One of the things I love best about this project, is the opportunity to view movies I have never seen before. This next film is just such a movie. Loosely based on the 1898 novel, When Knighthood was in Flower, it reunites several of the creative team and cast from The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men. For this project, I’m focusing on the story itself, including dialogue, character development, any subplots, how a story presents itself, the speed at which it moves, if it slows down unnecessarily, etc.
Update: In February 2022, I started a video version of the DFP on Tiktok. You can find the video below. Thoughts expressed in the video may be different than what are expressed in the blog post, due to the time difference in posting.
A Brief Summary
As King Henry VIII is working to marry off his sister, Mary Tudor, to the aged King Louis of France, a new arrival to the English Court sets off a chain of events that leads to romance. Charles Brandon, a handsome untitled gentleman, is quickly brought into service of the court where he falls in love with Princess Mary. When Mary attempts to run away with Bradon, he is locked away in the Tower and Mary is married to King Louis. But a promise of her choice in a second husband keeps Mary’s hope alive to be reunited with her true love. Includes a game of badminton, a sword fight and 3 chests of gold.
What works
- Similar to Treasure Island, this is not told in book format and instead immediately jumping into the story. But like Robin Hood, there are brief moments of text that show on the screen to establish location and settings.
- From a character angle, the opening wrestling match is perfect to introduce a majority of the main characters. And because it’s a wrestling match, it places hero Charles Brandon and revealed villain Duke of Buckingham equally against each other in the ring, with King Henry, Princess Mary and Sir Edwin watching over the proceedings as Mary takes notice of Brandon.
- The dialogue from this film is my absolute favorite aspect of this film. If I could just listen to the dialogue, not see or hear anything else, I would still have a perfect understanding of what happens in the movie. That is not me saying that there is too much dialogue. In fact, the dialogue is what keeps the film moving forward, balancing the dialogue to that of the slow-moving storyline.
- I quite enjoyed the last half-hour of the film, beginning with Mary’s marriage to King Louis of France. Unlike the earlier scenes of the film, the action picks up and while it doesn’t move any faster than the rest of the film, the stakes are higher now which adds much-needed tension. Mary has the promise of choosing her second husband after King Louis (who is old and frail) passes away. The Duke of Buckingham (who got King Henry to agree to Mary’s 2nd husband choice so she would marry him) tries to get rid of his enemy (Brandon) with an “attempted escape” from the Tower, as Brandon was unaware that he would be released after Mary married the King. Everyone, minus King Henry, meets up in France to rescue Mary first from the new French King, and then to rescue her from the Duke of Buckingham.
What may or may not work
- I have mixed feelings about Mary Tudor. Part of me loves that she is willful, demanding, with some of the best lines of dialogue in the movie. She knows her mind and will do what it takes to get what she wants. But she’s a tad too insistent at times, especially with Brandon. Their relationship throughout a good portion of the movie seems very one-sided. Her side, of course. She acts like a school girl trying to force her crush to like her and spend time with her. By the end of the film, their relationship is more equally balanced, but it still feels a little bit shaky.
- This movie is slow (up until the last half-hour), and I don’t just mean slow as in steady. I mean, that while there are things going on, they are as slow-paced as the English dance performed before the French and Spanish court dance, La Volta. My sister said ‘she’d pay attention better if there was something going on’ when she joined me and my mom to watch the movie. My mom agreed with her sentiments.
- Right in the middle of the film, there is this ship scene. Mary has run away to join Brandon on his voyage to the New World. I understand why it was there. It’s a pivotal scene that leads to him getting jailed in London Tower and with Mary agreeing to marry the King to save Brandon’s life. A solid reason for why it exists. But it just didn’t..it felt awkward and fake. Which, side note, it is, that did not happen in real life. The timing felt weird, with Mary repeating that no one had seen her leave, not even the Lady Margaret (her lady-in-waiting). It is the most unbelievable scene in the entire film. Especially since she had to get this whole page outfit so that no one would realize she was a girl. No one saw her leave, but yet she managed to get this new outfit without raising suspicion. And for that matter, Charles gives in a bit too easily to Mary’s plan. Yeah, he loves her, but don’t they realize that high treason is on the table, potentially? Apparently not.
Honorable Mentions
- That moment when King Henry is falling asleep during Mary’s May Day ball. I would fall asleep too to that music if I had to listen to it at a ball.
- Mary Tudor looks fabulous as a page, especially her hairdo for the outfit.
- Shout out to Lady Margaret, the Melanie to Mary Tudor’s Scarlett O’Hara. Maybe not an accurate representation, but it’s close enough.
Side Questions
- But really, where did Mary get the page outfit and leave without raising suspicion?
- Minor question: When the Duke of Buckingham hops on a horse to chase after Brandon and Mary, he waves to a group of soldiers to follow him. Why didn’t they notice that Brandon had stolen a horse or that Mary was escaping without the Duke?
What I learned from watching this film
- As nice as it would be for a smooth tale where the couple meets, falls in love and lives happily ever after, if that’s all the story is, it’s boring. There needs to be action, there needs to be a reason why the protagonists deserve their rewards. With this film, the stakes were only raised after Brandon was thrown into the Tower. Marriage to King Louis had always been on the table but had never been treated seriously by Mary, and therefore the audience. Only when her true love’s life was at stake, did Mary fulfill her duty to marry the King. Unlike Robin Hood, where a portion of the beginning set the scene, with plenty of action to follow, this film spends more time building up to the ending than actually working to deserve the ending.
If you’ve seen The Sword and the Rose, what are some of your thoughts? Share in the comments below!
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