Before Planet Of The Apes, Charlton Heston and director Franklin J Schaffner made this interesting if self-conscious attempt to get away from the standard Hollywood epic.
Heston’s an 11th-Century knight, assigned to hold a stretch of Norman coast where Norse raiders attack and paganism’s still a potent force. His resolve’s undermined when he falls for a local girl.
The high point comes in a ferocious, vividly detailed siege episode, while Russell Metty’s dour photography enhances the prevailing melancholic mood.
