[tinkling music]
[majestic music]
[majestic music continues]
[majestic music continues]
- Sir Lancelot of the Lake.
- Ah, Sir Lancelot.
Sir Lancelot, you had a request to make
before you leave for Cailium.
- Yes, sire, but first I would like
to apologize for being late.
I'm afraid I had some
slight misunderstanding
with Sir Glavin.
- Sir Glavin.
- [Sir Glavin] Sire.
- what was this misunderstanding
you had with Sir Lancelot?
- I merely borrowed his horse, Sire.
My own went lame and I was
anxious to reach Camelot
whilst you were still in session.
- That is hardly justification
to take another man's
horse without asking.
- I'm sorry.
- Sir Lancelot, proceed.
- Sire, during my recent travels,
I came into an inheritance.
I inherited a young
man, his name is Brian.
And as you know, he has
already proved himself
to be brave and quick witted.
I would like your permission
to present him formally to this court.
- Granted.
- My request is that his
future be provided for
here at Camelot.
- I think that can be arranged.
Perhaps we can train him
as a groom or falconer.
- With your permission, Sire,
I would like him trained as a knight.
- Where do you come from, boy?
- I was raised at the
Castle of Ergen the Strong.
- Will you tell us what position
you held at Ergen's Castle?
- I was the kitchen boy.
- He was the kitchen boy.
- Brian, you know knights are
always men of gentle birth.
- Only a man of good
breeding can handle weapons
and meet the responsibilities
of knighthood.
- Knights should be judged
by standards of true valor
and ability, not by the
mere accident of high birth.
- If that were true, Camelot would be open
to any churlish nave that
owned a suit of armor.
- That's all you possessed
when you came here, Sir Glavin.
- I proved my merit!
- That's exactly my point.
Allow this boy to prove his.
- But we must observe precedent.
This boy is from a kitchen.
- Well, that should
suit your eager palate.
- Well, food is important, I admit,
but has this boy a family background?
- Has he, Merlin?
- Oh yes indeed, I have
prepared this document,
a family tree for Brian that will satisfy
both Sir Kay and Glavin.
You will remember, my lord,
in your grandfather's time,
King Brian of the Iron
Fist was undisputed master
of the Cotsworld Hills.
This chart shows how that
name could have passed
through three generations that that boy
who stands before you.
- Have all the names and dates
and family lines been properly verified?
- That would be impossible, Sire.
They keep no written records
in that part of the country.
But it would be equally
impossible to prove
that the boy Brian has no
royal blood in his veins.
- Sire, this document
is but blank parchment.
- It is written in invisible ink.
[King Arthur snorts]
- Well, I think perhaps
we'd better accept Sir Lancelot's test.
What is it?
- Put Brian into training with the others.
If he shows that he can
handle a w*apon like a knight
and meet the other
qualifications to chivalry,
then we must accept
Master Merlin's document
showing him to be of noble birth.
- Does that sound
reasonable to you, my dear?
- Completely.
I think Sir Lancelot has
solved a difficult problem.
- Hmm, but not without some help
from our wise counselor
and master magician.
And so be it.
It is our pleasure that Brian be placed
under Hugh the Constable to
be trained for knighthood.
Sir Glavin, you will escort
him to the exercise yard
and report our instructions
to the constable.
- Always remember, Brian,
the best place for a sword is
in its scabbard, but if
you are forced to draw it,
never sheath it until
justice has been done.
Good luck to you.
I'll be back in a few days to
see how you're coming along.
- Thank you, sir.
- Kitchen trash.
- Halts down!
Hard!
Thrust!
At rest!
Dismount!
- I've been instructed to bring this boy
to you for training.
Do what you can with him.
- Very good, sir.
- They're letting him join the class.
Lancelot's scullery boy.
- Him?
It's an insult, I'll resign!
- No, there's no need to.
Just see to it that he's thrown out, huh?
[dramatic music]
- En garde!
Forward!
Lift!
Second!
Cut!
En garde!
- None of them set the
liver on fire for me.
- I don't know, the new one's nice.
