Gawain and the Green Knight (film)

1973 British film

This article is about the 1973 film. For the 1984 version, see Sword of the Valiant. For the 2021 film, see The Green Knight (film).

Gawain and the Green Knight

Directed by| Stephen Weeks
Written by| Philip M. Breen
Stephen Weeks
Based on|

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

* Anonymous

Produced by| Carlo Ponti
Starring| Murray Head
Nigel Green
Robert Hardy
Cinematography| Ian Wilson
Edited by| John Shirley
Music by| Ron Goodwin
Distributed by| United Artists

Release date

* 1973 (1973)

Running time

| 93 minutes
Country| United Kingdom
Language| English

Gawain and the Green Knight is a 1973 British film directed by Stephen Weeks, and starring Murray Head as Gawain and Nigel Green in his final theatrical film as the Green Knight.[1][2] The story is based on the medieval English tale Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and also Yvain, the Knight of the Lion by Chrétien de Troyes and the tale of Sir Gareth in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.[3]

Locations used included castles at Cardiff, Caerphilly and Castell Coch, Wales; Peckforton castle, Cheshire; and St Michael's Mount and Roche Rock, Cornwall. St. Govan's chapel on the Pembrokeshire coast was also featured.

Weeks remade the film in 1984 as Sword of the Valiant with Miles O'Keeffe and Sean Connery as Gawain and the Green Knight, respectively.

## Plot

[edit]

The mysterious Green Knight appears before King Arthur's court in the New Year and demands the head of Sir Gawain as the prize in a bizarre game. Given a year's grace, Gawain sets off in search of the Knight for a rematch.

## Cast

[edit]

* Murray Head as Gawain
* Ciaran Madden as Linet
* Nigel Green as Green Knight
* Anthony Sharp as King
* Robert Hardy as Sir Bertilak
* David Leland as Humphrey
* Murray Melvin as Seneschal
* Tony Steedman as Fortinbras
* Ronald Lacey as Oswald
* Willoughby Goddard as Knight
* George Merritt as Old Knight
* Pauline Letts as Lady of Lyonesse
* Richard Hurndall as Bearded Man
* Peter Copley as Pilgrim
* Geoffrey Bayldon as Wiseman

## Reception

[edit]

The film is unrated on the review-aggregation site, Rotten Tomatoes.

## See also

[edit]

* List of films based on Arthurian legend

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Eden, Michael (8 July 2023). "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight on Screen". Trebuchet. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
2. ^ "Gawain and the Green Knight (1973)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
3. ^ Harty, Kevin J. (7 May 2015). Cinema Arthuriana: Twenty Essays, rev. ed. McFarland. pp. 18–19\. ISBN 978-1-4766-0844-0.

## External links

[edit]

* Gawain and the Green Knight at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Characters|

* Green Knight
* Gawain
* Lady Bertilak
* Guinevere
* Morgan le Fay
* Caradoc

Film|

* Gawain and the Green Knight (1973)
* Sword of the Valiant (1984)
* The Green Knight (2021)

Literature|

* The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady
* The Hollowing
* Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (children's novel)

Opera|

* Gawain

Related|

* Gawain Poet
* The Greene Knight
* Honi soit qui mal y pense
* Pearl Manuscript

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Stephen Weeks

* I, Monster (1971)
* Gawain and the Green Knight (1973)
* Ghost Story (1974)
* Scars (1976)
* Sword of the Valiant (1983)
* The Bengal Lancers! (1984)

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