The Flame and the Arrow (1950)

Director:

Jacques Tourneur

Writer:

Waldo Salt (written by)

Release Date:

9 July 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance

Plot:

Dardo, a Robin Hood-like figure, and his loyal followers use a Roman ruin in Medieval Lombardy as their headquarters as they conduct an insurgency against their Hessian conquerors.

Plot Keywords:

Rebel | Rescue | Niece | Betrayal | Acrobat

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Burt Lancaster	...	Dardo Bartoli
Virginia Mayo	...	Anne de Hesse
Robert Douglas	...	Marchese Alessandro de Granazia
Aline MacMahon	...	Nonna Bartoli
Frank Allenby	...	Count Ulrich aka The Hawk
Nick Cravat	...	Piccolo
Lynn Baggett	...	Francesca (as Lynne Baggett)
Gordon Gebert	...	Rudi Bartoli, Dardo's Son
Norman Lloyd	...	Apollo, the Troubador
Francis Pierlot	...	Papa Pietro
Robin Hughes	...	Skinner
Victor Kilian	...	Apothecary Mazzoni

Also Known As:

The Hawk and the Arrow (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:A (1950) | UK:U | Finland:K-12 (1972) | Finland:K-16 (1951) | West Germany:12 (nf) | France:U | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, USA

Company:

Norma-F.R. Productions

Trivia:

Cameo: [Philip Van Zandt]Ulrich’s henchman.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Just as the boy Rudy is captured by the soldiers (and when he should be frightened), you see him grinning quite broadly at someone off-camera.

Quotes:

Dardo Bartoli: I learned a long time ago, my lady, never trust a mountain cat when she stops snarling and never trust a woman when your back is turned.

Great fun! Plenty of action!

A fine show of acrobats! A fable for fun!

Burt Lancaster and Nick Cravat indulge themselves in long leaps and vaults, pirouetting in mid-air, swinging on tapestries and chandeliers, and baffling the tyrant Ulrich with their tricks... Plenty of action!

The film is a flamboyant spoof of the Robin Hood genre, set against the castle battlements and banquet halls of medieval Lombardy... Ideally cast opposite Lancaster's swashbuckling Dardo were Virginia Mayo as the obligatory lady-fair, and Robert Douglas and Frank Allenby as the suavest of villains...

To play his mute sidekick, Piccolo, Lancaster engaged his old friend and circus partner, Nick Cravat. The result was a joyful team... Together they battled spearmen with blazing torches, and leaped around castle balconies...

"The Flame and the Arrow" is a colorful adventure film with a great closing shot: Lancaster swinging in a series of circular movements on metalwork high above the courtyard of an old castle...

Lancaster's acrobatics boosted his box-office value, and so did another swashbuckler, 'The Crimson Pirate.'

...I saw this movie, with my little brother Paul, when it first came out in Lebanon, in Beirut, 47 years ago... I was ten, and today I still remember each Technicolor frame, because it was so enchanting and beautiful… It was such a particular time for the kids we were...