The one with the blonde hair.
- Oh, he's too short.
- Why do you waste your time
watching those children?
It's time you were thinking
about real men, knights.
You'll be marrying one soon enough.
- Maybe she will, but he won't
be a landless younger son.
- Cut!
Thrust!
Thrust!
Cut!
Six!
Cut!
En garde!
Ferry!
Most of you still look like a beggar
shaking a stick at a dog.
A good swordsman would tear you to shreds!
Edward, hand our children helmets.
We'll see who belongs
here and who doesn't.
- Yes, Master Hugh.
Go!
Line up in two ranks facing inwards.
Come on, come on, don't
take all day about it.
Pair off for fun as a team.
En garde!
Lay to!
[dramatic music]
- Here, hit this one,
he doesn't fight back!
[dramatic music]
- His helmet's on wrong, he can't see!
Here, let me help you.
- Thanks.
- Look at him, little
kitchen boy turned tail
and ran at the first blow.
Have him join the girls.
- Scullery!
Come here, you!
You ran from the field of honor.
- Yes, sir.
- Do you have anything
to say for yourself?
Any explanation to offer?
- No, sir, no explanation.
- This is your first
full day's training here,
and for that reason, I'm not going
to report you as unfit, yet,
but there are no second chances.
Class dismissed!
- Man's first duty is to
fear and serve his God,
then to fight for his
sovereign and obey all those
who have the right to command him
and then to defend the honor
of all ladies, maidens,
and widows without exception.
- That's enough fancy talk for tonight.
The boys need their rest.
- Instruction in chivalry
is just as important to them
as your instructions in how to fight.
- That may well be, but if you'd
ever been in mortal combat,
you wouldn't think so.
- That will be all for tonight.
- Lights out.
- Now that we're alone,
I want you to explain to the
boys what happened today.
- There's nothing to explain.
You just lost your nerve, that's all.
- You tell us your story, Brian.
- Osbert jammed on my
helmet so I couldn't see
and then he hit me as hard
and as fast as he could.
But I want this understood,
it wasn't akin to my losing
my nerve in a fair fight.
- Is this true about the helmet?
- Of course it isn't.
The little kitchen nave
has a yellow streak.
He just made it up to
excuse his cowardice.
- Get up and fight!
- No fighting in the dormitory.
Means a weak cleaning out
stables for all of us.
- You heard what he said!
- It'll have to wait.
If you want a fist fight,
it can be arranged on the practice field,
and the constable will be
glad to act as referee.
- I'll prove whether I ran
from a fair fight or not.
I'll rattle your skull into-
- If you're really so anxious to prove
you're not a coward, why wait?
All you have to do is to
undertake the quest, now.
- What quest?
- The quest of the matron's
nightcap, of course.
- What does that mean?
- It means sneaking up to the dormitory
where the girls sleep.
There you will find matron Nell
asleep and probably snoring.
You have to creep up to her bed,
pull off her nightcap without waking her,
and bring it back here
without being caught.
- Mmm, oh.
- And you won't have Sir
Lancelot to help you.
- All right, I'll do it
to convince the others,
but this doesn't let you
off our fight tomorrow.
- It's only fair to warn you.
The last boy that tried it was
caught and flogged 20 lashes.
- Thanks, I'll remember that.
[door closes]
[indistinct voices]
- [Voiceover] Down this wing
then back to the guard room.
- [Voiceover 2] All right.
Hurry up then.
[gentle snoring]
- Now what are you up to?
- Well, it's rather a long story.
It all started this
afternoon at sword practice.
- I saw what happened to you.
That boy played you a filthy trick.
- I thought so, too.
Well, later there was an argument and-
- And they dared you to sneak up
to the girl's dormitory, didn't they?
And you took the dare on
to prove you're no coward.
What were you supposed to do?
- Steal.
- Steal what?
- Well, not exactly steal,
sort of pinch the matron's nightcap.
[maiden laughs quietly]
[door closes]
That was the captain of the guard.
It's dangerous for you out here.
- I can say I just came out for some air,
but you'll get into trouble.
