recommended

A Brilliant Conflict

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Youngsters out there will likely not remember tall, blond Willard Parker, who with a flashing smile aspired after the cape and sword of Errol Flynn (who didn't?) in those halcyon movie days after WWII. He kind of looked like Peter Graves, Matt Dillon's (James Arness of Gunsmoke fame) brother. But, he never caught on. Mainly, I suppose because he didn't have the dash to go with his flashing smile, or because he often got stuck with not-too-good scripts, like this one. Listen, as a kid, I lived on costume adventures. Those years were the heyday of those tales. I waited for movies with John Hall, George Montgomery, Cornell Wilde but, this was a dog. I barely sat through the convoluted story line and tiresome dialogue. Now, if you can see this film, it actually is better than I remembered it as a kid. Why? The story is a bit involved, the dialogues sometimes a bit tedious and the action doesn't always burst off the screen. Today viewers may not have the patience to wade through the undercurrents of the complex plot. But, if you're a die-hard costume drama addict like me, you do it. The film doesn't hang together like some of the later Burt Lancaster action films but it is worth seeing.