A colorful legend of the distant past on Warner Studios Backlot

The mighty 'Castillo de Coca', outside Segovia in Spain, was the film double for the legendary 
Arthurian castle 'Camelot'.
The castle was constructed in the 15th century and has been considered to be one of the best examples of 
Spanish Mudejar brickwork which incorporates Moorish Muslim design and construction with Gothic architecture.
The impressive appearance of the castle, the good state of preservation and maybe also the fact that 
it is one of the few Spanish castles that was not built on hills convinced those responsible that this is their Camelot.
The perfect place to capture the mythical magic of Camelot on film.
Production Designer John Truscott set the look of the entire production. 
What he couldn't really control was the weather.
The 'Camelot' crew in Spain was plagued alternately by rains that bogged equipment down and hot, 
dry weather that burned the surrounding landscape brown.
The dried up landscape around the Coca Castle was hardly a convincing representation of the 
Merrie Olde England of King Arthur's day.
The Crew sprayed vast acreages of landscape with green water color paint.
On the Burbank backlot of the Warner Studios a tremendous set was created for 'Camelot', 
a duplicate of the Coca Castle.

A visually appealing spectacle needs a quality venue.
The Coca Castle in Spain was the inspiration for the Camelot Set on the Warner Studios Backlot.
Art Director Edward Carrere ('Taras Bulba') was the architect of the project.
Large parts of the Spanish Castle have been reproduced more or less authentically in order to duplicate the Coca Castle 
on the backlot and to shoot scenes corresponding to those that were filmed in Spain.
No expense or effort was spared for the vast in scope production.
They even shipped building material from the set to Spain to compare it with the original on site.
The impressive Camelot Set was one of the biggest ever built on the Warner Backlot.
The finished Set was modeled in Arthurian imagery after the Castle of Coca and measured close to 
450 feet by 300 feet, and was nearly 100 feet tall (turret-top).
Camelot was built within a period of six months at a cost of something more than a half-million dollars.
Let's take a closer look at that: 
Camelot - a colorful legend of the distant past.

