The Golden Arrow

This film has the colors of a cartoon but much less excitement. The three genies are dull, everyone is dull.

The action and costumes and alligator dungeon might have some appeal, but strictly for children.

Even for kids, it is all quite saccharin.

The is much better out there.

Bandit chief Hassan (Tab Hunter) infiltrates Damascus with a daring plan. Impersonating a prince from the "Island of Flames," Hassan joins the nobles contending for the hand of beautiful Princess Jamila (Rossana Podesta) intending to kidnap her for ransom. The suitors' contest revolves around the legendary Black Bow, the weapon of the true savior and Sultan of Damascus. Whoever can bend the bow will wield the invincible power of the Golden Arrow, claim the hand of Jamila and become ruler. No one is more astonished than Hassan when he succeeds in bending the Black Bow, but the brash young thief ignores the call to heroism, kidnaps the princess and loses the Golden Arrow. With the aid of three magical spirits, Hassan must embark on a quest to recover it, contending with a series of supernatural challenges that refine his spirit and prepare him for battle against Baktiar, the evil vizier who controls Damascus.

Tab Hunter isn't the first person to come to mind when thinking of who would be suitable to star in a "scimitar and sandals" epic that soars across fantastic locations with sweeping spectacle and grand lushness, but he does well as the bandit chief who falls for the beautiful princess played by Rossana Padesta and hunts for the golden arrow. It's a thoroughly out-there Arabian fantasy with a flying carpet and other well done special effects. There's even a bit of humour with the sound of jet engines when the carpet flies up. The Golden Arrow doesn't always make sense, it can be incoherent and nonsensical but it's really entertaining with great filmmaking and camerawork. There's something magical about this film.

This is a movie which borrows much of its plot from other movies or legends : the golden arrow is the equivalent of the sword in the stone ; the usurper subject is taken from the 1940 masterpiece "the thief of Baghdad " and countless other films whilst the princess' s desease and the characters who turn to stone are stolen from another "thief of Baghdad ",that starring Steve Reeves the precedent year ; the stars in the sky and the three magicians make one think of the magis ;or of the three good fairies in Walt Disney's "sleeping beauty" (1959) ; without their help,like prince Philip , the hero would be defeated all along the movie.

That said , the movie is eventful , full of special effects -which can seem quaint for today's audience ,that is the children under 12. Tab Hunter has plenty of go ,and he shows a good sense of humor (" the law says : "eternal slavery" !- Have it change !") and the trick of the feather and the final chase on the shrinking flying carpet are moderately funny .But as a blond ,he looks too Nordic for a story more or less inspired by "The Thousand And One Nights "; the make-up man should have had his hair dyed .

Beautiful colors , the landscapes remind you ,towards the end ,of the valley of the Nile and its feluccas ; it was aimed at the children 's market,if they are not too demanding ,they can enjoy it.

Heroic bandit Hassan (Tab Hunter), the rightful Prince of Damascus, falls in love with the Princess Jamila (Rossana Podestà) and, with the help of three genies, searches for the mysterious 'Golden Arrow' before returning (by magic carpet) to save the city from the evil Prince of Basra (Renato Baldini) and win Jamila's hand in marriage. Directed by Antonio Margheriti (the hand behind the 'Gamma One tetralogy' of colourful low-budget space operas), this moderately-budgeted sword and sorcery demi-epic is an odd mix of excellent and awful. The sets and backgrounds are often impressive (the opening scenes especially), as are the location shots in Egypt, the climactic battle scene (before the genies arrive and inject some slapstick into the fight), and the model city Hassan flies over. Some of the 'practical' effects (such as the burning men or the flying carpet that Jamila steps onto at the end) are quite convincing but the optical effects (mattes, superimpositions etc) are terrible (notably the scenes involving the magic arrow or the three genies). In a triumph of colour-blind casting, Hunter may be the least likely-looking 'Hassan' to ever don curly-toed shoes, but the double-dubbed American teen idol seems to be having fun in the improbable role, athletically avoiding the mostly incompetent palace guards and performing his own horseback scenes. The rest of the cast dutifully discharges what is expected from them in an English dubbed peplum although the 'comic relief' genie antics get tiresome quickly. A colourful silly time-passer for kid's not too spoiled by CGI and for aficionados of this sort of endearingly goofy shtick.

I was looking forward to this one, being a fan of Arabian Nights fantasies and in view of cult director Margheriti's participation (unusually billed under his real name here, instead of the familiar pseudonym Anthony M. Dawson!); distributed internationally by MGM, the film used to crop up from time to time on the TCM U.K. schedule – but it may have been the 1936 Warner Bros. effort bearing the same title, and which I acquired not too long ago via this very channel, all along!

Anyway, the movie is appropriately colourful and intermittently diverting; yet, given the utter lack of originality, the result is mainly dreary – not helped by lifeless treatment, ill-advised star casting (blond Tab Hunter as the proverbial 'prince who was a thief'!) and ropey special effects (the handiwork of the obligatory suppliers of resistible comedy relief, a buffoonish trio of wizards who literally come down to earth to aid the hero regain his throne)!! The current princess (Rossana Podesta', a regular of such costumed fare) is contended by a number of potentates, one of whom is in league with the – what else? – wicked Grand Vizier (for once, though, he does not covet either the girl or the throne himself, apparently content merely to pull the strings at court!). Eventually, she asks them to bring her the most precious gift – but, what they come up with (a crystal ball, a life- restoring potion and a magic carpet), has equal value in her eyes when she is stricken by a 'mysterious' illness and near death!

Hunter naturally has a coterie of bandit pals (who initially turn against him when he allows the kidnapped princess to flee rather than demand a ransom for her) – but their role is downplayed in favour of the afore-mentioned magicians. Incidentally, the script is indiscriminate in its borrowings: the titular weapon is first presented as having Excalibur-type powers i.e. only the right person can handle it; while, halfway through, we get thoroughly pointless sections that would have better served the peplum genre involving a cave guarded by flaming monsters and, subsequently, a Theban community – from what I could gather, under some sorcerer's spell – which the hero saves (by destroying a temple in the desert)! The climax, then, features the protagonist's 'supernatural' sidekicks dumping jars from the air on the assailing forces and Hunter adopting the golden arrow to slice up the villains' own flying rug!