Trevor
St John (Captain Reynolds), Ashley Jones (Princess Gwendolyn),
Lesley-Anne Down (Queen Beatrice), Ron Perlman (Lord Morton),
Eric Roberts (Augustus Talbert)
Plot
Summary
Queen Beatrice
(Lesley-Anne Down) asks young and debonair Captain Reynolds (Trevor
St John) of the King’s Guard to escort her daughter, the haughty but
beautiful Princess Gwendolyn (Ashley Jones) to the kingdom
of her husband-to-be, a young Sarsanian prince.
Unfortunately, the
evil and brutal Lord Morton (Ron Perlman) discovers that they
are also escorting the princess’ dowry, and he determines to steal
it for himself. Among his gang of cut-throats and vagabonds is the
renegade King’s Guardsman Augustus Talbert (Eric Roberts),
expert tactician and superlative swordsman.
Reynolds and
his small party of soldiers - with an unhappy princess in tow - take
refuge in a ruined farmhouse, and Morton and his gang begin
the tiresome job of prying them out of their ravaged haven. The young
Captain Reynolds and his men now have to use all of their guile
and intelligence to outwit their assailants, and the hopelessly outnumbered
guardsmen do their utmost to defend the princess and her dowry.
But neither Lord
Morton nor the gallant Reynolds have reckoned with the
devious Augustus Talbert, a man familiar with the Guardsman’s
tactics, the treacherous swordsman being determined to gain the princess
for himself …
Lord
Morton (Ron Perlman)
An aristocratic thief,
Lord Morton is the leader of a motley but murderous crew of
piratical outlaws, and he is not averse to ruling them by terror –
when he sends a messenger to parley with the besieged Reynolds,
the poor man returns after being outwitted by Reynolds’ wily
sergeant. Morton’s reply is the time-honoured one – he shoots
the messenger.
Determined to gain the
dowry, he sends his men against Reynolds and his little band
of followers repeatedly, but unfortunately he is a poor tactician
and is continuously outwitted, despite constant suggestions from Talbot
as to how his campaign should be executed. Greedy he may be, but
a soldier he is not – and Talbot begins to whittle away at
his leadership until Morton takes umbrage, and a sword-fight
ensues …
Morton has the
hint of a dandy about him, enjoying the finer things in life, and
his appearance confirms this. Dressed in vaguely 17th century style,
his elegant damasked jacket in a pale creamy buff is set off by slit
sleeves, buttoned but left gaping to show the inner lining. Heavy
brown trousers – also with buttoned seams – are set off by sturdy
black boots. The whole ensemble is finished with a pair of kidskin
gloves and a lacy, high-collared shirt.
No bandit would be seen
without adequate weaponry, and Lord Morton is no exception.
On his right side he
carries what appears to be a matchlock pistol, plain and workmanlike,
although a little unusual for the 17th century, as they were being
usurped by the wheel-lock and snaphaunce mechanisms.
His rapier, however,
is of high quality. Typical of a renaissance blade, the hilt has a
complex basket of an asymmetrical swept style, with a shell supported
by a horizontal ring guard. Being an aristocrat he would no doubt
insist the blade be of the best available, probably from Toledo by
preference, or perhaps Salingen.
Unusually, he doesn’t
use a dagger in conjunction with his sword, so typical of the late
16th century and into the early 17th, but perhaps that is because
he is left-handed, daggers of that period being called main gauche,
or left-handed daggers. To fight with his dagger in his right hand
could be awkward at best, and potentially fatal if he was fighting
a right-handed opponent.
Further
Reading
Eduard
Wagner, Swords and Daggers (London: Hamlyn, 1975)
Howard
Ricketts, Firearms: Pleasures and Treasures (London: Weidenfeld
and Nicolson, 1962)
On-Line resources
Period
firearms
History
of the rapier
Trivia
Watch
out for the out-takes at the end of the video or DVD – well worth
a look …