La freccia d'oro (1962)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Antonio Margheriti

Writers:

Giorgio Arlorio (writer)
Augusto Frassinetti (writer)

Release Date:

May 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

Scimitars Clash in a Mighty Spectacle!

Cast

Tab Hunter	...	Hassan
Rossana Podestà	...	Jamila
Umberto Melnati	...	Thin Genie
Mario Feliciani	...	Baktiar
Dominique Boschero	...	Queen of Rocky Valley
Renato Baldini	...	Prince of Bassora
Giustino Durano	...	Absent-Minded Genie
Franco Scandurra
Gloria Milland
Renato Montalbano		(as Renato Montalban)
Rosario Borelli	...	Prince of Aleppo
Calisto Calisti	...	Prince of Bassora's General
Abdel Moneim Ibrahim	...	Captain Hamit
José Jaspe	...	Sabrath
Gian Paolo Rosmino	...	Mokbar (as Giampaolo Rosmino)

Also Known As:

L'arciere delle mille e una notte
The Golden Arrow (USA)

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-8

Company:

Titanus

Lush, entertaining Arabian-set fantasy with Tab Hunter, but not his voice

If you are looking for a mindless but entertaining fantasy film that would be great for children, has a lot of exciting twists and turns and magical happenings, THE GOLDEN ARROW fills the bill nicely. Tab Hunter is perfect visually as the outcast who must prove himself and defeat all foes to win the hand of his love. As this featured a major star, it had a bigger budget than many cheap Italian costume epics with lesser-known Americans (it's comparable to, say , a Steve Reeves movie), so it's colorful and visually exciting. Director Antonio Margheriti (aka Anthony Dawson) turned out all kinds of genre films in the 60s and after--westerns, peplums, horror, spy, erotic, giallo, science fiction, etc--and generally produced an exciting, fast-moving product. The only flaw with this film--and, unfortunately, it's a major one-- is that Tab Hunter did not dub his own voice in the English version of the film (at least in the one I'm watching). That seems odd because Hunter has a distinctive voice that would have been well-known to American audiences of the day (as opposed to, say, Brad Harris or Richard Harrison or even Steve Reeves--who would know what THEIR real voices sounded like?). Also, in other European films that are quite obscure and were certainly NOT made with the US theatrical market in mind--films like SHOTGUN and THE LAST CHANCE-- Hunter DOES do his own voice. He certainly is doing his own voice in Sidney Pink's Spanish-made FICKLE FINGER OF FATE (See my review). Why MGM, a major studio, would not have paid Hunter to spend a few days in post-synchronization I don't understand. The voice assigned him is not TOO ill-fitting for his character, but it clearly is not Tab Hunter. While I enjoy the film and have watched it a few times over the years, I find it difficult to forget this as I'm watching THE GOLDEN ARROW. Still, it's a fun way to kill 90 minutes on a rainy afternoon, and it looks great (my copy is letter-boxed, fortunately). If it had featured Mr. Hunter's own voice, I'd consider it a classic.