Tonight's Movie: The Crusades (1935) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

THE CRUSADES (1935), which might be my very favorite Cecil B. DeMille film, is available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

The movie came out earlier this year, when I was doing a lot of traveling and covering film festivals, then gradually slipped down in the review stack due to "last in, first out."

Last night I plucked THE CRUSADES out of the viewing stack and was as mesmerized as I was the first time I saw the film a dozen years ago, at the 2011 UCLA Festival of Preservation. I strongly recommend it.

Henry Wilcoxon plays King Richard, who as the movie begins is rowdy and irresponsible. He makes a pledge to lead England into the Crusades chiefly to get out of his arranged marriage to Princess Alice of France (Katherine DeMille, daughter of the director).

Richard's experiences going to war, and his hasty but fortunate marriage to beautiful Princess Berengaria of Navarre (Loretta Young), transform him completely. He becomes a true leader, a man of faith, and a loving husband.

Wilcoxon and Young could not be better, and they share many excellent scenes, particularly those dealing with Saladin (Ian Keith) and King Philip of France (C. Henry Gordon). I loved the way Richard publicly honors and appreciates Berengaria, and I also liked Berengaria's bravery as she is faced with a succession of challenging circumstances. Both characters are very well written; the screenplay had a trio of writers, as well as several more who made uncredited contributions, but it worked out well.

Katherine DeMille is striking as Alice, who is handsome in her own way but a very cold, calculating woman. She even follows Richard to the Holy War when he doesn't marry her before leaving, only to be very unexpectedly thwarted. Her family connection with the director may have aided in being cast, but she really owns the role and is quite memorable.

DeMille later married Anthony Quinn; they had five children.

For more thoughts on this film, including the story of Loretta Young's behind-the-scenes secret pregnancy, please click over to my very detailed 2011 review.

The deep supporting cast includes Sir C. Aubrey Smith, Alan Hale (Sr.), Joseph Schildkraut, George Barbier, Montagu Love, Lumsden Hare, Mischa Auer, and Pedro de Cordoba. Searching carefully among the faces on screen will also reveal other familiar actors such as John Carradine, J. Carrol Naish, Ann Sheridan, and Ian Hunter.

THE CRUSADES runs 125 minutes. It was beautifully filmed by Victor Milner. I'd add that one can't help but be impressed by the sheer numbers of extras in those pre-CGI days!

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray is very beautiful, with excellent sound. I enjoyed watching this movie on every level. Don't wait as long as I did to check it out!

Kino Lorber's Blu-ray extras consist of the trailer; a gallery of 11 additional trailers for other film available from Kino Lorber; and a commentary track by Allan Arkush and Daniel Kremer.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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