La rosa nera

This is one of those movies that makes you feel like a 12-year-old sneaking into the local movie palace on a Saturday afternoon.

If you like exotic locales, rousing action, a lot of humor and a bit of romance thrown in for good measure, you'll probably enjoy this film as much as I do.

Orson Welles ("Bayan of the Thousand Eyes") is the real star, though Jack Hawkins, as usual, is terrific. This movie is a delight, and it stands the test of time. Best of all, it leaves you with a contented smile on your face.

I rate it a solid 8.5 out of 10.

It is set in XII century , during the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) , son of Henry III , with a strong rivalry between Norman and Saxon people . Two young Xasons (Tyrone Power and Jack Hawkins) decide to leave England crowned by King Edward (Michael Rennie) and since 1066 when the Hastings battle took place ruled by the Normans . They are going to Orient along with a beautiful girl called Maryam (Cécile Aubry , though Leslie Caron was offered first the character , which was eventually given to Aubry) escaped from avaricious merchants (Herbert Lom , Alfonso Bedoya whose voice was dubbed by Peter Sellers) . As they arrive in Mongol territory governed by Gengis Khan and they enlist to General Bayan's (Orson Welles) troops that want to conquer China . During war they are imprisoned and will suffer numerous dangers , adventures and risks ; besides , they will learn great number of Chinese inventions , such as : compass , silk , powder , among others .

It is a spectacular adventure with plenty of emotions , action and romance . This exciting picture blends far eastern adventures and medieval scenario . This is one of the most amusing oriental adventure movies ever made and extremely well produced in awesome Technicolor photography . This juvenile romp is utterly fun and entertaining . Tyrone Power (who died in Spain filming ¨Salomon and Queen of Saba¨) and Jack Hawkins are firmly teamed , they make a first-class duo as the adventurer pals . Magnificent Orson Welles who interpreted for getting the financing ¨Othello¨ and other yarns that remained unfinished due to poor budgeted backing . Orson played several exotic personages (The Tartari , Saul , Cagliostro , Macbeth , Cesare Borgia). Here appears known supporting actors , but very secondaries , thus : Robert Blake (as Mahmoud) , Laurence Harvey , Henry Oscar (the friar named Roger Bacon) , James Robertson Justice and many others . Glimmer and splendid cinematography by classic cameraman Jack Cardiff (Black narcissus) and sometimes filmmaker (Dark of the sun) . The film was professionally directed by Hollywood veteran Henry Hathaway who subsequently shot ¨Rawhide¨ , a fundamental western also with Tyrone Power . The flick will appeal to fanciful far Eastern saga enthusiasts and Tyrone Power fans .

I know this was shown on Italian TV during my childhood but I'm not sure whether I had watched the film in its entirety - after this viewing, I certainly didn't recollect much of anything and, therefore, consider it as a first!

Anyway, I decided to catch up with it now as an accompaniment to star Tyrone Power's most popular vehicle - THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940). Unlike that one (shot in black-and-white on studio sets), however, this was splashed with color and had the benefit of location photography: still, it's a much inferior spectacle, and the main reason for this is that the plot itself singularly lacks excitement - despite being basically an amalgam of Ivanhoe (starting off in medieval England with our Saxon hero opposing the Norman rulers) and Marco Polo (he eventually travels to the Orient and brings back samples of their exotic heritage). Also, despite the imposing presence of Orson Welles as a fearsome but noble Mongol warrior, there's precious little action in this two-hour film (though it's never actually boring)!

Despite the Fox banner, this was a British-based production and, consequently, the supporting cast and technical credits are nothing to sneeze at - the former including such stalwarts as Jack Hawkins (an unlikely but amiable bowman and Power's sidekick), Michael Rennie, Finlay Currie (as Power's proud and cantankerous grandfather), Herbert Lom, James Robertson Justice and Laurence Harvey (impossibly young as a Norman prince), as well as Alfonso Bedoya (whose voice was allegedly dubbed by Peter Sellers!) and child actor Robert Blake; behind the camera were such talents as legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Richard Addinsell and production designer Paul Sheriff. The weakest link in the film is clearly leading lady Cecile Aubry, who struggles too hard to be winsome but results only in being irritating most of the time (not surprisingly, her career wasn't a long-lasting one).

While certainly watchable and generally entertaining in itself, Power was better served by some of his other historical epics (among them the film that directly preceded it, PRINCE OF FOXES [1949], another - though more modest - collaboration with Orson Welles).

