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The Cauldron and the Grail

The cauldron as a symbol was sort of a horn of plenty in old Europe, and the influence of Christianity transposed the cup used at The Last Supper onto that traditional meaning.
Speculations on the "original inspiration" for King Arthur have listed a fe w popular medieval leaders, including one nicknamed "The Cat King," but a recent book traces the hero back as far back as his grail: W. A Cummins' King Arthur's Place in Prehistory, (Alan Sutton, 1993, ISBN 0750906642).
The King Arthur cycle ha s been drawn upon in popular culture for so long, the Grail has been used as a McGuffin in an Indiana Jones movie, and the whole imaginary subculture of medieval tales has been mocked by Rob Reiner.

Anybody wanna

...peanut?

Black Knight
(1954) A US/British co-production, starring Alan Ladd, with Peter Cushing, too low-budget to impress English critics.
85 min., Color, not available

Camelot
(1967) Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave were cast over the favorites (Burton and Andrews), though no one can figure why. Nice-looking version of the Lerner & Lowe musical.
178 min., Color, $29.99 Laser $39.99

Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
There's more than one version of this: the newest being a 1989 TV version done with Cosby starlet Keshia Knight Pulliam, teaching "Queen" Emma Samms to aerobicize (95 min., Color, $14.98 as of Oct. 17th), the cl assic a 1949 Bing Crosby vehicle (107 min., Color, not available), and the oldest simply called A Connecticut Yankee (1931) with Will Rogers in the title role (77 min., B/W, $14.99 Laser $34.99).

Excalibur
(1981) Director Boorman let the entirety of British Actors Equity loose in his backyard, which happened to be Ireland. Even Liam Neeson is an extra in this film, and though it grates on some people's nerves, it doesn't lose its own nerve for a second; absolutely over the top.
140 min., Color, Rated PG, $19.99 Laser $39.99

Fisher King
(1991) Jeff Bridges doesn't want Robin Williams hanging around, whining about the Holy Grail, until he realizes this crazy man is actually looking for something he lost, and whose fault it all is. Like the character's quest, this mo vie is impossible but it works anyway.
137 min., Color, Rated R, $14.99

Ivanhoe
A duplicate here, of the 1952 Robert Taylor/Joan Fontaine version shot in Britain (106 min., Color, $19.99 Laser $34.99) later remade as a TV movie with a huge cast led by James Mason (150 min., Color, not available).

Knightriders
(1981) An oddball George Romero biker movie. Ed Harris heads the cast, who portray one of those mock "medieval faire" who stage jousts on horseback, though one of them wants to live out his creative anachronism to the full at any c ost.
145 min., Color, Rated R, $19.99

Lancelot du Lac
(1974) Robert Bresson brings his patient sense of detail -- which some folks find maddening -- to the grand tradition, called "all the things you could possibly expect from a masterpiece" by Time Out. Winner of that year's International Critic's Prize at Cannes.
80 min., Color, French with enhanced subtitles, $79.95

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(1975) Watch out for that attack rabbit! Everyone says this is the best, even if their sentimental favorite is one of the others.
90 min., Color, Rated PG, $19.99 Laser $34.99

The Princess Bride(1987) Anachronistic jokes may bug the purists, but the clever premise of gliding over the stuff everyone knows allows the reader (grandpa) and the listener (grandson) to bond in a secondary storyline which echoes the screenwriter 's earliest introduction to tales and their telling. Reiner, Lear, Goldman, Patinkin, Guest, Shawn, Andre (!), Falk, Kane, Crystal... Mark Knopfler?
98 min., Color, Rated PG, $14.99

Storybook
(1995) This variation on the legend has a little boy who awaits the return of his MIA father. A la The Neverending Story, he finds a magic book and jumps in, only to find that everyone in this strange world is waiting for *him* to pull the sword from the stone and hand it to "Prince" Arthur. Richard Moll, Swoosie Kurtz and Milton Berle are on hand. This cassette opens with the original, handmade 1945 "Casper the Friendly Ghost" cartoon, still in wonderful shape.
88 min., Color, Rated G, Available 9/1/95 priced to rent.

Sword and the Sorcerer
(1982) Lee Horsley saves the day.
180 min., Color, Rated R, not available

Sword of Lancelot
(1963) Cornel Wilde directed himself in a film first released as Lancelot and Guinivere.
116 min., Color, $14.99

Sword in the Stone
(1963) Disney's story of a youthful Arthur, still called Wart, based on the T. H. White literary treatment.
75 min., Color, $24.99

Sword of the Valiant
(1982) The folks who made Gawain and the Green Knight made Sean Connery the Green Knight in their second try, but it still didn't really work.
101 min., Color, Rated PG, not available

Unidentified Flying Oddball
(1979) An obscure Disney remake of the Twain novel covered above, with the twist of adding a robotic doppelganger to the proceedings.
93 min., Color, Rated G, not available

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