edwagreen There may be swashbuckling galore but the story line is so convoluted.Burt Lancaster shows his trapeze skills which would serve him well years later in a film with that very name-Trapeze. He does this after the film comes to a resolution.The problem here is the writing as the film's plot is ridiculous. Hessian conquerors of Lombardy have the head leader of the former running off with Lancaster's wife in the film. They had had a child together and the boy grows up with his father until the mother returns with the Hawk to claim the child.From that point on, it becomes tit for tat. Virginia Mayo, niece of the hawk, is kidnapped by Lancaster's band and of course she falls for the Lancaster character during this nonsense. Her uncle had sent the Marchese to marry her, only to imprison him when he refuses to pay his taxes. Of course, there is treachery on the part of the Marchese in this very ridiculous, inane film.

Lee Eisenberg Warner Bros. continued the Robin Hood tradition with "The Flame and the Arrow". Jacques Tourneur's movie casts Burt Lancaster - sporting what looks like a Buddy Holly hairdo - as Dardo, a freedom fighter in medieval Lombardy. Rallying his people to expel despot Ulrich (Frank Allenby), Dardo - a man of seemingly limitless wit - used some Roman ruins as his operations base. He and his mute friend Piccolo (Nick Cravat) employed lots of cool acrobatics in their raids on the castle.There was one thing that looked very unrealistic, although it may have been accurate: Dardo's love interest Anne (Virginia Mayo) wears pants in some scenes, and even wears shorts in some scenes. I can't imagine that any woman in medieval Europe would have worn pants, let alone shorts. But maybe she really did dress like that. Whatever the deal was, Virginia Mayo is as hot here as she was in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty".Anyway, this is the sort of classic action flick that makes one keep wanting more. Silly at times, yes, but impossible not to like. Exactly the sort of film that people behind the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies would have loved to spoof (and they made a number of cartoons parodying this genre). Really good.

Spikeopath I honestly feel if anyone is does this film down for it's jovial nature then they surely are missing the point. I wasn't around at the time of its release, but I would have been surprised if the makers had marketed it as a searing swashbuckler for the ages. The film is fun, it tells a fun tale, and yes it's in the Robin Hood arc of plot structure, but ultimately it's a tale well worth watching due to the extended dexterity of its stars.I would think that tagging this film "The Acrobatic Peasant Vs The Horrible Hessian Lord" would serve it about right, the cast are having fun and really the viewer should be in on the joviality unfolding as well. Burt Lancaster and his old circus performing pal Nick Cravat dazzle with flings and flops, arrows and lances, and it all works for what I term perfect Sunday afternoon entertainment.All that and Viginia Mayo has a smile that could stop an army in its tracks, what more do you want ?, hooray ! 7/10

MARIO GAUCI Lively, colorful period romp in the Warners’ style made in the wake of ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN (1948) – featuring the same villain, Robert Douglas, no less – but actually fashioned after their most successful swashbuckler, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938).Burt Lancaster – with his acrobatic training and cheerful countenance in full bloom – is perfect casting for the heroic role of Dardo, a kind of Italian Robin Hood (even down to displaying similar prowess as an archer); Virginia Mayo, then, makes for an ideal heroine – like Olivia De Havilland’s Maid Marian, playing a noble woman who’s gradually drawn to the outlaw’s cause. Again, like the 1938 Robin Hood film, we have two villains: Frank Allenby as a tyrant known as “The Hawk” and the afore-mentioned Douglas as a Marquis; the latter’s role is interesting in that, banished by the former for tax evasion, he manages to infiltrate Lancaster’s band (along with his smart companion, a troubadour played by Norman Lloyd) and outwardly reform – but, when the opportunity arises, proceeds to reveal their plan of attack to Allenby!Other twists and quirks to the Robin Hood formula (the sharp script was written by Waldo Salt, later an Oscar winner for MIDNIGHT COWBOY [1969]!) are the fact that Lancaster’s wife has left him for Allenby - their spirited son has remained with Lancaster, whom he idolizes, but is eventually captured and thought good manners against his will; when Lancaster imprisons Mayo in exchange for his son’s freedom, he keeps her chained by the neck to a tree!; for no apparent reason other than that he's able to, one of Lancaster’s men uses his feet to write ransom notes, etc.; Lancaster is sent to the gallows but, here, he gives himself up rather than being captured and actually fakes his own death!; and the climactic struggle inside the castle, which the gang penetrate incognito (this time dressed-up as a band of strolling players). The obligatory swordfight between Lancaster and Douglas, then, is given a novel touch by being partly set in the dark – the only evident nod to the noir style director Tourneur is best-known for! The film itself received a couple of Oscar nominations for Ernest Haller’s gorgeous cinematography and Max Steiner’s marvelous score (it too bears a striking resemblance to Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s unforgettable work on THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD – as do the castle interiors – but this takes nothing away from the quality of THE FLAME AND THE ARROW itself!). Also worth noting in the cast is Nick Cravat as Lancaster’s mute sidekick: in the star’s days as an acrobat, he had been his partner and would often work with him in films – basically reprising his role here in Lancaster’s next swashbuckler, the seafaring THE CRIMSON PIRATE (1952; incidentally, also surprisingly but vigorously helmed by an expert in film noir, Robert Siodmak). Speaking of the latter, a couple of years back I re-acquainted myself with it via a rental of Warner’s bare-bones DVD edition – but its predecessor/companion piece is, mysteriously, still M.I.A. on disc...