Siege of the Saxons

1963 British medieval adventure film by Nathan H. Juran

Siege of the Saxons

Original cinema poster

Directed by| Nathan H. Juran
Written by| John Kohn
Jud Kinberg
Produced by| Jud Kinberg
Charles H. Schneer
Starring| Janette Scott
Ronald Lewis
Ronald Howard
Mark Dignam
John Laurie
Cinematography| Wilkie Cooper
Edited by| Maurice Rootes
Music by| Laurie Johnson

Production
company

Ameran Films

Distributed by| Columbia Pictures

Release dates

* July 1963 (1963-07) (UK)
* August 1963 (1963-08) (US)

Running time

| 85 minutes
Country| United Kingdom
Language| English

Siege of the Saxons is a 1963 British medieval adventure film directed by Nathan H. Juran and released by Columbia Pictures. Starring Janette Scott and Ronald Lewis, the film is set in the time of King Arthur, but, as with many Arthurian themed films, the sets and style are from medieval England. The plot is also heavily influenced by Robin Hood.[1]

## Plot

[edit]

King Arthur learns that one of his knights is plotting to take over and marry his daughter. Soon the soldiers of double-dealing Edmund of Cornwall slay the king. However his daughter Katherine escapes with the help of outlaw Robert Marshall. Claiming that Katherine is dead, Edmund prepares to usurp the throne in league with Saxon invaders.

After coming close to death more than once at the hands of the sinister limping man, Katherine and Robert and other loyal countrymen rescue the great wizard Merlin from the hands of Edmund's men to help them save Camelot and England. They arrive at Camelot just as Edmund is about to be crowned. On Merlin's advice, Robert challenges Edmund to kill him as a traitor, by using Arthur's sword Excalibur.

Edmund is unable to draw the sword from the scabbard, whereupon Robert presents the sword to Katherine, the rightful heir, who draws it out easily. Katherine is recognised by the court as the new Queen. Following a battle against Edmund's remaining men and the invading force of Saxons, Katherine's armies prevail. She offers the lands of Edmund and other renegades to Robert, so that he can rule alongside her as King.

## Cast

[edit]

* Janette Scott as Katherine
* Ronald Lewis as Robert Marshall
* Ronald Howard as Edmund of Cornwall
* Mark Dignam as King Arthur
* John Laurie as Merlin
* Jerome Willis as the Limping Man
* Charles Lloyd-Pack as the Doctor
* Francis de Wolff as the Blacksmith

## Production

[edit]

Producer Charles H. Schneer made it after a series of fantasies with Ray Harryhausen. This and East of Sudan were made over 15 days, using stock footage. "Columbia had a lot of unused footage in their library," said the producer. "If 10 percent [sic] or less of a film made in the United Kingdom was comprised of stock footage, you received a government subsidy. I decided that would be a good commercial opportunity, so I made both pictures that way. I took the big action sequences out of Columbia's library." Siege of the Saxons used The Black Knight and East of Sudan used footage from Beyond Mombassa.[2]

It was the first of three consecutive films director Nathan Juran made for producer Charles Schnee in England.[3]

Shooting was conducted around the Home Counties in England and at Bray Studios in Berkshire. Oakley Court near Windsor, Berkshire was used for the castle interiors, Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire was the forest, and the final battle scenes were shot at Callow Hill, Virginia Water, in Surrey.[1]

The film reused a lot of costumes, props, and footage from the earlier and bigger-budgeted 1954 Columbia film, The Black Knight, starring Alan Ladd and costumes and props from the 1963 film Lancelot and Guinevere directed by and starring Cornel Wilde. The hero dons Alan Ladd's armor from The Black Knight. King Arthur wears the same costume as Brian Aherne did as Arthur in Lancelot and Guinevere and even looks much the same as Aherne. The film also uses sequences from some of Columbia's Robin Hood films.[1] According to Filmink the use of footage from a film starring blonde Alan Ladd explains Ronald "Lewis' silly blonde wig" in Siege of Saxons.[4]

## Release

[edit]

The film was released on a double bill with Schneer's Jason and the Argonauts (1963), a film best remembered for its Ray Harryhausen special effects.