This is a feature film about which viewers cannot even begin to agree. Some believe it to be a major production with award-winning costumes, good actors, a vivacious leading lady, a clever story-line and colorful thirteenth-century adventures. Others deny all these judgments and assertions. The only thing that all its fans agree upon is that the movie was unusual, worth-making and worth discussing. The novel by Thomas B. Costain is clever and perhaps not-entirely-historical. It is a fictionalized biography and a recreation of an era that sets two Saxons against their Norman overlords at a time when this may have been an old-fashioned attitude; but this gives Walter of Gurnie an excuse to leave his homeland and his studies, with a companion, Tristram Griffin, master of the English longbow, to take service with Bayan of the Hundred Eyes, General to the Great Khan of China.. The other elements in the plot line are thus Bayan's inscrutable personality--he and Walter play chess and debate; Griffin's prowess with a weapon that astonishes the Easterners who see him employ it; and the two men's love for a disguised girl who is forced to flee and joins their caravan, she who is the titular "Black Rose" of the piece. The screenplay by adventure writer Talbot Jennings (developed from Costain's logical but slightly creaky novel) is perhaps a very good one; it is my assertion that with a bit more money and a better leading lady, the film might be more famous and even more appreciated. It deserves an updated remake, in my view. The director of the piece was veteran Henry Hathaway; he makes the events seem both realistic and important, never stooping to trickery to try to inject excitement at the points where none is indicated by the script. Richard Addinsell composed the music for the film, and William C. Andrews provided the art direction. The costume designs by Michael Whittaker I find to be quite serviceable and good for the period, but not extremely exciting. The cinematography by Jack Cardiff is as beautiful as it always is; the film looks as good as budgetary constraints permit in either B/W or color, which is quite a feat. it is played as an adventure; I believe it could be refashioned as a dramatic work; but what we have here is an engaging and rewarding script and production. Tyrone Power is a bit too-old for a student, but he is attractive and vivid in the lead. Jack Hawkins steals the film due to his charisma, energy and award-level interpretation of Tristram. Orson Welles is interesting and enigmatic as the general. As the Black Rose, Cecile Aubrey is adequate, often charming and able to get the basics of her very youthful part across but not much more. Michael Rennie, Finlay Currie. Herbert Lom, Mary Clare, Henry Oscar as Roger Bacon and Laurence Harvey are also featured. I like the film, and have good memories of reading the novel and seeing it years ago. It holds up well, due to its solid construction; but I yearn to remake it as a drama worthy of the very-interesting story-line even moreso. Watch for the great archery contest--surely the visual highlight of this adventure production.

Tyrone Power stars in "The Black Rose," a 1950 adventure film also starring Jack Hawkins, Orson Welles, Cecile Aubrey, and Michael Rennie. Power plays Walter of Gurney, an Oxford scholar who hates the ruling Normans, takes off for Cathay with his friend Tris (Jack Hawkins).

They wind up traveling with General Bayan (Orson Welles) and hiding a young girl, Maryam, known as The Black Rose.

The film is based on Thomas Costain's novel, and thanks to Tyrone Power, I became a fan of Costain's and read many of his books as a teenager. I seem to remember a lot of hotter encounters between Walter and Maryam, though the film does contain some romance.

"The Black Rose" was made at a time when 20th Century Fox and all of the other Hollywood studios were going through major changes since the government had broken the alliance between the studios and theater chains.

Even with their problems, there is no expense spared on "The Black Rose." It is a sumptuous production, done on location and in color, with a top cast even in the minor roles: Herbert Lom, Laurence Harvey, Robert Blake, and famously, the voice of Peter Sellers dubbing the role of Bedoya.

The acting is uniformly good. Orson Welles played Bayan to fund one of his film projects. Normally he phones these performances in, using his formidable technique to get him through - he probably did the same here; sometimes it's hard to tell. He's excellent and underplays, being smooth in his role rather than barbaric, and he and Power have good screen chemistry.

Off the screen, the two went back to the early '30s in New York when both were cast in a tour of Romeo and Juliet - this tour is captured in a roman a clef, "Quicksilver" by Fitzroy Davis.

During the filming of "The Black Rose", director Hathaway needed some time away from Welles and, after being harassed by him in the company dining room, had a table set up in another room for himself, his wife, Tyrone Power and Linda Christian, so they could eat in peace. Welles became convinced they were getting special food and showed up.

"We don't want special food," Hathaway informed him. "We want quiet." But Welles got his own table in this area, and the Powers and the Hathaways headed back to the main dining area.

Jack Hawkins is immensely likable as Tris. Cecile Aubrey, who would abandon her career and become a very accomplished screenwriter in France, is the gamine here. Some may find her a little too young-looking and a little too bubbly, but she is quite lovely as the childlike Maryam.

Power is excellent as the adventurous Walter. One thing interesting about Power is that he never asked for scripts to be changed to reflect his age, and 20th Century Fox gave him scripts during this period that called for him to play characters anywhere from 10 to 15 years younger than he was, which in this movie is 36.

It doesn't detract here; it's more obvious in "Rawhide," when he's supposed to be a green kid, and in "The Sun Also Rises."

During their long working relationship, Zanuck apparently never thought of Power as anything but the young man he first hired in 1935. Walter is the kind or role the actor was sick of playing; he would shortly begin doing more stage work and form his own production company.

This is a sweeping adventure that many boomers will recall from "Saturday Night at the Movies" - like Power's swashbucklers, it's one of the previous generation's Saturday afternoon at the movies type films that young people remember fondly.

I certainly do and am grateful for all the historical fiction I read as a result. Thankfully, this and other heretofore unreleased Power films will soon be available in a DVD collection.