- I know.
- I'm Mary, what's your name?
- Brian.
- I want to be your friend, Brian.
I'd be glad to go in and
pinch the matron's nightcap
for you, even though she doesn't wear one.
- That's strange, the boys downstairs-
- Poor Brian, you mustn't
believe all you hear.
In fact, she does wear one sometimes
in dead of winter, but not now.
Wait here a moment.
Here, take this.
It's mine, but nobody except
us will know the difference.
- Your nightcap?
- Mother insisted I bring
it with me to Camelot.
She said all castles are drafty.
- You don't wear it?
- I look awful in it.
- I'll wager you look lovely.
Put it on.
- Do you want to risk
how I look in a nightcap?
- I'm sure it would be worth it.
- No, you go quickly, and good luck.
- By St. George, he's got it!
- Didn't you run into any guard?
- Hid from them.
- How did the girls look?
- Um, nothing special, like girls asleep.
- What about matron?
[Brian snores and boys laugh]
- Take it.
- We better try in here, Sir Kay.
Everybody up!
Line up in two ranks facing this way.
Has anyone left this
dormitory since lights out?
Well, answer me.
- I'm afraid I can't answer that, sir.
- Normally I wouldn't
ask anyone to tell tales
on one of his comrades, but
this was no pantry raid.
What's happened tonight is very serious.
- A ring has been stolen from
Queen Guinevere's apartment.
You may have seen it on her finger.
The stone is called the Star of Scania,
and it's worth a fortune.
- Now will you answer?
- I'd be the first to protect a comrade
if it were just a lark,
but as it's so serious,
I feel duty bound to reveal
that the kitchen boy was
out just now for some time.
- It was just a lark, sir, we dared him.
- Where did you go?
- The girls' sleeping quarters.
- What for?
- He went to get this, sir.
The matron's nightcap.
- Is this the matron's nightcap?
- No, sir, it it isn't.
- Where did you get it?
- I can't say, sir.
- Did you see anyone up there?
Someone who could swear
that's where you were?
- No, sir.
- Search the boy's effects.
- There's the ring.
- Yes, but the star has gone.
- I suppose one could have predicted this
when Lancelot first
brought him to the castle.
A kitchen boy.
Kitchen boy.
Kitchen boy.
Kitchen boy.
Kitchen boy!
Kitchen boy!
Kitchen boy!
Kitchen boy!
Kitchen boy!
- Where's the boy Brian?
- In there, Sir Kay.
- Open it.
Queen Guinevere wishes to speak with him.
- Your Majesty, my lady, I...
- I've been thinking a
great deal about you, Brian.
I don't know you very well, but I do know
that Sir Lancelot is a knight dedicated
to upholding right against wrong.
He's very sensitive to both.
Yet he trusts you.
And for that reason, I
want to trust you also.
Where did you go that night
after Mary gave you her nightcap?
- Straight back to the boys...
- I wasn't trying to trick you.
Mary came to me and told
me all about your meeting.
- Will she be in trouble?
- No, I will keep her secret.
- Do you believe what Mary told you?
- Yes, I do.
- Then if you know I was
in the girls' dormitory,
you know I didn't steal the jewel.
- I wish it were so simple, Brian.
But you do realize you
could have stolen the jewel
either before or after you met Mary.
- But I swear I didn't.
- Brian, it doesn't matter
whether I believe you or not.
There's a certain amount
of evidence on your side
and a great deal against you.
- I see.
Then it's hopeless.
- No, the theft may yet be explained.
In the meantime, I'm going to
release you from this dungeon.
Brian, I want your word that
you'll stay in the castle.
I'm doing this because I believe
Lancelot would want me to.
I don't want my trust in you betrayed.
Now go straight to the cook
and tell him I sent you.
You look as though you
could do with a decent meal.
- I just can't understand
who let him out or why.
Got you.
- They ought to be torturing him
to find out where he hid the star.
Smell anything?
- I smelled something like it once before.
Turned out to be a dead rat
decaying under a floorboard.
- Brian, I'm so happy to see you.
I heard about the queen taking your side.
