Who among us has not fashioned our own wooden sword and impersonated such fabled characters as King Arthur, Captain Blood, King Leonidas, Luke Skywalker or Zorro?  Or imagined an attack of pirates, the rescue of a beautiful damsel in distress or the protection of country and king?

It is no surprise then, that the movies are able to capture our imagination with their wild sword-fighting antics!

Unfortunately, the broad, sweeping and easy-to-film movements of Hollywood stars can easily be defeated by the subtle, quick swordplay of even a beginning fencer.  But the movies are still fun to watch!

So for your fencing pleasure we have set upon the task of reviewing the movies with the best sword-fighting scenes.  Enjoy!  And, please pass the popcorn.  (Shhh, the movie is about to start!)

• Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) Starring:  Jose Ferrier (as Cyrano), Mala Powers (as the beautiful Roxanne), William Prince (as Christian), Ralph Clanton (as the Comte de Guishe), Al Cavens (as the Vicomte de Valvert). This movie is based on the original play written by Edmond Rostand...
• Conan the Barbarian (1982) Directed by John Milius. Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger (as Conan), Sandahl Bergman (as Valeria), James Earl Jones (as Thulsa Doom), Gerry Lopez (as Subotai), Mako (as the Wizard) and Max von Sydow (as King Osiric). This is a movie adaptation of numerou...
• The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) Starring: Stewart Granger (as Rudolph Rassendyl/King Rudolf V), Deborah Kerr (as Princess Flavia), James Mason (as Rupert of Hentzau), Louis Calhern (as Col. Zapt), Robert Coote (as Fritz von Tarlenheim), and Robert Douglas (as Michael, Duke of Strelsau)....
• The Spanish Main (1945) Directed by Frank Borzage Starring Paul Henreid (as Captain van Horn/the Baracuda), Maureen O’Hara (as the Contessa Francesca, daughter of the Viceroy of Mexico), Walter Slezak (as Don Juan Alvarado, the governor of Cartegena), Binnie Barnes (as Anne Bo...
• The Three Musketeers (1948) Directed by George Sidney Starring Gene Kelly (as D’Artagnan), Lana Turner (as Countess De Winter), June Allyson (as Constance Bonacieux), Van Heflin (as Athos), Angela Lansbury (as Queen Anne), Frank Morgan (as King Louis XIII), Vincent Price (as Riche...
• To Have And Have Not (1944) Based very loosely on the book of the same title by Ernest Hemingway. Directed by Howard Hawks.  Starring Humphrey Bogart (as Harry Morgan/Steve), Lauren Bacall (as Marie Browning/Slim), Walter Brennan (as Eddie), Hoagy Carmichael (as Cricket), Dan Seymo...
• The Sea Hawk (1940) - 2nd Review Directed by Michael Curtiz (who also directed “Captain Blood”), music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (who scored “Captain Blood”} Starring Errol Flynn (as Captain Geoffrey Thorpe), Brenda Marshall (as Dona Maria Alvarez de Cordoba), Claude Rains (as ...
• By The Sword (1991) Directed by Jeremy Kagan.  Starring: F. Murray Abraham (Max Suba), Eric Roberts (Vilarie as Maestro), Mia Sara, Chris Rydell, Elaine Kagan, Brett Cullen The fencing instructor for F. Marray Abraham was Dr. Aladar Koglar.  I would think that Dr. Koglar ...
• Captain Blood (1935) - 2nd Review Directed by Michael Curtiz; Musical score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Starring Errol Flynn (as Captain Peter Blood), Olivia De Havilland (as Arabella Bishop), Lionel Atwill (Colonel Bishop), Basil Rathbone (as Captain Levasseur) This movie is based on th...
• The Mark of Zorro (1940) Directed by Rouben Mamoulian Starring Tyrone Power (Don Diego Vega as Zorro), Linda Darnell (Lolita Quintero) Basil Rathbone (Captain Esteban Pasquale); Gale Sondergaard (Inez Quintero)  and Eugene Pallette (Fra Felipe, who looks an awful lot like Friar ...
• Frenchmen's Creek (1944) Directed by Mitchell Liesen Starring Joan Fontaine, Arturo De Cordoba, Basil Rathbone; and Nigel Bruce This movie is a screen adaptation of a novel by the same name, written by Daphne Du Maurier.  Like most of Du Maurier’s novels, it is set in Cornwal...
• The Duellists (1977) Directed by Ridley Scott.   Starring:  Keith Carradine as D’Hubert, and Harey Keitel as Feraud This is a movie adaptation of a true story written by Joseph Conrad.  The military weapons and uniforms are impeccable.  The story begins in the year 18...
• The Sea Hawk (1940) In his second pirate movie, Errol Flynn portrays Captain Geoffrey Thorpe, a privateer in the service of Queen Elizabeth I. Charged with the task of keeping the sea lanes open for shipping, Captain Thorpe fate becomes intertwined with the Spanish Armada. ...
• Video clips by Corps a Corps I am not sure who prepared these videos, but they are still very entertaining. I think this is a re-hash of an NCAA Fencing commercial with a different arrangement of action, music and graphics: ...
• The Parent Trap (1998) Separated at birth, twin sisters finally meet each other at summer camp.  The big reveal happens AFTER the bout when they have to shake hands. Please keep in mind, that fencers must salute each other and the director before each boat with their masks of...
• Captain Blood (1935) - 1st Review Errol Flynn ..... and Basil Rathbone ..... as Pirates ..... fighting to win the affection of Olivia de Havilland ..... with Swords ..... filmed in Black & White. What else do you need to know? It's a great movie! By the way, it has inspired countles...
• Commercials What do Adidas, Audi, Doritos corn chips and Ernest P. Worrell have in common? Absolutely nothing!  Except that they used fencing in a commercial. (Yeah, yeah, I know.  A commercial is not the same as a movie.  But they are still fun to watch!) Enjo...
• Scaramouche (1952) Scaramouche is loosely based upon the historical novel of the same title by the French author, Rafael Sabatini. Scaramouche begins before the French Revolution.  The idealistic childhood friend of our hero is provoked into a duel by the very-talented sw...