Screenshots of the Warner Backlot 'Camelot' in Action!
And now we're traveling back to the 1960s, straight to the construction site ...
On the Warner Backlot in 1966.
The selected building plot for King Arthur's mythical Castle Camelot.
The plot is overgrown with grass and bushes, in the background you can see part of another Warner set (Western Town?).
There is still a lot to be done here for Art Director Edward Carrere and his Set construction department. 
The 'Camelot' building site is being prepared.
The undergrowth has already been removed and the first foundations are being laid.
Wooden frame structures are put together with the help of hand held pneumatic nail guns.
A 'massive' tower is slowly taking shape.
Actually, only the platform on which the tower stands is really massive (wooden beams).
The tower is from the ground to the top a lightweight construction, mainly made of building timber.
The inner wooden frame is later surrounded by prefabricated panels that imitate the stone construction 
of the Coca Castle in Spain.
Wood everywhere.
One crew is working on the tower, another is building a wall of the castle, ...
'Camelot' in construction on the Warner Studios Backlot, 1966.
You can already feel the magic ...wood splinters, dust, sweat, ...
Some components are prefabricated on the floor and then lifted into the desired position with a crane and installed.
King Arthur's puzzle.
Look at that! A great photo from above.
No small construction site, workers bustle around on every corner.
The first 'Coca-Stone-panels' are already mounted on the tower there on the right.
All the fun will end up costing over half a million dollars!
Screenshot - The finished Castle Set in the movie.
Outstandingly stylish!
Warner backlot - 'Camelot' is ready to rumble!
Visually absolutely convincing - It seem to be hewn from rough stone!
It is clear that the Set can never have the grandeur and scope of the original, 
but that part here looks really very, very impressive!
Of course you want to present such a large (and expensive) set on the screen, and so 
DOP Richard H. Kline was always looking for ways to emphasize the greatness of the castle complex.
A neat shot of King Arthur (Richard Harris) on the stairs of 'Camelot'.
Even in such a composition, you can capture the size of the castle.
At one point, while filming at Warner Brothers, Richard Harris and producer Jack L. Warner were at odds over 
how to do a scene. 
Warner took Harris out onto the studio lot, and showed him the famous water tower with the Warner Brothers logo on it. 
"What does that tower say, Richard?" asked Warner. 
Harris replied "It says 'Warner Brothers." 
"Right," said Warner. 
"Now when it says 'Harris Brothers', THEN we'll do it YOUR way."
In the courtyard of 'Camelot' - Warner Studios backlot.
The jousting sequence was staged here, inside of the castle.
Contestants and celebrators, including a fire eater, sword balancer, acrobats, jugglers and 
street dancers romp in the courtyard.
The Set was actually mainly used for closer shots. 
The camera setting for this shot makes the Castle Set look a little puny.
Screenshot - King Arthur (Richard Harris) is talking with Pellinore (Lionel Jeffries).
Comparison photo - The 'Camelot' Set on the Warner Studios Backlot.
The whole Set looks so real ... fairytale, perfect!
View inside of the Castle.
Not the smallest spot of the Set looks cheap, even the little details are there.
You can very well see where all that money went.
A scene with Sir Lancelot (Franco Nero) on the stairs that we could just see in the black and white photo.
Much of Lancelot's footage, particularly scenes shot in Spain, never reached the screen.
On his journey to meet King Arthur, Lancelot has to fight numerous fights, which were filmed in great detail 
in front of various castles on location in Spain.
At the Castillo Manzanares el Real, for example, he beat up a horde of Vikings(?).
These scenes did not survive the final Editing, but there are various press photos around showing the brawls of Lancelot.
'Camelot' architect Edward Carrere and his Crew created a real work of art with this elaborately designed Set.
David Hemmings (Mordred) during a break of filming on the 'Camelot' Set with his puppy (Little Arthur?).
Fit for Royalty.
Just the one zipper has to be fixed and Vanessa Redgrave (Queen Guenevere) is ready for a walk with 
a Whippet in the castle courtyard.
When it comes to the beauty, style and flair of the costumes, scenery and set decorations, 
Camelot is in the premier league.
Production Designer John Truscott and his W.B.-7 Arts costume and armor-makers hammered out 
thousands of seperate pieces.
Truscott was everywhere and supervised all the costumes through to their finished state.
Made from only the finest materials. No expense or effort was spared!
Those were the good old times of big scale Road-Show entertainment.
An evening at the cinema on a booked seat was a thrilling event!
After the filming ended the Set was for a long time known at the studio as the 'Camelot Castle' 
and was used for other projects.
In 1972, the Camelot Castle was renovated and extensively rebuilt into a Tibetan Lamasery for the 
Ross Hunter production 'Lost Horizon' (1973).
The photo shows Ross Hunter on the backlot overseeing the remodeling of King Arthur's Castle into the Shangri-La.
The medieval turrets of 'Camelot' were removed and replaced with Tibetan gables to simulate Himalayan Buddhist monasteries. 
Most of the castle's lower levels remained intact, and the courtyard was replaced with layered steppes and fountains. 
The Shangri-La set remained on the studio's backlot for several years before it was torn down to make way for a 
new office building with a parking lot.
The Tibetan Lamasery of 'Lost Horizon' was prominetly used as 'Shaolin Temple' for the 
David Carradine TV show 'Kung Fu' (1972).
Screenshot of 'Lost Horizon'.
A bit of magic of Merlyn and Camelot transforms into a Tibetan Lamasery.
The modifications have been implemented elegantly and effectively.
At its core, of course, this is still our 'Camelot'.
The next 'Camelot' story will feature the construction of the 'Great Hall' Set.
But before that I recommend a refreshing winter walk through: Merlyn's Magic Forest!

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