Sword of Lancelot
1963
Emblem Productions
1 hour 55 minutes
Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace & Brian Aherne

The King of Britain marries a rival's daughter named Guinevere in order to force
a peace between rulers of different territories. To win Princess Guinevere for
the King of Britain, a knight, Sir Lancelot from what we call France today, defeats a 
rival knight, but in so doing, Princess Guinevere falls in love with him instead of
her intended mate, the King of Britain.

Although uniting territories under one ruler and doing it through marriages and
knight contests was tremendously progressive in preventing more widespread and intense
wars, the film  naturally focusses much attention on Princess Guinevere's sacrificed love life.
She never had a right to choose the King of Britain as her mate.

While no doubt some will criticize the oppression of wimmin seen in the example
of this movie, we find it likely that any redeeming aspects of this movie are far outweighed
by its glorification of feudalism. Moreover, while it was progressive to
champion romantic love under feudalism, it is quite decadent to continue championing
it in imperialist countries through film series like the Lancelot series. Acclaimed at its
release for its war scenes, "Sword of Lancelot" raises for us the connection of war to
class structure and nation-building, but fails in leading people forward on those subjects.