused, finding it "rather mild De Mille" that "doesn't compare by a long shot with many other scenes in the Master's collection. There is nothing in the film as astonishing as his Passing through the Red Sea, nothing as amazingly ornamental as his arenas of Imperial Rome." Mosher did praise Wilcoxon's performance, however, especially in his scenes with Young.

Cultural context

Lorraine K. Stock writes in Hollywood in the Holy Land, in her chapter "Now Starring in the Third Crusade" that Crusading films have been used by European and American countries to spread a political or cultural agenda. One way with which this is done is through the main Crusading "heroes" such as Richard the Lionhearted and main antagonist Saladin. Many films have used the relationship between Richard I and Saladin. In this particular film the relationship between Richard I and Saladin is connected not only by the conflict of the Crusade but "an improbable, if entertaining, erotic triangle" with Berengaria of Navarre. Stock notes that this relationship and the events which occur can be seen as a reaction to events after the First World War and especially America's isolationism. For example, Richard the Lionhearted at first does not want to get married, so he goes on Crusade despite showing signs of not being religious. Berengaria can also be seen as a "medieval League of Nations" when negotiations between Saladin and Richard I occur at the end of the movie.

A main concern for such films is the way Muslims and Crusaders are portrayed. Throughout the film Stock notes that there are a negative portrayals of Saladin and the Muslims. For instance Stock notes that the Crusaders are all dressed in mail armor with the cross upon their chests while Saladin and the Saracens are dressed mainly in "flowing robes of luxury fabrics" and "silken sashes". The Saracens shown as oriental but also "exotically feminized" according to Stock. Another scene has the Saracens shoot a Crusader messenger, who demand surrender of the city, with one of them wearing a helmet with devil horns upon it. There are other moments with which the Europeans mention devilry or call Muslims infidels. Stock says DeMille "establish the stereotypes of Richard and Saladin that subsequent films would repeat…".

However Saladin is also depicted as an honorable man. In "Islam Muslims and Arabs in the Popular Hollywood Cinema", Anton K. Kozlovic writes "The Crusades was not as enthusiastically received in the West as DeMille would have liked (Bichard 2004, 292) probably because it showed the good and noble side of the Muslims and contrasted it with the darker deeds of Christianity". Saladin in the film refuses to help assassinate Richard I and in fact sends out help to prevent Richard from being killed by the treacherous other Europeans. Kozlovic also notes that when Saladin offers peace to the "foes of Islam", Richard responds by drawing his sword "and saying 'We are going to slaughter you!'". Kozlovic sees DeMille's film as a challenge to the stereotypical norm and negative picture painted of Muslim in Crusader films specifically.

External links

• The Crusades at the Internet Movie Database
• http://www.new-video.de/film-die-kreuzritter-the-crusaders/