Quentin Derward

Has any writer ever been more unjustly maligned than Sir Walter Scott? Maybe Kipling comes a close second but he and Scott beat other candidates by a considerable margin. I suppose he's an easy target because without close inspection, the kind inspection that entails actually reading his stuff, you could easily make a few assumptions about his work. Assumptions of a kind that would dismiss his work as effete and shallow, you know, lacking the depth that we're all supposed to crave as thinkers. I have considerable reservations about the value such assumptions imply, projecting worth onto work simply because it's incomprehensible, it seems to me to be esoteric.  Scott was also writing during a period when our culture was going through considerable change and even when he was writing, his work seems to me to be odds with 19th century neoclassicism. Scott's a romantic, he represents the kind of cultural background that could reconcile the dying wish of the fatally wounded Admiral Nelson for a kiss from a male subordinate without the necessity to imply any sexual context. We lose that ability pretty quickly after Scott, the imperatives that grew in the Victorian era see the division between the sexes harshly delineated and the growth of sexual repression.

Scott's genre of historical romantic adventure has been restricted to literature aimed at women, somehow it became unacceptable for the majority of men, subject to the burdens imposed throughout the Victorian era to allow romanticism into their lives, even for those privileged enough to avoid an eighteen hour day in the mill, an example of gender solidarity. So men are denied colour and variety of dress, the wigs and the make up are packed away. The women are covered from head to toe, to save their men from distraction, their ornate and occasionally colourful garments the last remaining window into the romantic world. For the most part, the Victorian legacy continues today, albeit manifested slightly differently, because we're living in a world where the same imperatives still apply, in fact they're probably even more urgent then they were in the Victorian era. There is the occasional rebellion of course, usually borne through youthful exuberance, the Preraphaelites and their associates, the brief period of post war hedonism in the 1920's for those wealthy enough to participate. Similar oases occur infrequently, perhaps the lukewarm reception that greeted the Star Wars prequels can be partially attributed to them being out of step with mood, their predecessor being granted the grace of youthful recollection. Another such example and probably one that had a strong, albeit vicarious, influence upon George Lucas's work is Quentin Derward, a 1955 adapt ion of Scott's work of the same name.

Robert Taylor, a veteran romantic lead, takes the eponymous role of our hero. The female lead, Isabelle, Countess of Marcroy played Kay Kendel, an actress used to lighter comedy roles, her career was showing promise but was cut short by illness, in circumstances that were tragic enough for the plot of one of Scott's novels. They're both brilliantly cast and represent fine examples of the pulchritude of their respective sexes. Kendell is not as nearly waif like as you'd expect, she's doesn't have the impish quality of Vivien Leigh, she's more robust, reflecting the strength of a mature woman. Taylor executes his role perfectly, his character, burdened by his code of honour yet vulnerable to his passions. Robert Morley as king Louis XI deserves attention but the other roles are bit too brief to do justice to the depth that Scott imbues his characters with, William De la Marck being reduced to a caricature but played with excellent menace by Duncan Lamont. The narrative is interspersed with quite elaborate action set pieces, probably the best being, the fight in the bell tower, which mingles tension with spectacle very effectively. There's also one particularly nice scene that is pivotal to relationship between the two leads. A beautifully photographed tableax, the countess runs into a field, fleeing those she thinks have betrayed her, no heavy strings to accompany the drama, just the wind blowing through the corn, it's a scene that really pulled my chain.

So If you're in the mood for some old fashioned action adventure, heavy on the romance, that will get the misses reaching for the tissues and the kids jumping around with play sword fights you might wanna check it out, it's a cut above the usual fair, you might be surprised.