Few tales enjoy as much retelling as the saga of King Arthur. For another variation on this narrative, we head to 1953’s Knights of the Round Table.

Arthur Pendragon (Mel Ferrer) ascends to the crown and becomes the ruler of England. This doesn’t go smoothly, as he deals with a mix of challengers.

However, Arthur and his associates emerge victorious and he assembles a council he calls the Knights of the Round Table. They assist in his rule, though matters turn contentious when Arthur’s bride Guinevere (Ava Gardner) and knight Sir Lancelot (Robert Taylor) fall in love with each other.

If nothing else, Table stands out from its other King Arthur competitors due to format and timing. While not the first Cinemascope movie to hit screens, Table came out very early in its existence and may well be the only Camelot fable to use the super-wide 2.55:1 aspect ratio.

Beyond that technical curiosity, does Table bring much to the… table? No, and I think the Cinemascope format actually leads to some of the movie’s problems.

Table feels oddly stagnant and dull for a movie with so much adventure and intrigue. Some of this may relate to the then-new Cinemascope process.

With that super-wide 2.55:1 frame at work, the action can seem staged primarily to fill the frame. This leaves the battles without many thrills, as instead, they just feel oriented toward the desire to take up visual space.

Table also rushes through the Arthur legend in a hurry. It tries to cram in all the best-known parts of the story, and that means it depicts everything in the most superficial and energy-free manner.

Really, the script feels like it clicks off “Camelot boxes” more than it attempts a coherent story. The movie zips through all these domains in a way that means it lacks fluidity and doesn’t click.

It doesn’t help that we find zero chemistry among the leads. Romantic scenes fall flat and we discover little to no real drama or tension.

Ultimately, Table seems more like a filmmaking experiment to use the Cinemascope format. It rarely resembles an entertaining movie.

Knights of the Round Table appears in an aspect ratio of 2.55:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Despite a few iffy spots, the image usually looked strong.

Softness became the only mildly weak link, as occasional wide shots seemed somewhat soft – and given we got some very wide shots, these popped up more often than usual. However, most of the flick came with very good delineation.

I witnessed no issues with jaggies or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained absent. The movie boasted light grain and suffered from no print flaws.

Colors turned into a strength. Table gave us a broad palette that the disc reproduced in a vivid manner.

Blacks came across as deep and full, while low-light shots brought appealing clarity. Outside of a few soft elements, I felt pleased with this presentation.

In addition, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 2.0 soundtrack worked well. The stereo soundscape suited the widescreen format.

Music showed fine spread and engagement across the front speakers. The mix also boasted a fair amount of directional dialogue.

Effects brought appropriate localization and appealing movement. The soundfield added a lot to the movie.

Audio quality seemed dated but fine. Speech appeared reasonably natural, with only a handful of edgy lines.

Effects worked the same way. Although they lacked much range, they felt fairly accurate and didn’t suffer from much distortion.

Music became the strongest aspect of the track, as the score appeared pretty lively and rich. This became a well above-average mix for its era.

When we head to extras, we get a Mel Ferrer Introduction that lasts one minute, 35 seconds. Crested for the film’s DVD release, Ferrer gives us some basic thoughts about the movie in this painless but inconsequential piece.

Next comes Newsreel Footage (8:20) from the movie’s “gala premiere” that gives us a glimpse of the red carpet. It offers a likable slice of history.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we find two vintage Cinemascope shorts. The disc includes Jubilee Overture (9:45) and One Droopy Knight (6:50).

With the first, we see the MGM Orchestra as they perform a medley of songs from 30 years of MGM movies. It doesn’t offer the most scintillating visual treat but it does boast excellent stereo audio at least.

In Knight, “Sir Droop-a-lot” and “Sir Butch-a-lot” attempt to slay a dragon to win marriage to a beautiful princess. It seems deeply disturbing that two dogs vie to wed a human female – and perplexing, as I don’t get why the filmmakers didn’t just make her a canine as well.

That creepy misstep aside, Knight works reasonably well. I never loved the Droopy character but the short comes with some entertainment value.

Although it shows the widescreen capabilities of Cinemascope pretty well, Knights of the Round Table sputters as a piece of entertainment. Scattered, dull and without drama, it becomes a bland telling of the King Arthur legend. The Blu-ray boasts solid picture and audio along with a smattering of bonus materials. The movie brings us a weak version of this fable.