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IMDbPro

The Flame and the Arrow

  • 19501950
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 28m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
4K
YOUR RATING
Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
Official Trailer
Play trailer2:31
1 Video
99+ Photos
AdventureDramaRomance
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.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.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.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
4K
YOUR RATING
    • Jacques Tourneur
    • Waldo Salt
  • Stars
    • Burt Lancaster
    • Virginia Mayo
    • Robert Douglas
    • Jacques Tourneur
    • Waldo Salt
  • Stars
    • Burt Lancaster
    • Virginia Mayo
    • Robert Douglas
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 43User reviews
    • 25Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 2 Oscars

    Videos1

    The Flame and the Arrow
    Trailer 2:31
    Watch The Flame and the Arrow

    Photos127

    Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
    Virginia Mayo in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
    Burt Lancaster and Nick Cravat in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
    Burt Lancaster, Nick Cravat, and Virginia Mayo in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
    Robert Douglas in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
    Nick Cravat in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
    Virginia Mayo in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
    Virginia Mayo in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
    Virginia Mayo in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
    Virginia Mayo in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
    Virginia Mayo in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
    Virginia Mayo in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Burt Lancaster
    Burt Lancaster
    • Dardo Bartoli
    Virginia Mayo
    Virginia Mayo
    • Anne de Hesse
    Robert Douglas
    Robert Douglas
    • Marchese Alessandro de Granazia
    Aline MacMahon
    Aline MacMahon
    • Nonna Bartoli
    Frank Allenby
    Frank Allenby
    • Count 'The Hawk' Ulrich
    Nick Cravat
    Nick Cravat
    • Piccolo
    Lynn Baggett
    Lynn Baggett
    • Francesca
    • (as Lynne Baggett)
    Gordon Gebert
    • Rudi Bartoli - Dardo's Son
    Norman Lloyd
    Norman Lloyd
    • Apollo - The Troubador
    Victor Kilian
    Victor Kilian
    • Mazzoni - Apothecary
    Francis Pierlot
    Francis Pierlot
    • Papa Pietro
    Robin Hughes
    Robin Hughes
    • Skinner
    Paul Baxley
    • Guard
    • (uncredited)
    Leon Belasco
    Leon Belasco
    • Arturo of Milan
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Ray Beltram
    • Townsman
    • (uncredited)
    Richard Brehm
    • Outlaw
    • (uncredited)
    George Bruggeman
    George Bruggeman
    • Guard
    • (uncredited)
    Sue Casey
    • Angela
    • (uncredited)
      • Jacques Tourneur
      • Waldo Salt
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Nick Cravat, who plays Piccolo, was an acrobat who was teamed with Burt Lancaster before Lancaster became a star. He appears in many of Lancaster's movies. In this one, and in The Crimson Pirate (1952), he plays a mute. The reason was that his thick Brooklyn accent, which he could not lose, would have been wildly out of place in such period pieces.
    • Goofs
      The outlaws' pet bear cub is a Malayan Sun Bear, of which there could have been none in medieval Italy.
    • Quotes

      Skinner: ...we're civilized and the art of civilization is doing natural things in an unnatural way.

    • Connections
      Referenced in The John Player Lecture with Burt Lancaster (1972)

    User reviews43

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    Burt Gets To Swing For The First Time
    Set in a little-remembered historical setting, the 1950 Warner Bros. swashbuckler "The Flame and the Arrow" finds its star, Burt Lancaster, showing off his great acrobatic prowess for the first time on screen. Since his spectacular debut in 1946's "The Killers," Lancaster had been featured in a run of moody, dramatic and noirish thrillers, but here, in his 10th picture (not counting his cameo appearance in 1947's "Variety Girl"), Burt finally seemed to be having some fun on the big screen. Appearing in color for the first time, big Burt here plays a character named Dardo Bartoli. A single father who lives in the Lombardy region in what we must presume to be the mid-12th century (the period when the Lombard League was formed to oust the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and his Hessians, who had captured Milan in 1158 and burned it in 1162), Dardo has more than ample reason to be aggrieved with the Hessian Count Ulrich, aka The Hawk (hissably portrayed by Frank Allenby). Dardo's ex-wife had earlier "taken up" with the count, and his young son Rudi is soon kidnapped and ensconced in the count's well-guarded castle. Thus, accompanied by his friend Piccolo (Lancaster's boyhood pal Nick Cravat), the two attempt a rescue, but must ultimately content themselves with the kidnapping of the count's luscious niece, Anne of Hesse (beautiful-as-always Virginia Mayo), in the hopes of an exchange. But complications, both logistical and romantic, naturally ensue....

    "The Flame and the Arrow" is a film that seems to be not as highly regarded as Lancaster and Cravat's follow-up swashbuckler, 1952's "The Crimson Pirate," which, in the interest of complete honesty--and to my own personal embarrassment--I must admit to not having seen. Still, the duo's initial outing has much to offer to the fun-loving fan of Saturday matinée-type entertainments. Lancaster and Cravat--who had formed the Lang and Cravat acrobatic team in the 1930s and performed extensively in circuses and nightclubs--get to show off their physical stunts here in various action situations, and although the two were hardly youngsters at this point (Burt was 37; Nick, 39), they are still remarkably impressive. No need for stuntmen with these two around, that's for sure! The film throws in a number of rousing combat scenes, and concludes with one of the great unsung swordfights in screen history, between Dardo and the traitorous Marchese Granazia (a nicely ambiguous performance from Robert Douglas); just look at how ferociously Burt swings his sword around in this scene! Virginia Mayo, a year after her terrific performance as James Cagney's moll Verna in "White Heat," looks absolutely sensational here in supersaturated Technicolor, and famed character actors Aline MacMahon and Victor Kilian are just fine in smaller roles. But this is most assuredly Burt's picture all the way, and his manifest joy in playing a physical-action character in a period swashbuckler is quite contagious. With that flashing grin and million-dollar set of teeth, no wonder all the girls in Lombardy seem to have a major thang for him! And thus, how little sympathy the viewer has for Dardo's wife, Francesca (Lynn Baggett), who would give up this man, as well as her cute son (appealingly played by young Gordon Gebert), in order to live with the evil but wealthy count!

    "The Flame and the Arrow" was directed by the great Jacques Tourneur, the French-born filmmaker who is perhaps best remembered today for his 1940s RKO horror films--"The Cat People," "I Walked With a Zombie" and "The Leopard Man" (all made for producer Val Lewton)--as well as for the cult item "Curse of the Demon"; here, Tourneur demonstrates that he could be just as skilled and effective in another, nonhorror genre. Finally, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the lovely score that has been provided here by the renowned Max Steiner, who had previously contributed to such "minor" films as "King Kong," "Top Hat," "Gone With the Wind," "Sergeant York," "Now, Voyager," "Casablanca," "Mildred Pierce," "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and, again, "White Heat," in addition to a few hundred others (what an amazing career!). A classy affair from start to finish, "The Flame and the Arrow" is very much your standard Hollywood adventure fare, but done to a turn by a cast and crew that obviously took great pride in their craft; truly, a rousing entertainment for audience members of all ages.
    helpful•5
    0
    • ferbs54
    • Aug 29, 2012

    Details

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    • Release date
      • July 9, 1950 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Norma Productions
      • Frank Ross Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 28 minutes

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