On this date in 1967, Warner Bros. released “Camelot,” an adaptation of the stage musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Starring Richard Harris as King Arthur, Vanessa Redgrave as Guenevere, Franco Nero as Lancelot, and David Hemmings as Mordred, the picture didn’t exactly delight contemporary critics but made quite a lot of money. To those who never saw the original stage or touring shows, it also introduced to the popular consciousness such delightful songs as “Camelot” and “How To Handle a Woman” (originally performed on Broadway by Richard Burton) and “C’est Moi" and “If Ever I Would Leave You” (originally sung on stage by Robert Goulet, and dubbed in the film by Gene Merlino). When approached to reprise his Arthur for the screen, Richard Burton asked for too much money. The original Guenevere, Julie Andrews, declined to play her in the movie (she’d previously been passed over for another Lerner-Loewe adaptation, “My Fair Lady”). Although the musical was written long before the election of John F. Kennedy, partisans of the administration identified it with Camelot, before and after JFK’s assassination. Years later, when Joshua Logan directed the film version, some tried to find political statements about Vietnam and such in his movie, but that’s a stretch. “Camelot” is a reasonably faithful adaption of the show, with Harris doing his own thing as the king and Redgrave falling far short (in my opinion) of the Andrews mark in performing Guenevere’s signature songs. The picture was nominated for five Oscars and won three: for art direction, costume design, and musical score.