The War Lord is a 1965 American drama historical film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Charlton Heston. The film, which concerns medieval warfare and culture in 11th-century Normandy, is an adaptation of the play The Lovers by Leslie Stevens. The film also features Richard Boone, Rosemary Forsyth, Guy Stockwell, Maurice Evans, Niall MacGinnis, Henry Wilcoxon and James Farentino, with Jon Alderson, Allen Jaffe, Sammy Ross, and Woodrow Parfrey.[2][3][4][5]

The War Lord
Film poster by Howard Terpning
Directed by	Franklin J. Schaffner
Screenplay by	John Collier Millard Kaufman
Based on	The Lovers (play) by Leslie Stevens
Produced by	Walter Seltzer
Starring	Charlton Heston Richard Boone Rosemary Forsyth Maurice Evans Guy Stockwell
Cinematography	Russell Metty
Edited by	Folmar Blangsted
Music by	Jerome Moross Hans J. Salter
Color process	Technicolor
Production company	Court Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	November 17, 1965 (1965-11-17) [1]
Running time	123 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$ 3,500,000

Plot

Chrysagon de la Cruex (Heston) is a Norman knight charged with defending a Flemish village. At the heart of the story is a doomed romance, which defies the social norms and sparks a growing confrontation with Chrysagon's brother, Draco (Stockwell).

Chrysagon encounters Bronwyn (Forsyth), his future love, as she is harassed by his own men. Gradually he finds himself falling for the girl he has rescued. Bronwyn's father, the village chief, Odins, later asks Chrysagon's permission for Bronwyn to marry Marc, to whom Bronwyn has been betrothed since childhood. Chrysagon approves, but soon regrets the decision. He wants Bronwyn for himself.

He later learns of "Droit du seigneur", a right which permits the Lord of the Domain to sleep with any virgin woman on her wedding night. But custom demands Bronwyn be given up by dawn. The following day, Bronwyn is not returned and Marc demands justice. What the village does not realize is that she has chosen to stay of her own free will. All of this takes place against the background of war against Frisian raiders who plague the Flemish coast.

Soundtrack

The film's score was composed by Jerome Moross. The main musical theme was released as a guitar instrumental by The Shadows. A soundtrack album was released by Decca Records in 1965.[6]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 67% based on reviews from 9 critics.[3]

Critics largely lauded its "gritty" realistic portrayal of the times, both in physical aspects, such as armor and weapons, structures and scenes, but also in its portrayal of social circumstances and behaviors of Medieval lords and serfs.[3][5]

Medieval historian Andrew E. Larsen praises the movie's realistic portrayal of the physical objects and social relationships of the time. But he asserts the film's presentation of paganism among the serfs is an extreme exaggeration, and that the key "custom" of "droit du seigneur" was mythical. He criticizes the film's romanticizing of "what is, essentially, rape," adding that—while such rapes have happened, at the time—they lacked any legal standing.[4]

Cast

• Charlton Heston as Chrysagon
• Rosemary Forsyth as Bronwyn
• Richard Boone as Bors
• Guy Stockwell as Draco
• Maurice Evans as Priest
• James Farentino as Marc
• Henry Wilcoxon as Frisian Prince
• Niall MacGinnis as Odins

See also

• List of American films of 1965
• Middle Ages in film

References

External links

• The War Lord at IMDb
• The War Lord at the American Film Institute Catalog
• The War Lord at the TCM Movie Database
• The War Lord at Letterboxd