When Knights Were Bold

by Douglas Furber and Austin Parker, directed by Jack Raymond

Release: 19 February 1936
Format: Feature Film
Genres: Romance, Comedy, Music and Musicals
Audience: Adults
Content: Definite Time Travel
Original Language: English

In this first talkie adaptation of the 1906 play, Sir Guy sings a song about his love Lady Rowena and immediately falls asleep, only to appear in the Age of Chivalry, where he tap dances (still attired in his 20th century tuxedo) and is now beguiled by Rowena of days gone by.

— Michael Main

♫ Then let me dream and never awake until I make you mine ♫. . . Ah, Rowena [falls asleep]

DEBUT

When Knights Were Bold (at movie theaters, London, 19 February 1936).

VARIANTS

1 English variant

PRIOR WORKS: based on When Knights Were Bold by Harriett Jay and Robert Buchanan (1906)

TAGS(SPOILERS!)

Time Periods

Middle Ages (AD 476 to 1454)
Circa AD 1930 to 1939: presumed time period

Themes

Just a Dream, Hallucination, et al.: a strong possibility given the source material of When Knights Were Bold
People from Different Times Look Exactly Alike: Past and present Rowena and de Vere are both played by Fay Wray and Jack Buchanan.

Real-World Tags

Knights

TIME TRAVEL ITINERARY (SPOILERS!)

From early twentieth century ⋙ to the Middle Ages. Round trip. Note: probably a dream.

INDEXER NOTES (SPOILERS!)

Credits—The <a href='https%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Ftitle%2Ftt0028495%2Ffullcredits'>IMDb</a> credits Douglas Furber and Austin Parker with “dialogue and scenario,” which we presume is how they were credited in the film. For our purposes, we interpret that to mean that they wrote the screenplay (or “shooting script” as it was called), adapting it from Harriett Jay’s <a href='works-'>1906 play</a>.