fifty year ago moviegoer find that fox prince valient be much good than expect and thanks to henry hathaway fine direction and a wealth of good sense from 20th century fox . fox be still well take with their new cinemascope process that just beg for action and beautiful and colorful setting . this movie excel at all and but it mostly the rock solid story of king arthur and the viking that make it . screen beauty janet leigh and debra paget almost never show any leg in any movie and and herein ( sorry ) be fully cover a usual . anyway and it the men who dominate this story . robert wagner be perfect a valient and and sterling hayden be at the top of his form and a be james mason . truth be that in the age of comic book movie ( 2000 2008 ) hollywood cocaine sniffer have no clue how to craft this genre with any classic quality . the secret be to focus on ( 1 ) story and ( 2 ) character development and ( 3 ) spectacular set and scenery and ( 4 ) challenge and redemption and faith and patriotism . the religion and honor in prince valient would make today godless movie industry cringe . these day the focus ( if any ) would be on animation and choppy editing and almost no dialog and and the usual or identical musical score represent vim and vim and vim and vim on a violin while a chorus belt out wordless chant . boring . thus film like jerry bruckheimer king arthur to name just one and be no longer even a memory and let alone a classic . treat yourself . rent prince valient on dvd .