With royal banners unfurled and a regal cast, King Richard and the Crusaders ventures forth, bring to screen life Sir Walter Scott's 1825 classic of myth and history The Talisman. Academy Award winners Rex Harrison and George Sanders join Virginia Mayo and Laurence Harvey in a legendary, once-upon-a-time screen spectacle of knighthood, intrigue and far-flung fields of battle. Richard the Lionhearted (Sanders), leader of the Third Crusade, intends to take the fight to Moslem leader Saladin (Harrison) -- and never suspects that the physician who comes to the Christian camp to tend him is Saladin himself. The wily foe is captivated by the alluring Lady Edith (Mayo), even though errand knight Kenneth (Harvey) also seeks Her Ladyship's hand. There is more than war to be settled here. There is love and war.