weezeralfalfa Review of The Flame and the Arrow

The Flame and the Arrow (1950)

Better titled "The Sword and the Arrow"?

[8/10 · 8 August 2020]

A less remembered Robin Hood-like tale than Warner's classic "The Adventures of Robin Hood". There are about 8X as many reviewers at the IMDB site for the latter film than for the present film. I suspect there are a number of reasons for this. First, tales of Robin Hood had been handed down for centuries, and published in popular children's books. The tales take place in England, rather than in the rather obscure(to English readers) Italian province of Lombardy, in the 12th century, part of the rather nebulous Holy Roman Empire. Then, my impression is that the colors were much more saturated in the Robin Hood film, giving it a greater feeling of reality. Next, Errol Flynn presented a somewhat more handsome and personable central figure than Burt Lancaster, in the present film. Also, I would judge Olivia de Havilland to be a more beautiful prize for Robin Hood, than was Virginia Mayo for Burt(Not that Virginia wasn't also beautiful!). Also, Olivia had more and better facial closeups........But, one thing Burt clearly had over Flynn: his background in circus gymnastics provided him with the skills for more awe-inspiring gymnastic stunts. In fact, I would say that this is the chief reason for watching the present film, if you have already seen "The Adventures of Robin Hood"(unless you are really into watching Virginia)........Now, why do I suggest that "The Sword and the Flame" might be a better title than the given one? While it is true than Burt, and his sidekick, Piccolo, did (implausibly) fight off a squad of royal soldiers with torches, Burt killed the traitorous Machese, in a sword duel as exciting as the prominent one in "Robin Hood". In contrast, he killed his enemy, Count Ulrich, with a very precisely aimed arrow to the chest, while the Count was holding Burt's son as a human shield. On the other hand, if 'flame' in the title is meant to refer to Burt, as a 'live wire', or to Virginia, as his 'flame', then the title should stand as is.......Nick Cravat: Burt's friend from his circus days, played Piccolo, his constant companion in the film. He was characterized as being mute, because Nick had a very annoying regional accent Burt didn't want exposed. Nick took part in 9 of Burt's films: some not as a mute. Burt's wife, Nonna, had previously run off to Count Ulrich, who, in the film, captures her son with Burt, to Burt's great distress. Burt's chief goal in the film is to reclaim his son, and perhaps, in the process, to kill the Count. Meanwhile, Burt meets the blond German princess Anne(Virginia Mayo): an unmarried cousin of the Count. At first, he keeps her chained, with an iron collar around her neck. Gradually, he warms up to her, but then has a sudden change of heart, and bad mouths her. Later, they have a reconciliation, and are a pair by film's end, when Burt has regained his son.