SWASHBUCKLER MOVIES OF CORNEL WILDE

Cornel Wilde was born in 1912 and during his lengthy career he appeared in several swashbuckler films.

TREASURE OF THE GOLDEN CONDOR (1953) – Cornel Wilde stars as the swordsman Jean-Paul, a Frenchman whose evil uncle the Marquis de St. Malo (George Macready) robs of his royal title and his inherited lands. He flees France and sails for Guatemala.

Once there he falls in with fellow adventurers MacDougal (Finlay Currie) and his daughter Clara (Constance Smith), who are on a quest to find the lost Mayan Treasure of the Golden Condor somewhere in the jungle. After surviving jungle beasts, hostile Guatemalans and rival treasure hunters, our heroes obtain the fabulous treasure.

Using this fortune to finance his revenge quest, Jean-Paul returns to France with Clara . Once there, he engages in much derring-do and legal warfare masterminded by lawyer Raoul Dondel (Leo G. Caroll) to defeat his evil uncle and regain his title and estates. Nice blend of traditional swashbuckling with a quasi-Indiana Jones quest and a little Count of Monte Cristo at the end.

The guest cast included Anne Bancroft, Fay Wray and a young Robert Blake as a stable boy. 93 minutes.

THE BANDIT OF SHERWOOD FOREST (1946) – Cornel plays the son of Robin Hood – Robert of Nottingham. Evil Regent William of Pembroke (Henry Daniell), imprisons the Boy King he’s been ruling on behalf of, then nullifies the Magna Carta and rules England as a despot.

Old Robin Hood (Russell Hicks) is still around but trusts his son Robert to lead the Merry Men against the forces of oppression this time around.

Young Robert shines in action scene after action scene, whether wielding sword or bow and arrows. He and his Merry Men get covert aid from two palace ladies – Anita Louise as Lady Catherine and Jill Esmond as the Queen Mother.

Viewers also get Edgar Buchanan as Friar Tuck, John Abbott as Will Scarlett, Ray Teal as Little John and Leslie Denison as Allan-a-Dale. Naturally the good guys win, the Boy King is freed and the Magna Carta goes back into effect. 86 minutes.

CALIFORNIA CONQUEST (1952) – For this film, Cornel Wilde played Don Arturo Bordega in a fun, escapist historical romance. The year is 1845. There are rumors of war breaking out between the United States and Mexico (that war did indeed break out in 1846).

Don Arturo is tired of California being ruled by the corrupt tyrants of Mexico and tries to work out a secret deal with John C. Fremont and President James K. Polk to have the U.S. annex California. Meanwhile, bandit leader Jose Martinez (Alfonso Bedoya) tries to kill Fremont at the behest of traitorous Don Fredo (John Dehner) and his fellow conspirators.

They plan to betray California to the Russian Empire, then rule it for the Czar. Our hero and feisty American heroine Julie Lawrence (Teresa Wright) work to stop the conspiracy. To that end they thwart the villainous attempt to provide an invading Russian army with weapons.

For the exciting finale we get Don Arturo and Julie in action at the old Russian site Fort Ross, where the good guys prevail and the bad guys fail. As history this is all bunk, but it’s fun as fantasy. 79 minutes.     

AT SWORD’S POINT (1952) – Cornel IS D’Artagnan in this movie which was completed in 1949 but not released until 1952. It was originally going to be titled The Sons of the Three Musketeers to follow up on how Wilde played the son of Robin Hood in 1946.

The Queen of France (Gladys Cooper) is imperiled by the plotting of Duc de Lavalle (Robert Douglas), who is attempting to overthrow her and rule France with his intended bride Princess Henriette. D’Artagnan tries to rally his old musketeer allies Athos, Porthos and Aramis to the queen’s cause, but they are too far past their prime.

Instead, D’Artagnan joins forces with Claire, the daughter of Athos (Maureen O’Hara), Porthos Junior (Alan Hale) and Aramis Junior (Dan O’Herlihy). Maureen O’Hara kicks butt as usual. She and D’Artagnan fall in love by movie’s end.

Swords clash, pistols and muskets are fired and cannons roar in this high-spirited heroes vs villains tale. 81 minutes.

STAR OF INDIA (1954) – Pierre St. Laurent (Wilde) returns from the battlefield to early 1700s France. He learns his land has been confiscated by Narbonne (Herbert Lom) and sold to the Dutch widow Katrina (Jean Wallace, Cornel’s wife at the time). 

Katrina promises to return Pierre’s land to him if he returns to her the diamond called the Star of India, which Narbonne stole from her. St. Laurent goes into action against Narbonne and his men and ultimately retrieves the diamond from the villain’s sword hilt after defeating him in combat.

After a thrilling chase, Pierre turns over the Star of India to Katrina and when Narbonne and his men catch up with them our hero defeats them and kills the villain this time. Also starring Yvonne Sanson. 92 minutes.

SWORD OF LANCELOT (1963) – Cornel Wilde directed, co-wrote and starred as Sir Lancelot in this reworking of Camelot intrigues.

King Athur (Brian Aherne) wants to marry Guinevere (Jean Wallace) but must send to her land a champion who can defeat her father King Leodogran’s champion before he’ll consent to the marriage. Lancelot prevails in the battle and escorts Guinevere to Camelot and they fall in love along the way.

He also saves her from an assassination attempt by Modred during their journey. Lancelot and Guinevere set aside their own feelings in order for her wedding to King Arthur to take place with no complications. Modred reveals to Arthur that the lovers are having an affair and the king exiles Lancelot.

Years later, Modred murders Arthur and becomes the new king, prompting Lancelot to return from exile to lead an army that defeats Modred’s forces. Our hero then arrives just in time to stop Guinevere from taking vows as a nun and the two go off together. 116 minutes.   

OMAR KHAYYAM (1957) – For Hollywood, it wasn’t enough that the real Omar Khayyam was a poet, mathematician and scholar. They also had to make him a swashbuckling action hero for this movie starring Cornel Wilde in the title role.

Our hero manages to get a job for himself as an astrologer at the court of the Shah just to be near the woman he loves, played by Debra Paget. Eventually, Omar sniffs out a plot by the Sect of Assassins to kill the Shah at the behest of their leader (Michael Rennie).

Khayyam takes on the villains while quoting himself here and there. He also uses some of his own lines to woo Debra Paget and defeats the bad guys in the end.

Sebastian Cabot, Raymond Massey and Wilde’s fellow swashbuckler John Derek also appear. 101 minutes. 

THE FIFTH MUSKETEER (1979) – Cornel returned to the role of D’Artagnan in his mature years. This film is yet another version of Alexandre Dumas’s The Man in the Iron Mask story.

Beau Bridges plays the twins Philippe and Louis XIV. The usual intrigues are in play as the fight for succession to the throne of France is up for grabs.

D’Artagnan recruits his old musketeer allies Athos (Jose Ferrer), Porthos (Alan Hale) and Aramis (Lloyd Bridges) to fight at his side and ensure that justice is served.

This production was known for its all-star cast including Ursula Andress, Ian McShane, Rex Harrison, Sylvia Kristel and Olivia de Havilland in her final screen appearance as Anne of Austria. 116 min.