Reading Skills

Unit 24 First Knight

PRE-INTERMEDIATE

1 Do you like going to the cinema? Which of the 2 Before you read the text, match the words on the
following kinds of lm do you prefer? left with their meanings on the right.
a armour 1 people who act in a lm
adventure thriller love historical
b sword 2 metal covering, especially for the body
horror science-ction cartoons
c medieval 3 similar to a long knife. People used this
comic documentary musical
to kill many years ago
d villain 4 of the Middle Ages
e cast 5 a very bad man
3 Read the text and complete the following exercises.

First Knight
directed by Jerry Zucker with Recreating the world of Arthur and Camelot was not
Sean Connery, Richard Gere and Julia Ormond easy for the lm makers. Though most of the lm was
shot in London's Pinewood Studios, it was still necessary
The tale of King Arthur, the legendary British king of the
to nd some outside locations. An old nuclear power
5th or 6th century, has always been a popular one with
station at Trawsfynydd in Wales provided the outside of
lm makers. Back in 1964 Walt Disney took the story and
Camelot, whereas a lake and a bridge in north Wales
turned it into one of its most successful lms, The Sword
served as the entrance to the city. For the marriage of
in the Stone. John Boorman made it into a noisy action
Arthur and Guinevere they chose the medieval St Albans
adventure in his Excalibur (1960), while Joshua Logan
Cathedral.
turned it into a musical with Camelot.
People enjoyed First Knight because of its
In First Knight, director Jerry Zucker retells the story of
cinematography, its acting and the realistic sword ghts
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table as a
that in the lm. For this, thanks are due to swordmaster,
romantic adventure in medieval England. Sean Connery
Bob Anderson, who worked with Richard Gere and other
is a perfect Arthur, despite his Scottish accent, while
cast members and taught them how to ght with a
Richard Gere is brilliant as Sir Lancelot. They don't like
sword. The armourer, Terry English, and his staff worked
each other very much because they are both in love with
round the clock for six weeks to make almost 300 suits of
the beautiful Lady Guinevere, played by Julia Ormond.
full body armour and the armour worn by the 200 horses
There is also a brilliant performance by Sir John Gielgud,
in the production. It was the largest amount of armour
as Guinevere's advisor, and an excellent villain played by
ever made for a lm.
Ben Cross.

4 Answer the following questions. 5 Complete the sentences with information from the
text.
1 Who directed the lm, First Knight?
Jerry Zucker. 1 King Arthur was a British King in the 5th or 6th
century.
2 When did King Arthur live?
2 Many lm makers have made lms about
...................................................................................
................................................................................. .
3 Why did King Arthur and Sir Lancelot compete?
3 The Tale of King Arthur was turned into a
...................................................................................
................................... by John Boorman and into a
4 How many suits of armour were made?
................................... by Joshua Logan.
...................................................................................
4 Most of the lm First Knight was made in
5 Who played King Arthur, Sir Lancelot and Lady
................................................................................. .
Guinevere in First Knight?
5 Bob Anderson taught the actors to use
...................................................................................
................................................................................. .
6 How long did it take to make the suits of armour?
...................................................................................

Language in Use ^ Pre-Intermediate # Cambridge University Press 2003 PHOTOCOPIABLE ^ Unit 24