Knights

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When Knights Were Bold


The plot of . . . “When Knights Were Bold,” is more or less original as modern comedies go. It circles round the love affair of a man and a maid. In the first act, a very twentieth century one, the hero, despite the pronounced encouragement of the heroine, fails to screw up his courage to the proposing point. When alone he can declare his love manfully enough, but in the maid’s presence he becomes as shy as an early Victorian school miss. As the curtain falls, he writes himself down as an ass, takes a big drink, smokes a cigarette, and—dreams.

Act II represents the dream. It is the medieval age—the age of chivalry, of bold, bad barons and gallant knights. An ancestor of the hero is one of these latter. His love story is depicted vividly. There is nothing lackadaisical about the lovemaking. The bold knight finally seizes the maiden in his arms and carries her off bodily to the altar in the face of strenuous opposition.

In act III the twentieth century again appears. There hero wakes up and follows, so far as modernity will let him, the example of his ancestory shown him in the second act.

— San Francisco Call, 14 December 1906
Sadly, we haven’t tracked down the script (possibly because it was never published), but we know from several reviews that the modern day Sir Guy loathes the very mention of days of old.
A puzzled James Welch (as Sir Guy, dressed in a full suit of armor) stands in
                front of a praying Audrey Ford (as Revena Eggington, in a white nun’s habit).
  • Romance
  • Comedy
  • Debatable Time Travel
Feature Film

Il cavaliere del silenzio

  • The silent knight
  • by unknown writers, directed by Oreste Visalli
  • (at movie theaters, Italy, June 1916)

We have sparse information about this silent film apart from a note in Alan Goble’s The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film, which lists the 1907 [sic] play When Knights Were Bold as the source of the 1180-meter film, directed by Oreste Visalli, released by Aquila Film, and featuring Jeanne Nolly, Giulio Del Torre, and Claudia Zambuto. —Michael Main
Advertisement for the 1916 Model Motiograph projector.
  • Romance
  • Comedy
  • Debatable Time Travel
Feature Film

When Knights Were Bold

  • [writer unknown], directed by Tim Whelan
  • (at movie theaters, UK, February 1929)

This is a very free adaptation of the merry farce in which James Welch made so great a success, and with the greater scope of the screen, with some characters omitted and new ones introduced, there remains little beyond the main idea to make any comparison with the original more than a matter of antiquarian history. As, however, the majority of modern picture audiences will never have seen the original play, the film will be judged on its own merits, and there is little doubt that its fantasy and quaint humour will recommend it to popular favour.

— The Bioscope, 6 February 1929
Long-haired Mirian Seegar (as Lady Rowena) leans out a castle window.
  • Romance
  • Comedy
  • Debatable Time Travel
Short Story

Professor Dingle 2

History Hysterical


Professor Dingle’s second escapade! Yes, he’s still in the asylum where he creates a powder that unleashes memories of previous lives. And when the professor and a friend take the powder, they find themselves as deadly enemies back in the medieval court of Baron De Brassat. —Michael Main
By intense radio-active action on the ductless glands, the drug I have just mixed should prove a powerful stimulant to our dormant sub-conscious impressions, and whirl us back through time when we swallow it—
Two old men in dark suits wrestle violently in front of a fireplace and a black
                cat.
  • Comedy
  • Definite Time Travel
Feature Film

When Knights Were Bold


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]
A hand turns a book page to the Title card from When Knights Were Bold.
  • Romance
  • Comedy
  • Music and Musicals
  • Debatable Time Travel
Comic Book

Unusual Tales #12

Time of the Dragon


RAF pilot Clive St. George is a snooty chap because of his fine ancestry until one day he has motor trouble while flying through a storm. —Michael Main
Motor trouble! Must go down! According to my reckoning I must be close to my ancestral home in West Croyden . . .
The life of snooty Clive St. George is shown in a series of three large panels
  • Fantasy
  • Audience: YA and Up
  • Definite Time Travel
Comic Book

Unusual Tales #13

After Tomorrow!


While preparing for war against Bulavia, King Gustave of Translovia sees two visions of the future by way of a magnificent timepiece. —Michael Main
I have had a vision of my victory tomorrow!
Three large panels depict King Gustave of Translovia awaiting the arrival of a
                magnificent timepiece.
  • Fantasy
  • War
  • Audience: YA and Up
  • Time Phenomena
Comic Book

Journey into Mystery #81

There Dwells a Dragon


Young Tommy’s father steps into a fog at the zoo and emerges in Camelot where there’s a dragon to be slain. —Michael Main
Can it really be that I’ve gone back into . . . the past??!
No image currently available.
  • Fantasy
  • Audience: YA and Up
  • Debatable Time Travel
Feature Film

Merlin and the Sword

  • by David Wyles, directed by Clive Donner
  • (at limited theaters, Davao, Phillipines, 5 January 1985) [We’re uncertain whether this debut in the Philippines had the title “Merlin and the Sword” or whether that title was not introduced until the later VHS tape. We also don’t know whether the Philipines release was the full CBS broadcast from later in 1985 or was the shortened version for the VHS (or possibly some other cut).]

When Katherine Davidson falls into an underground ice cave beneath Stonehenge, she finds that Merlin and his lover Niniane have been trapped there for a millennium, whereupon Merlin and Niniane proceed to show Katherine the story of how Morgan le Fay trapped them. —Michael Main
Love cancels all curses, love breaks all spells. Love is a magic greater than any wizard or witch, warlock or shaman.
Edward Woodward (as Merlin) raises both arms amid a montage of Malcolm McDowell
                (as Arthur), Candice Bergen (as Morgan Le Fay), and othe Camelot residents.
  • Fantasy
  • Definite Time Travel
Early Chapter Book

The Magic Tree House 2

The Knight at Dawn


Cautious Jack and his gung-ho sister Annie have their second adventure through time when a book in the magic tree house sends them to the age of knights and chivalry. For the most part, they’re passive observers, but when they return back to Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, Jack discovers another clue about the magic person who may have built the treehouse. —Michael Main
“My magic wand!” Annie said, waving the flashlight. “Get down. Or I’ll wipe you out!”
Young Jack and his younger sister Annie sit in front of a knight on his horse
                with a castle in the background.
  • Fantasy
  • Audience: Children
  • Definite Time Travel
Feature Film

The Knight before Christmas


In AD 1334, a crone prophesizes Sir Cole’s future and sends the Englishman on an ambiguous quest to 2019 Ohio, where he does knightly non-Ohioan things and discovers the love of his life on Christmas Eve. —Michael Main
You shall travel to faraway lands, see things undreamed of: flying steel dragons and horses, magic boxes that make merry.
Vanessa Hudgens (as Brooke) in a lacy red dress and Josh Whitehouse (as Sir
                Cole) in his armor stand back-to-back in front of a modern Ohio Christmas day and a
                medieval Norwich castle.
  • Fantasy
  • Romance
  • Comedy
  • Audience: Families
  • Definite Time Travel
Comic Book

The Magic Tree House: Graphic Novel 2

The Knight at Dawn: The Graphic Novel


Retells, in graphic form, the tale of eight-year-old Jack and his younger sister, Annie, who are whisked back in the magic tree house to the time of knights and castles. —from publicity material
Annie: [turning on her flashlight] That’s right! We have a magic wand and we’re not afraid to use it!
A happy young girl and a hesitant young boy with glasses and a backpack sit in
                front of a knight in armor on a bucking horse.
  • Fantasy
  • Audience: Children
  • Definite Time Travel