Schneer later hired Juran to direct another pair of films for a similar double bill: a large budget fantasy with special effects by Harryhausen, The First Men in the Moon, and a lower-budgeted English adventure heavily reliant on stock footage, East of Sudan.[1]

The Monthly Film Bulletin called it "statutory but good humoured and moderately jolly... hampered by flat direction and cramped settings."[5]

Variety argued the film "is not intended to be quite as comic as it turned out to be."[6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Miller, John M. "Siege of the Saxons". Turner Classic Movies.
2. ^ Swires, Steve (March 1990). "Merchant of the Magicks Part Three". Starlog. p. 65.
3. ^ Swires, Steve (May 1989). "Nathan Juran: The Fantasy Voyages of Jerry the Giant Killer Part Two". Starlog Magazine. No. 142\. p. 58.
4. ^ Vagg, Stephen (22 March 2025). "Not Quite Movie Stars: Ronald Lewis". Filmink. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
5. ^ "SIEGE OF THE SAXONS". Monthly Film Bulletin. 30 (348). London: 133. 1 January 1963. ProQuest 1305833512.
6. ^ "Siege of Saxons". Variety. 21 August 1963. p. 17.

## External links

[edit]

* Siege of the Saxons at IMDb
* Siege of the Saxons at BFI
* Siege of the Saxons at TCMDB
* Siege of the Saxons at Rotten Tomatoes

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Nathan Juran

* The Black Castle (1952)
* Gunsmoke (1953)
* Law and Order (1953)
* The Golden Blade (1953)
* Tumbleweed (1953)
* Highway Dragnet (1954)
* Drums Across the River (1954)
* The Crooked Web (1955)
* Hellcats of the Navy (1957)
* The Deadly Mantis (1957)
* 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
* The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)
* Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
* The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
* Good Day for a Hanging (1959)
* Flight of the Lost Balloon (1961)
* Jack the Giant Killer (1962)
* Siege of the Saxons (1963)
* First Men in the Moon (1964)
* East of Sudan (1964)
* Land Raiders (1970)
* The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973)

* v
* t
* e

Films based on Arthurian legends

Medieval Arthur|

* Adventures of Sir Galahad (serial, 1949)
* Knights of the Round Table (1953)
* The Black Knight (1954)
* Lancelot and Guinevere (1963)
* Siege of the Saxons (1963)
* Camelot (1967)
* Excalibur (1981)
* First Knight (1995)
* Arthur and Merlin (2015)
* King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
by Gawain Poet|

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

Roman Arthur|

* King Arthur (2004)
* The Last Legion (2007)

Foreign adaptations|

* Lancelot du Lac (1974)
* Perceval le Gallois (1978)
* Kaamelott: The First Chapter (2021)

Films based on
Wagner's Parsifal|

* Parsifal (1904)
* The Evil Forest (1951)
* Parsifal (1982)

Films from Twain's
Connecticut Yankee|

* A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1921)
* A Connecticut Yankee (1931)
* A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949)
* Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979)
* New Adventures of a Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1988; Soviet Union)
* A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995)

Based on the Tristan legend|

* The Eternal Return (1943)
* The Woman Next Door (1981)
* Lovespell (1981)
* Fire and Sword (1982)
* In the Shadow of the Raven (1988)
* Tristan & Isolde (English 2006)

Adaptations of Prince Valiant|

* Prince Valiant (1954)
* Prince Valiant (1997)

Parodies and
modern adaptations|

* Knights of the Square Table (1917)
* King Arthur Was a Gentleman (1942)
* Squareheads of the Round Table (1948)
* Knutzy Knights (1954)
* Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
* Knightriders (1981)
* The Fisher King (1991)
* Seaview Knights (1994)
* Kids of the Round Table (1995)
* Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders (1996)
* The Mighty (1998)
* Merlin: The Return (2000)
* The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2002)
* Merlin and the War of the Dragons (2008)
* The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)
* Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
* The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)

Animation|

* Knight-mare Hare (1955)
* Knighty Knight Bugs (1958)
* The Sword in the Stone (1963)
* Willy McBean and His Magic Machine (1965)
* Arthur! and the Square Knights of the Round Table (1966)
* Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw (1988)
* Merlin and the Dragons (1991)
* Quest for Camelot (1998)
* Shrek the Third (2007)
* Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob (2021)

TV films|

* Merlin and the Sword (1985)
* Guinevere (1994)
* The Four Diamonds (1995)
* Merlin: The Quest Begins (1998)
* A Knight in Camelot (1998)
* The Excalibur Kid (1999)
* Young Arthur (2002)
* Avalon High (2010)

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