- She got me out of the dungeon,
but I'm still not very
popular around here.
Anyway, thanks for
speaking up for me, Mary.
- I think I've got something
important to tell you.
Did you see who just left here?
- That's Sir Glavin, I don't like him.
- I don't like him either,
but he's been flirting with me for months.
He said that I'm just
the right age to marry,
young enough so that he can train me
to be his idea of a wife.
He proposed to me just now.
He wanted me to leave
with him secretly tonight.
- You said no.
- Of course I did, silly.
But Brian, he said he could
offer me a fine estate
where I'd be a great lady
instead of just one of
the queen's attendants.
- As long as you said no, it's
not important what he said.
- Oh, but it is, very.
Don't you see?
He doesn't have an estate, or didn't have.
He's a landless knight.
- Are you sure?
- Positive.
I don't want to shock you,
but among the girls, these
things are talked about.
Sir Glavin's always been
considered the least eligible man
at Camelot because he owns nothing
but a sword and a suit of armor.
- That's odd, very odd.
- Yes, it is.
A valuable jewel is stolen.
Soon afterwards, a penniless
knight offers me an estate
If I'll run away and marry him secretly.
- When did he say he was leaving?
I'm going to follow him.
- But you're not supposed to
leave the castle, are you?
What about your promise to the queen?
Besides, it will be dangerous
if you catch up with him.
- Mary, if he has that jewel
and sells it somewhere,
I'll never be able to
prove I'm not a thief
as long as I live.
- But Brian-
- Don't you see, it's my only chance.
Don't worry, I'll be all right.
Has Sir Glavin passed the gate?
- No.
Sir Lancelot, the queen wishes to see you.
She asked me to tell you it was urgent.
- Right.
- [Osbert] Slavin!
Slavin, where are you?
Slavin, there you are.
I've been looking all over for you.
- [Slavin] What do you want from me?
- [Osbert] I want what's mine, that's all.
- [Slavin] What might that be?
I have nothing of yours.
- [Osbert] We'll see about that.
Where do you think you're going?
You weren't thinking of leaving
without keeping our bargain, were you?
- [Sir Glavin] I don't know that
where I'm going is any concern of yours.
- [Osbert] Why didn't you tell me
you were planning to leave?
- [Slavin] Sudden change of plans, Osbert.
I don't like the fact that
they've released the kitchen boy
so I'm getting out.
- What about the purse
of gold you promised me?
- I said I'd give you the gold
if you help me to put
the blame on the boy.
- Well, I did, didn't I?
- They're not convinced he's guilty
or he'd still be in the dungeon.
In other words, your part didn't work.
I'm paying you nothing.
- But I did everything you told me to.
I want that money!
- Sorry, Osbert, so
happens I've only enough
to get me out of Britain.
- You won't get out of Britain.
I'll raise the alarm.
Every knight of the Round
Table will be after you.
- You can't raise the alarm
without admitting you were in the theft.
They'll hang you or worse.
- All right, let them hang me.
I'm not gonna let you make a fool of me!
[dramatic music]
Help, help, help!
[dramatic music]
[dramatic music continues]
[whip cracks]
[dramatic music]
[dramatic music continues]
- Guard!
Why, it's the Star of Scania!
- [Mary] Brian!
- He's our man.
- Are you hurt?
Come with me, I'll bathe that wound.
- A remarkable boy, that.
- Good stock, you see.
King Brian of the Iron Fist.
Well, has he won the right to go on
with his training or not?
- Of course, why not?
It's what I've always said, you know.
It's the breeding that counts.
[triumphant music]
[upbeat music]
♪ Now listen to my story ♪
♪ Yes, listen while I sing ♪
♪ Of days of old in England ♪
♪ When Arthur was the king ♪
♪ Of Merlin the magician
and Quinevere the queen ♪
♪ And Lancelot the bravest
knight the world has ever seen ♪
♪ In days of old when knights were bold ♪
♪ The story's told of Lancelot ♪
♪ In days of old when knights were bold ♪
♪ The story's told of Lancelot ♪